Rifle buttstock pattern and type of leather

[AJ2018]

I am making a new pattern for my Browning x-bolt stainless stalker 30-06 sprg rifle buttstock leather and cartridge loop. I am very good at making the pattern however I have a question about the leather type:

 

A) what type of leather should I use that is not expensive (medium priced)??

BB) should I put a leather antique stain first then apply leather oil, and finish it with a sheen? 

I will share the full pattern in PDF after it's done for whoever is interested. The pattern I am making is precise because I am using AutoCAD and Photoshop. 

Cheers.

[micktx]

Hey AJ.  I use 5-7 ounce for my butt stock covers.  Mostly made of remnants I have hanging around.

Will be very interested in getting you pattern.  Here's a sample of what I do.

[AJ2018]

3 hours ago, micktx said:

Hey AJ.  I use 5-7 ounce for my butt stock covers.  Mostly made of remnants I have hanging around.

Will be very interested in getting you pattern.  Here's a sample of what I do.

This is my initial Progress still have to do the cartridge loop and and Oval pattern shape that connect the knob behind the trigger to the rest of the material. over all lets see what you guys think.

x-bolt-leather-Buttstock_Rev1.pdf

[Halitech]

7 hours ago, AJ2018 said:

I am making a new pattern for my Browning x-bolt stainless stalker 30-06 sprg rifle buttstock leather and cartridge loop. I am very good at making the pattern however I have a question about the leather type:

 

A) what type of leather should I use that is not expensive (medium priced)??

BB) should I put a leather antique stain first then apply leather oil, and finish it with a sheen? 

I will share the full pattern in PDF after it's done for whoever is interested. The pattern I am making is precise because I am using AutoCAD and Photoshop. 

Cheers.

Some will say no chrome tanned leather, some will say veg tanned will absorb water. If you are planning on tooling, it will have to be veg tanned.

Steps I follow:

cut out

tool

stain or dye

resist if using antique

antique

oil

apply top finish

assemble

Some will line them, some won't, your personal preference on that

Edited February 11, 2018 by Halitech

[TinBadgeLeather]

I do the same thing (veg tanned) as Halitech other than dipping it in 50/50 Resolene and water. After its thoroughly dry I then put the eyelets in and then lace it. The Resolene will gum up the eyelets at times and it's a bear to get the laces through! 

[TinBadgeLeather]

[micktx]

Thanx AJ.  I think you will find experimenting with what others do and your ideas will result in fit and finish you want.  Will be very interested to see what you come up with.

[AJ2018]

Great work guys keep it going. Thumbs up

[AJ2018]

here is an Elk-Head-Pattern modeled using Photoshop for those who are interested to use it.

Elk-Head-Pattern.pdf

[Aresioh]

I too am making butt cover, and 1) I'm having trouble with the bullet loops. Im having a hard time pulling the trigger on design  2) scared that the eyelet will scratch the stock. Has anyone ever had seen wear the eyelet scratches the wood?

[AJ2018]

Browning x-bolt Stainless Stalker 30-06 sprg  Pattern Rev 2 .... Pending some more addons..

Browning x-bolt SS stalker 30-06 spr Rev 2.pdf

[AJ2018]

2 hours ago, Aresioh said:

I too am making butt cover, and 1) I'm having trouble with the bullet loops. Im having a hard time pulling the trigger on design  2) scared that the eyelet will scratch the stock. Has anyone ever had seen wear the eyelet scratches the wood?

there is a solution to the eyelet problem, what i suggest for you is to put the eyelets on a small rectangular shape of leather and then stitch that rectangular piece with an offset on the actual buttstock cover that way the buttstock cover will secure your eyelet from scratching the stock. its very easy to do but don't make the rectangular piece too big, make it so it can take the eyelet and 1/8" for stitching it to the buttstock cover and then for the final put leather loop and loop both side of the buttstock cover.

second which rifle you working on now? are you extending the leather to the trigger side? like as i am doing with my browing x-bolt???

 

 

[Aresioh]

19 hours ago, AJ2018 said:

second which rifle you working on now? are you extending the leather to the trigger side? like as i am doing with my browing x-bolt???

I've never seen them. I'm making one for a .270 and .243. I'm using my winchester sxp 12ga as the template. I'm making one like TinBadge.

I was think about the same thing for the eyelets. I was planning on stitching a thin piece under the main part.  

