Wood AR-15 Stock: Day Six
Grips: check.
Trigger guard: check.
Rail panels: check.
It was now stock time.
Our wood stock is by far the most functionally intricate piece of our wood AR-15 furniture. Not only is it the largest and most iconic piece of the build but it is also the least supported by aluminum or steel and will have to sustain the greatest amount of force during regular use. The B.A.D. stock hardware we are using requires a buffer tube hole as well as two holes for the steel attachment arms. There is less than 1/4 inch of space between the top of the buffer tube and the charging handle which limits the thickness of the top of stock. The two attachment arm holes need to be precisely drilled, not only in relation to each other but also parallel to the buffer tube hole so that the stock will have full range of adjustments and extend plumb behind the rifle. Finally, unlink B.A.D.'s hardware, we want our wood stock to be made from a solid piece that completely covers the buffer tube. We had our work cut out for us.
Templating the rough cut wood stock with the B.A.D. hardware.
We started by cutting all the rough edges from the glued pieces and were very please to see the grain come to life. Through our practice piece, we knew it was very important to have level surfaces to drill into (of course) so we decided to shape the stock last. Attaching the stock to the hardware is where we were going to succeed or fail so the shaping would take place after we had conquered the hardware battle.
Cut, template taped and buffer tube hole drilled.
We did our best to make a paper template of where the buffer tube and attaching arm holes needed to be drilled and then used a series of drills, and drill extensions to cut the buffer tube hole. We didn't want the buffer tube hole to extend through the butt plate of the stock, so we had to slowly mill out the hole and then sand out the sides. After a few hours, the buffer tube slide all the way to back smoothly.
Starting the arm holes.
The attaching arm holes needed to be drilled to a certain depth from the front. Then countersinks needed to be drilled from the butt plate and finally a smaller diameter hole to connect the two ends. These holes will allow the arms to be inserted from the front roughly one inch short of the butt plate and then bolts will be inserted into the countersinks from the rear and through the smaller diameter hole, into the arms. All that means that we will have about 3/4 inch of wood pinched between the end of the steel arms and the bolts.
Three holes drilled.
We now had an attachable and (mostly) adjustable wood stock. Below are a few pictures of where we left it for the day. The next step is shaping the stock to be fully adjustable, look and feel good.
