Stocking a Griffin-Fraser Rifle

Some time ago I built a pattern and subsequently a custom stock for a Farquarhson rifle for my friend and customer Tom Griffin. He was pleased with the results and told me he would have more work of a surprising nature shortly. He was right.

Not too long after, he came up to me with a package. Upon opening it, I was surprised to see what looked like a Fraser barreled action. Knowing that Tom was a fan of English single-shot falling block rifles, this did not come as too much of a surprise. But I sensed something fishy was going on. Upon further examination I discovered this was not a true Fraser action, but an adaption of the Fraser action. The adaptations were significant improvements, in that the upper tang and main spring hangar bar are now integral with the action instead of screwed on. The geometry of the extraction system was changed as well. This significantly improved extraction, a notorious problem in many turn of the century single-shot big bore rifles. I subsequently wrote a report on what we decided to call the Griffin-Fraser action which appeared in another magazine.

I just had to ask Tom if he would have me build a stock for him. He not only said yes, but informed me that he would be building a limited number of 18 Griffin-Fraser rifles and wanted me to stock them once a satisfactory pattern had been developed. That sounded like the kind of challenge I like, so we came up with a set of specifications for the proposed stock and forend. The specs were pretty straight forward. An English looking stock, featuring a nose to heel line parallel to the bore and about 3/4 inch below the bore (We subsequently discovered this nose to heel line to be too high and it was lowered about one inch). The grip was to be rather open and sweeping, as in the originals. The line forming the bottom of the pistol grip was to point upward and rearward to the mid point of the nose-heel line instead of pointing to the heel which is more typical of American style stocks. A steel butt plate was called for in keeping with tradition. No cheek piece, but side panels behind the receiver were OK. As for the forend, Tom asked that I make it fairly stubby, along English lines, with a "pig snout" or Henry style ebony tip.

The first step in creating this custom stock was to study photos of Fraser stocks and to work out proportions that would be used to establish the location and angle of the wrist and pistol grip, as well as the drop at heel and comb. Next I glued and screwed two pieces of poplar together from which I would make the stock pattern blank. The joint between the two pieces of wood would also serve as a handy center line for the work to come. Poplar is an excellent choice as a pattern wood. It is readily available, quite stable, and inexpensive when purchased from the scrap barrel of your local home supply outlet. It is easy to work and this is important as this portion of the project requires a lot of elbow grease. Additionally, the wood comes in 3/4" thickness which adds up to 1 1/2", just a bit larger than the width of the Niedner steel butt plate I planned to use.

After the glue set, I replaced the screws with dowels so I wouldn't inadvertently ruin any of my tools in the shaping process. The stock bolt hole was drilled first so that I could later use it as a reference to lay out the template I had drawn, based on the photos I studied. Then the profile of the stock was carefully cut out just a bit oversize with a band saw. This is to allow a bit of excess wood for the final shaping. I have found that drilling the stock bolt hole first and then lining up the pattern template is easier than cutting the profile and then drilling the stock bolt hole. That way, it's easier to make adjustments in case you are a bit off.

The work is begun by carefully measuring the upper tang of the receiver and transferring these dimensions to the rough pattern using the aforementioned center line of the wood joint as a reference. Using a brad point or Forstner drill bit of the approximate width of the upper tang, carefully drill a series of holes clear through the rough pattern to hog out excess wood. Then carefully chisel out the remaining wood where the drill holes overlap. Since the Fraser has a stock through bolt, this will clear out enough wood for the stock bolt and the safety mechanism.

Using the stock bolt, attach the pattern to the action so that the front of the of the pattern just butts up against the rear of the receiver. This fit will not be perfect as additional fitting is necessary using spotting in techniques. I rough fit the upper and lower tangs as well. This fitting need not be perfect, just close as I will use epoxy to perfect the fit later. When I am satisfied that the fit is close enough, I use the stock bolt to attach the pattern to the receiver. At this point I take a step back (not a bad idea to do this from time to time) to see how things look.

I liberally coat the rear of the receiver with wax (or release agent) and stuff modeling clay into the rear of the receiver to prevent epoxy from running every where. The next step is to prepare some epoxy and butter the forward end of the butt as well as the rear of the receiver. This step will give a near perfect fit at the juncture of the butt stock and rear of the receiver, and will also form the tenons to fit into the mortises at the rear of the receiver.

