Our day of shooting inspired us to get after the next few pieces of wood furniture so, after a day of travel we were back in wood shop. Before the day at the range, we had shaped the trigger guard but hadn't yet drilled the holes or added the screws. Securing the trigger guard then, was our first order of business. It didn't take long to mark and drill the holes and add the screws.  Pretty much all of this work took place on the drill press and was pretty easy compared to the countersunk grip panel holes.

Wood trigger guard secured with screws. 

To the rail panels! We were excited to begin working on the rail panels after all the micro-shaping work on the grip panels and trigger guard.

We selected the wood for the three rail panels and cut each pieces down to size: just under 4 1/2 inches long and 5/8 inch high at the tallest point. Before we curved the edges or otherwise shaped the three planks we drilled and counter suck the holes. Again, shoutout to the drill press. We used Magpul's M-LOK T-Nut Screws to attached the rail panels and below is a picture of how the rail panels looked at this point in the process.

The rail panels weren't going to have the same level of 3D shape as the grip panels so we were pleased to see that we were able to do much of the work with a variety of sanders. Here you can see each of the panels side-by-side at different stages of the shaping process.

 A couple hours later and we had all three grips fully shaped and attached to the rifle. They look lighter than the grips because of the sanded and no oil, but we are pleased with how they came out and can't wait to see them when they are finished and sealed.

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