Making a 366 Rigby

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I'd like to put a gold oval with my initials on the stock,but that's like 4X the entire cost of the build so far without engraving.

Any ideas about a poor mans solution?
I really don't need real gold to feel like a winner with this rifle.

The best I can come up with is to try to find a place that sells engraved cuff links.

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I'd like to put a gold oval with my initials on the stock,but that's like 4X the entire cost of the build so far without engraving.

Any ideas about a poor mans solution?
I really don't need real gold to feel like a winner with this rifle.

The best I can come up with is to try to find a place that sells engraved cuff links.

Rhodium-Pläterade-Manschettknappar_jumbo.jpg
how bout a brass inlay? friend of mine built a flintlock and had a inlay he got off the net laser engraved locally. total cost was about 10 bucks.
 
Yeah, I've thought about thay but I haven't found someone who does laser engraving locally.
 
I've sanded the stock down to 400 grit and applied the first coat of alkanet oil.
It has got a really lovely shine already.
And the red oil is very red.

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Not very flamboyant but I like it
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The alkanet is really red, I hope it will wash off
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Next step is wet sanding with red oil to fill the pores, but it needs to rest a couple of days first
 
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Since the rifle hasn't been drilled and tapped for a scope, which is really rare, I planned to keep it open sights only.
However, since I'm pushing 50 I've realized that might not be the smartest thing to do.

Driving home from the mountains in the dark made me realise that I need glasses full time, nor just for working or reading, so what to do.

This is what everybody changes to, Recknagel fenstervisier with fiber optics.
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A tried solution that most gun smiths has in stock.
But it looks quite modern and not really appropriate for a vintage gun, if I want to hunt with a modern rifle I've a stainless and plastic Sako 75.

I have a rear sight with two folding leaf that I was thinking of installing, but that won't help my eyes.

I also have a Lyman 57 SMET thay might be a better solution. It means D&T but more in the era of the rifle.
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What are your thoughts?

Keep the open sight and keep the rifle 1939 vintage, get fiber optics that will let me hunt with open sights or install a diopter similar to the ones I used to compete with.
 
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I decided to refinish the bottom metal, I polished away most of the small scratches and other blemishes.

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I also installed a small wooden fillet in the trigger guard.
Eh, whaaat!? I hear you say, but all shall be explained.
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Getting clearer?
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This is a one chance operation, so I use an external memory. 20200112_120832.jpg
Bespoke like crazy!
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Not really Rigby standard, but none worse than the factory applied number on the action.
 
The red oil I've used so far is raw linseed oil which takes a long time to dry and I use it in this stage to dye the stock and to serve as a moisture barrier, but it's time to start the real oil finish.
For that we need a drying (yes, I know, it doesn't "dry", it's polymerization by oxidation, so it "hardens" into some sort of organic "plastic", enough already, y'all know what i mean!) oil.

A good treaty on the old time London finish can be found here https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=415289
I find his use of talcum powder as a filler interesting, I might try that.

Basically you need Red oil, If that is made with raw linseed oil, then we need a siccative to make it dry, boiled linseed oil, turpentine and some sort of resin.

That's a lot of stuff to find and buy, and you only need a very small amount or you'll make enough of Ryden's Best London Red Oil Finish For Rigbyish Rifles to last even Connor McLeod a very long time.

So, a smallish amount of BLO, siccative, resin and turpentine to add to my Red oil.
Sounds vaguely familiar, anyone ever done some painting in oil?

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https://www.royaltalens.com/brands/...lour/talens-painting-medium-quick-drying-084/

I picked up a bottle on my lunch break and I'll try to mix a few drops of each in various ratios to see what works.
For the small amount it's pricey as all get out, but still, I'd pay about five or six times as much for at least 500 times more volume than I need if I had bought each ingredient separately.

BTW, its cheaper than Tru-Oil and I bet that I can find a painters high gloss medium that matches it perfectly and can be had by the gallon.
 
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Not very shiny tonight, I've wet sanded it with oil to fill the pores.
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Here's a problem that needs to be sorted, the pesky hole from the sling swivel that's no longer needed.
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I'm probably over doing this like crazy and going fast beyond any sane realization of my capabilities but I'm going to try to match up the wood grain as perfectly as possible from the old forestock end.
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Ready to cut the plug
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No going back from this
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Hopefully that's the right side up
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A bit proud for sanding flush and some walnut dust in the glue to even things out.
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We'll see tomorrow
 
The painting medium and red oil mix works!
I've wet sanded the off side of the rear stock and rubbed in the slurry against the grain.
Now I've polished it off and the surface feels almost glassy. The near side still feels very much like wood.
 
Well, not really inconspicuous.
But five applications of red oil certainly makes a difference to the freshly sanded wood.
And maybe the checkering will cover it
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Still wet sanding, the pictures won't show any difference and I'm too full of sticky goo to take out the phone so no glamour shots today
 
I have drooled over NECGs site many times and much of their offering is the German Recknagel brand that I've shown earlier in the thread

Tonight I was going to show you something I learned studying inorganic chemistry at my university, but that's not going to happen.
The rifle is out of my hands.


And into better ones.
I have an acquaintance who did some checkering and i spoke to him about helping me. Unfortunately he's sold all of his stuff due to failing eyesight (seems like I'm not alone in feeling my age) but said that it took a lot of practice before I'd be able to make something I'd be proud of and find a pro instead.

And I did find one, a member of the swedish gun maker's guild and in my old home town no less.
SInce I was about to spend the day helping my parents I booked an appointment on the way home.

I spent a very pleasant hour talking in his shop and the short of it is that he will carve a four panel checkering of his own design and bed the action and barrel channel with epoxy

The next good news was that his work queue was empty so I left the rifle in the shop.

So the project is on hold for the moment but will be concluded sooner than expected
 
That's a very nice rifle Troy!
I posted from my phone last night and the small screen doesn't do it justice.

How do you like the double set trigger?
There's an auction for one of those on right now and I was considering bidding for it.

The front sight on my rifle is a silver bead as well, but the rear notch is very narrow.
I haven't shot the rifle at all yet, still cleaning the extremely neglected barrel, so we'll se how the sights work IRL first before I take a decision one way or the other.
 
Here is a link to a rifle made by the gunsmith who's going to work on my rifle.
It's built on a Husqvarna 648, a newer version of my gun.

http://bossmakargillet.se/index.asp?link=projekt&projID=82

After seeing his pictures i was really nervous about showing him my stock, but he didn't seem to notice the more glaring errors, probably just politeness.

He showed me a customer gun, an old Belgian SxS with good walnut and amazingly delicate rose and scroll engraving.
It was beat up and scratched something awful, the checkering was all worn away, only lighter diamonds remained on the smooth wood.

It could have been a very beautiful rifle, but all the owner wanted was to have the lock repaired.

Sort of reminded me of this guy and his first and only car, only the car is in much better condition.
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That's a very nice rifle Troy!
I posted from my phone last night and the small screen doesn't do it justice.

How do you like the double set trigger?
There's an auction for one of those on right now and I was considering bidding for it.

The front sight on my rifle is a silver bead as well, but the rear notch is very narrow.
I haven't shot the rifle at all yet, still cleaning the extremely neglected barrel, so we'll se how the sights work IRL first before I take a decision one way or the other.
The triggers are nice,I've use double triggers my hole life. They have there time and place. This one is about 2-4 oz set and about 8lb not.
 
Thats a nice pattern, stippling has an advantage in that it's supposed to look random. Only, random seems to be different things to a craftsman and an amateur like me :)
 
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