After the epoxy cures, I clean up the excess and remove the stock bolt from the stock. Then I carefully separate the pattern wood from the receiver. Sometimes it is necessary to gently tap the nose of the comb with a mallet to get things started. After trimming off excess epoxy from the interior of the pattern, the pattern is again attached to the barreled action. The barreled action serves as the perfect handle for the shaping to come.

Now you can relate to your references. There are three of them. The first is the center line where the two pieces of wood were joined. The second is the steel butt plate, and now is the time to fit it after doublechecking the length of pull (LOP), drop at heel, and pitch. Once again, this need not be perfectly fitted as you can fill in any voids with epoxy. The third reference is the rear of the receiver where the stock is abutted.

After the butt plate is fitted, the real work of shaping the stock comes in. Begin the process of removing excess wood, starting at the butt plate and working forward. The butt plate gives me the general outline shape of the stock. Go as fast or slow as your skill allows as a lot of excess wood must be removed. I use heavy duty rasps and planes to do this work. Be careful. If you have sharp tools (and you should) wood removal can go faster than you think. Don't take too much away or you may find that you have to rebuild low areas with Bondo and start over. Stock making or in this case pattern making is labor intensive. Try not to make mistakes if you can help it by getting in too much of a hurry.

The pistol grip (PG) is next. Cut it to the appropriate length using a hand saw. Remember if you traced your pattern template carefully, all you may need is a bit of trimming and squaring up. Next screw a PG cap on to the end of the grip to use as a guide and carefully file and rasp to shape using your assortment of round and half-round rasps. Be certain that all the lines flow together in an eye pleasing way. The more accurately this is done, the better your stock wood will look when machined, making it a lot easier to complete the stock.

This stock design calls for panels behind the sides of the receiver and now is the time to trace, or draw them free hand, on to the wood. Panels add a custom touch, and sometimes add strength in an area which might be weak due to internal action parts, as is the case with the Griffin-Fraser. They can be either flat or slightly flared. It's a matter of taste. Once the panels are drawn on the sides of the wrist, begin carefully cutting away excess wood following the curves you've previously drawn. I use a number of different sized rat tail files and rasps to do this. Thin down the panels as well as they are still the full thickness of the two pieces of wood which were glued and doweled together (1 1/2"). A lot of wood must be removed, but do it in stages. The panels should be reduced until they are almost flush with the side walls of the receiver.

I use foil tape to protect the receiver from being inadvertently scratched. Stop, step back and look. More work is probably necessary, so repeat the above steps until one side looks the way you want it to look. Refer to your photos often. Again leave the wood a bit strong so you can adjust as necessary with final shaping and sanding. Next, do the same thing on the other side. The trick here is to get both sides identical... which is easier said than done. Also be certain the top and bottom of the panels flow into the rear of the receiver in gently flowing, eye pleasing, curves.

When you think the panels are just about right, start to shape the wrist to form graceful flowing lines to the pistol grip and the comb. If the wrist feels and looks too wide, it probably is. Cut the rear of the panels deeper and remove more wood from the wrist until all the lines blend into a unified whole. The pattern should begin to take on its final shape and you may now cut the flutes on either side of the comb nose (or not, it's your preference). I chose not to have flutes in keeping with the original Fraser design.

At this point, we are almost done. I step back and take a long hard look to see what we have wrought. More often than not, I quit at this point and set the pattern, in the barreled action, on a shelf in the bedroom so I can scrutinize it while watching late night TV. This is when I discover errors in the form of lines that just don't seem right and that need remedying. I then use files and rasps to begin the final shaping and smoothing of the stock.

Sand out the stock using electric sanders and sanding blocks. When you are satisfied set the completed pattern, attached to the barreled action aside for a few days in a place where you can't help but see it. If something doesn't look right, chances are you will spot it, and that will enable any necessary reshaping..

Finally, remove the pattern and remove all the modeling clay from the receiver and clean it up. The receiver and internal parts are probably loaded with debris, sawdust and the like. I always take this opportunity to make sure that everything is in working order. Clean up the tenons while you're at it by removing excess epoxy. Reassemble, and again check to be certain everything is functioning smoothly. If not, use spotting agent to find out what's binding, and carefully relieve high spots. This is important if you want the machined stock to be a near slip fit unto the receiver.

The pattern is now ready for machining. Depending on the skill of the person doing the pantograph work, the final product will be close to a slip fit. Final fitting is a matter of carefully scraping away high spots. Now is the time for precision work to get that hairline fit between metal and wood. ~

(Part II in the March-April SSR Journal.-- Ed.)

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