[AJ2018]

Browning x-bolt Stainless Stalker 30-06 sprg  Pattern Rev 3 .... Pending some more addons..

x-bolt Stainless Steel Stalker 30-06 SPRG Rev3.pdf

if you like to print this and see how it matches on the actual rifle , use paper size 17" x 11" or whats called Tabloid as paper type if you using PDF printer.

this case will cover the x-bolt stock up to the LOP (Length of Pull) which is the distance from the center of the trigger up to the end of the recoil pad.

if you like a new version to cover only the buttstock up the the LOC (length of comb) then drop me your feedback that is very easy to do.

Edited February 20, 2018 by AJ2018

[AJ2018]

currently in stage one of cutting the leather, so far everything is perfect, I am going to do a 3D look cartridge loop by stitching cartridge loop over the body of the leather. have a look at the current pictures, just had the leather yesterday. its 6-7 ounce veg-tan leather which is very beautiful

I have not stained and tooled the main body yet, i only applied dark brown to the cartridge loop base with tooling.

 

This project is for Browning x-bolt SS Stalker 30-06 sprg rifle. and will do more for other rifles. when the project complete its going to look fabulous i believe as the leather fitted snug on the stock, I am going to cross stitch the top middle center line of the body and and then lace the bottom part.

and cross stitch or lace the knob which ever look nicer, I am going to be using Black Bonded Nylon .7mm Leather non waxed thread and for lacing the bottom not decided which thickness of lace I will be using but will keep you updated. the lace maker tool that I ordered off eBay did not arrive yet and not sure if anyone of you have used it before, its the small black plastic piece like a pen shape, it has a blade inside and you attache the leather to the hole and keep pulling to get a long lace, but how is the quality of the lace in this tool? is the thickness consistent ???

The programs i used were: Solidworks 3D/2D Expert features, Photoshop CC 2018, Adobe PDF , and obviously Printer and leather

lets see what you guys think so far.

 

cheers.

 

Edited April 16, 2018 by AJ2018
spelling fix

[garypl]

This is an interesting design - can’t wait to see it finished!

Gary

[AJ2018]

55 minutes ago, garypl said:

This is an interesting design - can’t wait to see it finished!

Gary

Thank you Gary, I am still working on it slowly till its done , every stage i do , I will post it on here, I know the majority of people have hard time including the rifle knob section behind the trigger so i took the challenge and did it using solidworks expert modeling features, and Photoshop CC 2018

cheers,

A.J 

[Hildebrand]

The lace cutter you describe is OK but it probably will not cut consistent enough laces for the precision you are putting into that project.  I have one somewhere that I used to cut lacing to lace together a set of buckskin cloths many moons and pants sizes ago.

[AJ2018]

5 hours ago, Hildebrand said:

The lace cutter you describe is OK but it probably will not cut consistent enough laces for the precision you are putting into that project.  I have one somewhere that I used to cut lacing to lace together a set of buckskin cloths many moons and pants sizes ago.

Thank you so much for your input Hildebrand 

can you post some pictures to show the precision and the kind of lace that lace maker makes please ? I am interested to see the precision if you can. 

Edited April 16, 2018 by AJ2018

[Hildebrand]

This was about 35 years ago and thankfully no photo evidence exists from that time in my youth. One of the problems with the device is the instructions tell you to start in the middle of a piece of leather and essentially cut a spiral out. This leaves all the lace naturally laying in a circle. 

[AJ2018]

6 hours ago, Hildebrand said:

This was about 35 years ago and thankfully no photo evidence exists from that time in my youth. One of the problems with the device is the instructions tell you to start in the middle of a piece of leather and essentially cut a spiral out. This leaves all the lace naturally laying in a circle. 

No problem thank you,  I will try it and see how it goes

p

[AJ2018]

Here is the Solidworks 3D Model of the Browning x-bolt SS Stalker 30-06 sprg partial stock image. it took me 2.5-3 hours to model it, started to get gray hair from it , very complex features were used to model it. let me know what you guys think of it and if you drawn one using solidworks expert features please share.

.

 

 

Cheers,

A.J

Edited April 18, 2018 by AJ2018

[AJ2018]

Just an update of the project , I added some artwork using swivel knife and waiting for the 1mm thread to arrive from internet order so i can stitch it all around. the thread color is deep brown with contrast.

now I need to think how to make a leather splitter so i can make the thin lace to stitch the buttstock pad piece and stitch the knob behind the trigger guard.

 

 

[AJ2018]

applied some custom leather dye by mixing dye colors, pending some sheen or beewax.

cheers,

A.J

[AJ2018]

some more progress, stitched it all round as in the images and wet formed it. more stitches to be done after stitching the cartridge loop holder on the leather.

0.8 mm stitch size were used. next project will use 1mm thread size.

cheers

AJ