I started down this rabbit hole initially just wanting to bed my Model 783 Varmint and add a Kydex cheek piece, which isn’t a hard DIY project all in all. However, I thought why not have some fun with it and just like that, my bubba gunsmithing adventure began. My goal was to have an end product that was functional, looked decent, and improved the rifle overall. I’m going to update this as I go along and if I screw up bad enough, well I guess I’ll do a review on the new Boyd’s stock I get.
To fit within this bubba gunsmithing theme I decided that all the materials were going to come from resources that a bubba might have, mainly a hardware store and Walmart. Luckily, I have a pretty good local Ace hardware and I was able to get 99% of everything I needed there. The only thing I got from Walmart was the neutral shoe polish to use as a release agent as I had some of the other materials at home already.
Here’s my list of materials
Ace Hardware:
JB Weld
Plumber’s Puddy
(2) ⅜” X ½” Nylon Spacers
(2) ¼-20 Flat Head Screws
(2) ¼-20 Flanged Threaded Wood Inserts
Lamp Rod Connector
2” PVC Pipe
14” Zip Ties
Gorilla Glue Clear Epoxy
10-24 Threaded Brass Wood Insert
10-24 Black Oxide Cap Screw
Walmart:
Kiwi Neutral Shoe Polish
Already had on hand:
Adhesive Foam Sheets (Kids crafts)
Matte Black Paint
The pictures are a little out of sequence because I've already done a bunch of locating, drilling, and fitting, I'm just backtracking to show my process.
I had started out by making the cheek piece out of the section of 2” schedule 40 PVC pipe. I think I’d actually seen someone else use 2” pipe previously, which is why I went with that diameter. To figure out where I had to cut the pipe I made a template from a piece of wire that roughly followed the curvature of the pipe.
When I found the best point where it generally followed the curvature of the stock and could provide sufficient support I marked the wire. Cutting and shaping the section into a pipe was relatively easy, albeit messy.
I used the cheek piece to locate and drill the holes for the ¼-20 thread inserts. I figured ¼-20 screws would be substantial enough to support the cheek rest and the flange on the inserts would provide a bearing surface for the spacers that would set the height.
I epoxied the inserts in with the clear epoxy and filed the edges so that they followed the contour of the stock a little better.
The front one isn’t perfect but those sins will be hidden once the spacers and cheek rest are blacked out. Eventually the cheek rest will get painted and brown self adhesive foam will go on top, which should put the screws just below flush.
The 783 used a wood screw to secure the trigger guard, however it was shit, it didn't have enough bite to draw the trigger guard down and before long I could see it stripping out completely. I drilled the hole out and installed a brass 10-24 thread insert in so I could use a machine screw to secure the trigger guard. The head diameter is about the same but it uses a smaller allen wrench than the action screws, that's the only real downside.
Coming soon are the bedding pillars I made out some lamp nipple.....
