The original deluxe stock was broken when I inherited this beautiful firearm from my Grandfather. He had planned to re-stock it but never got around to it and never owned a computer a day in his life to search the net for parts. If it wasn't in one of his catalogs or his local gunsmith couldn't find it, it didn't exist! I found a few original deluxe stocks in the beautiful honey blond but the cheapest was $750. Being a 7mm Mag I wasn't confident a repair would hold up considering the location of the split.
I really wanted to keep the original look but found this "blemished" laminate stock already 95% inletted for the L61 action from Richards Microfit Stocks. It was only 90 bucks so I ordered it not sure if I would like the wild electric blue or not. I have had it a couple of years and did the initial inletting over a year ago. Let me tell you when they say 95% finished don't be fooled into thinking it's mostly done. That was a lot of work to get the action fitted correctly. They are pretty rough on the outside as well and have a lot of extra wood for those who want to do some reshaping I suppose. I filed on it off and on for a week or so and got distracted with other things with the intent to get back and finish it up at some point. Well I finally got around to it this last week. I finished shaping it up to my liking and did the final sanding and put 9 coats of a satin minwax wipe-on poly on it. I sanded with 220 grit and wiped down with mineral spirits in between the first 3 coats and then went to 0000 steel wool with a mineral spirit wipe down for every coat thereafter. After the final coat dried I got out the small rotary buffer and buffed with a mild cutting compound and then a final buff with polish. It turned out surprisingly well I think.
I'm sure the purist may think it's criminal to put a classic like this in an electric blue laminate stock so feel free to let me have it because I 50% agree with you. The other 50% of me kind of likes it though. I welcome all opinions! Maybe because I have so much time invested it is growing on me and I'm thinking I may just roll with it. I have an almost identical sister Sako Forester Deluxe in .243 that is all original for when I want to get all nostalgic. If anything else it was good practice though I'm not sure I care to inlet and finish out a "95% finished" stock again. The fit and finish is not to bad but I could probably do better a second time around.
I'm thinking this may have to be a long range tactical rifle to fill out that gap in my arsenal. I know there are probably better calibers for that purpose but the 7mm Mag has pretty darn good long range ballistics from what I've read and it's what I got. Just like my Forester it has an awesome trigger and super smooth action. With that being the case I'm thinking maybe this stock will do just fine. I plan to glass bed the action, install pillars for better accuracy, and need to decide on a suitable scope. I don't want to break the bank but want something quality that will hold and return to zero as well. You long-range experts got any advise on a scope and mounts? I have the original Vintage Sako mounts and they have held zero just fine on my .243 Forester but this is a step up in recoil. Would the new Optilock's be worth looking into? Not sure what direction to go there. I'm thinking probably a mil-dot scope but am definitely a greenhorn to the long-range stuff and have a lot to learn but think it would be fun.
I really wanted to keep the original look but found this "blemished" laminate stock already 95% inletted for the L61 action from Richards Microfit Stocks. It was only 90 bucks so I ordered it not sure if I would like the wild electric blue or not. I have had it a couple of years and did the initial inletting over a year ago. Let me tell you when they say 95% finished don't be fooled into thinking it's mostly done. That was a lot of work to get the action fitted correctly. They are pretty rough on the outside as well and have a lot of extra wood for those who want to do some reshaping I suppose. I filed on it off and on for a week or so and got distracted with other things with the intent to get back and finish it up at some point. Well I finally got around to it this last week. I finished shaping it up to my liking and did the final sanding and put 9 coats of a satin minwax wipe-on poly on it. I sanded with 220 grit and wiped down with mineral spirits in between the first 3 coats and then went to 0000 steel wool with a mineral spirit wipe down for every coat thereafter. After the final coat dried I got out the small rotary buffer and buffed with a mild cutting compound and then a final buff with polish. It turned out surprisingly well I think.
I'm sure the purist may think it's criminal to put a classic like this in an electric blue laminate stock so feel free to let me have it because I 50% agree with you. The other 50% of me kind of likes it though. I welcome all opinions! Maybe because I have so much time invested it is growing on me and I'm thinking I may just roll with it. I have an almost identical sister Sako Forester Deluxe in .243 that is all original for when I want to get all nostalgic. If anything else it was good practice though I'm not sure I care to inlet and finish out a "95% finished" stock again. The fit and finish is not to bad but I could probably do better a second time around.
I'm thinking this may have to be a long range tactical rifle to fill out that gap in my arsenal. I know there are probably better calibers for that purpose but the 7mm Mag has pretty darn good long range ballistics from what I've read and it's what I got. Just like my Forester it has an awesome trigger and super smooth action. With that being the case I'm thinking maybe this stock will do just fine. I plan to glass bed the action, install pillars for better accuracy, and need to decide on a suitable scope. I don't want to break the bank but want something quality that will hold and return to zero as well. You long-range experts got any advise on a scope and mounts? I have the original Vintage Sako mounts and they have held zero just fine on my .243 Forester but this is a step up in recoil. Would the new Optilock's be worth looking into? Not sure what direction to go there. I'm thinking probably a mil-dot scope but am definitely a greenhorn to the long-range stuff and have a lot to learn but think it would be fun.
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