Savage mk2 project

[Hickory n Steel]

Awhile back I bought a Savage mk2 off my brother for $100 ( got a Hi-Point c9 too,$200 for the pair ).


It's a pretty respectable shooter, but I don't like all black traditional rifles or plastic stocks in general.

I called Savage looking to acquire a factory hardwood stock for the Mk2G, and was told " talk to Boyd's, they make our stocks ".
So I contacted Boyd's and was told " we don't make that factory stock , but you can buy our mk2 hunter stock ", that's not the checkered hardwood stock that I want though.

I didn't find one on Numrich or anywhere else I looked so I checked Ebay and found one, used in acceptable condition.

I asked the seller if it was for a more recent mk2 with the updated E receiver and was told " the gun I parted out said mk2E on it ".
I suppose it's possible that they marked them this way when the E receiver was first introduced, but was sceptical so I decided to pass on it.
After continuing to look and finding nothing,  I circled back to this stock which was still available and took a gamble on it.

If this stock fits I will have to buy or make ( I'll try my hand at making one first ) a trigger guard, I will also probably refinish it, and when I can find the ideal peep sight to have mounted to the receiver I'll probably also have to relieve the left side for it to fit.


Does anybody know of a peep sight model ( probably William's) that has the right base profile to be mounted to the side of a .22 bolt action receiver ?

[Hickory n Steel]

I had contacted savage back, and just got a proper answer this morning.
They reserve these stocks for warranty repairs and do not sell them.
It looks like Ebay is going to be my only option if the one I have coming doesn't turn out to be right.

As for aperture sights, I think a William's 5D SSM might work, and they're readily available NOS or lightly used for cheap on line ( discontinued) but of course I'd need to relieve the stock and have the side drilled & tapped.

The next and potentially best solution is to make a simple dovetail rail to mount to the top via the factory scope mount holes and use a 5D-AG.
With a williams 5D-AG's I have that clamp on, I don't even need an exact dimension for my rail piece and can make something very easily.
It would also require no modifications to the gun  or stock and generally be the simplest solution.

[bmwrd0]

There is a peep site version already, the FVT which is available in either single shot or mag fed. I had thought about buying the single shot version and doing what you want to do, put a wood stock on it. But I already have too many target .22s.

https://thecmp.org/sales-and-service/22-target-commercial/

[Hickory n Steel]

There is a peep site version already, the FVT which is available in either single shot or mag fed. I had thought about buying the single shot version and doing what you want to do, put a wood stock on it. But I already have too many target .22s.

https://thecmp.org/sales-and-service/22-target-commercial/

Yeah I'm aware of that version,  but since I've already got this one I'll be upgrading it.

I haven't really decided yet, but I might go with a globe front sight with replaceable inserts.
I really like using target type sights instead of optics.

[bmwrd0]

I have a Mossberg 144 and a Walther KKM with those type sights, and I too love them.

[Hickory n Steel]

Currently I've only got aperture & globe sights on a few airguns but I do put peep sights on everything I can.
I'm just not really big on scopes and open sights aren't that great, so I go with apertures.

[bmwrd0]

Currently I've only got aperture & globe sights on a few airguns but I do put peep sights on everything I can.
I'm just not really big on scopes and open sights aren't that great, so I go with apertures.

I am the same way.

[Hickory n Steel]

That used stock I bought is at the post office and I should have it this afternoon when I get home from running errands and stuff I get to see if this stock fits my particular generation of Mk2.
If the stock is compatible,  I'll tackle the trigger guard next.

I was originally leaning towards making my own trigger guard, but Boyd's has a bottom metal set for $25 and at that price I'm probably better off just buying this.

[Hickory n Steel]

Well it's not the right stock.
Clearly it's for a 1st generation mk2 and the seller was either mistaken or they lied to me.

They don't accept returns, but maybe they'll be willing to do something.
I think I can get the stock to fit, it won't be pretty, but you wouldn't see any of it as long as I don't screw up and blow out some wood.

I'll have to really give it some thought and determine just how much wood needs to be removed to make it fit, I am stuck with the stock and don't know anybody who could possibly need it so I really have nothing to loose honestly.
It all depends on whether the front action screw hole will be utilized or not, because I don't want a hole I've gotta fill.

[Hickory n Steel]

The seller said I could return the stock, but that's a lot of hassle and $20 shipping I'd be out plus I'd likely be gambling on another stock if I ever found one.

I decided to try and make the stock fit my gun, and I actually managed to succeed.
The work I did actually went better than I expected it to, most of it on the inside where it won't be visible thankfully.
It will need to be refinished, but I suspect this to be a cheaper wood that might not take a finish that well so I don't know what I'll do.


Here is the work I had to do.

I had to enlarge the trigger slot, because the trigger group housing has a flat spring and pin on one side that needs room.( apparently more changes were made to the mk2 than I realized.
I also had to extend the mag well slot.


I had to extend the relief for the safety and carve out a bunch on the inside for it and the whole fire control group, plus for the screw lugs as well as remove the middle screw lug which seems to be for a different stock option.

Inletting at the back here for the safety was scary as hell, one slip and I'd be blowing out a huge chunk of wood that I could never reattach properly.



And I had to extend the inletting for the receiver, it came out much much better than it appears.


Overall this work came out better than I thought it would and I proved that a previous generation stock for a savage mkG can be modified to fit a current production mk2.

[bmwrd0]

Nice work, and I am glad to see more wood and not Tupperware out in the shooting world.

[Hickory n Steel]

Nice work, and I am glad to see more wood and not Tupperware out in the shooting world.

Thanks.
I looked online and apparently this stock should be some kind of maple, so I have proceeded with taking all the finish off with a cabinet card.
Preserving the checkering is going to be a challenge, but in the end taping it off real good should save it, and it might look kind of cool with the checkering being a bit of a different color than the rest of the stock.

" more wood " makes me laugh because I ended up with less wood in a couple spots than I'd like to see.
I removed the bare minimum though, and it just could not be helped.

[Hickory n Steel]

Well I will have to call Savage on Monday to order the longer stock mounting screws that I need.
It turns out they're a proprietary 12-32 that nobody else makes.
You can find the OEM savage screws available online, but everybody says " extra long " while listing the standard 1" length or just not listing the length at all.
I need the 1-1/4" screws.

It's probably better this way because everybody but midway USA wanted an arm and a leg for the screws they had, and I'm sure the prices will be much more reasonable direct from Savage.

[Hickory n Steel]

I had a bit of an adventure with the stock refinish work.

Scraping the top coat off with a cabinet card and razor blade went fine, but in sanding I could not get all the original stain out which might show.
I'd have liked to just leave it all for an even base color, bu none of the scars it had were candidates for Steam ironing out.
Masking off the checkering worked out fine at least.
The real problems came when I went to stain it, I keep forgetting that the  " gunstock " color from both minwax and Varathane sucks.
The picture on the label looks good but every time I but it I'm disappointed by how light and entirely ineffective it is.

Having no useful stain on hand and not waning to go buy more I decided to try using the RIT dye I had left over from a Case Barlow I re-dyed the bone handles on last year.
I knew people have used on stocks before it so I decided to give it a try.
It looked good at first but was mostly just built up on the surface, it was coming off and smearing around when I started rubbing in some watco.
.
I grabbed acetone to clean it off and ended up with some runs and drips that wouldn't come off.
After I was done getting the majority of it all wiped off, I tried a fresh rag with some more acetone on those runs and they weren't coming off because it had clearly absorbed into the wood.
Now I don't know if this was a good idea or not, but since the acetone had clearly helped the dye soak into the wood I decided to try mixing some Rit dye and acetone together.

I had to be careful to keep everything nice and wet so the dye wouldn't start to build up on the surface from the acetone flashing off so quickly but it did work.
I used a combination of a chocolate brown and a little red wine , and ended up with the exact color I had in mind.
I probably should have mixed the dye with water or something, I will look into the process people have used.




I ended up making the stock look old-ish which was not my intention,  but I think it'll probably look alright with enough light coats of watco rubbed in.
I prefer the military style linseed oil finish, it looks good, is easy to keep up, and is easy to do.
You can do as many ir as few applications as you want for the desired finish.

[Hickory n Steel]

I called savage and " ordered " the longer stock mounting screws I need, I was ready to pay for them but they didn't charge me anything.

I also went online and ordered the 6-48×3/16 scope mount screws I need to attach the low profile 3/8 dovetail I'll be making to attach a peep sight with.