CVA Kentucky pistol restock

[Captchee]

As a lot of you know , I like working on these old kit guns . I know a lot of custom builders who wont even touch them . However for me its the challenge . for the most part these kits were just bolted together and not really built . the result was that you come out with something exactly like what the company offers as a finished piece . While this one is a CVA , Traditions does the same thing . I find it really sad as if they would just take alittle time and revise their stock patterns and or kit instructions , their customers would be provided with a lot better product at really no or very little additional charge...
So here we go .
im actually almost finished with this so ill just be posting short descriptions .
so lets see what we can do with this

[Captchee]

so first I chose a piece of wood that will complement the stock ill be creating . the wood needs to be of stable species .the grain needs to run through the wrist proper . that's first and foremost. if you NOTE on the original stock , that wasn't taken into consideration and eventually the stock failed. in this case it was dropped by the owner and it shattered .
2nd is figure . we all love good figure . so im looking for proper grain that also has figure . in this case I chose a piece of black walnut . As you can see this piece has an unusual growth pattern that keeps it from being usable for anything much larger then a pistol . its basically scrap that's 5 1/2 inchs thick . Ill get 2 stocks from this piece

[Captchee]

now before I start inletting parts there are a few things I want to do .
in this case the barrel is a 50 cal . its good and thick . however it also makes the pistol rather nose heavy . so because we have a lot of thickness im going to draw file the barrel to a taper . thus removing about 3/32 of material to the muzzle .

[Captchee]

now I can start inletting the barrel. then I remove the wood for the RR channel . I want a web thickness between the RR channel bottom and the barrel channel of 1/8 .
I don't have a photo of that but here is some of the inletting beginning

[Captchee]

One of the things I have always really disliked about these pistols is the choice of sideplates they use . I really dislike them . so we will replace the side plate

[Captchee]

now the other thing that I have covered in other tutorials is the nose cap . WHY these manufactures insist on this large oversized , clunky thing is beyond me . so like in the other tutorials where I have described how to do this , im going to take this nose cap down . on this one ill make it octagon.
in this photo im just starting the shaping . it will finish out nicely

[Captchee]

with the nose cap roughed out im now going to start the shaping of the stock .
as always I use files and rasps to accomplish this

[Captchee]

lets take a moment to do a comparison.
As I have said many times before in other tutorials . there is a lot of wood that should be taken off these kits as part of an original build . The Pistols are no different..
also at this point I have sanded the stock to 150 grit . while it may look ready to finish its not .
but lets compare the original stock to the new one we are building . note how much smaller it looks . it should be noted that the new stock was cut from a tracing of the original . so everything your seeing can be done from what the original manufacture provided . Note that even the curve of the palmel has been reduced so as to make it fit the hand much better

[Captchee]

ok so after sanding to 220 , whiskering , sanding , more whiskering and then finishing then a final work over with 300 and then wiskering again I then work the completed stock over with burlap. the result is this . at this point the stock is ready for oil . the color you see is not a stain or dye . this is the color of the wood plus the oils from my hands . It should be noted that a lot of builders do everything they can to keep these natural oils from building on the stocks they work on . If this was say a maple stock then I would do the same . however being walnut it naturally has a lot of oils in it. I also want the figure to pop even more so I chose to let those contaminates from my hands build naturally.

[Captchee]

seems I missed a step . I also added a silver thumb inlay . this is done prior to the finish sanding . by doing that you insure that the metal fit is level with the stock when the finish work is done. but as you can see the stock even at this point is very smooth . I did this inlay at the 220 sanding point

[Captchee]

ok so the stock is ready for its first flood coat of oil and subsequent repeat coats . For this project im choosing to use permilyn as a finish . it will pull the figure and still achieve a nice natural and deep glow to the wood . the first 3 days I do my repeat coats. with wet sanding between coats it will take a good 7 to 10 days for the oils layers to dry . even though it may feel dry to the touch it wont be .

[Captchee]

so while the stock is drying I go to work on the metal parts .
the barrel is block sanded . I want a grey finish on it as well . im also adding a brass inlay on the barrel.
so using the Clorox treatment I showed in other tutorials , ill rust the barrel then boil it to convert the red iron oxide to black iron oxide .
I want to say something about this process . I have read on other forums where folks have commented on my other turorial stating that the Clorox will pit the steel . Yes it can and will if that's the type of finish your after . however if you take your time and do it right it will not create heavy pitting . its all about how long the solution is aloud to react . when I use the process all I want is the flash rusting action . im creating a staining rust that's very hard to remove . take your time . as you can see there isn't any pitting that's formed

[Captchee]

now I move on to the brass parts .
I finish these to 600 gr on a Dimond stone and with polishing stones . I do not buff polish the brass parts .
thus what is achieved is a nice brass finish that's not shinning like we see on manufactures pieces or when someone has used a buffing wheel or polishing compound on them .
also note theat the trigger guard is a different color . some of that is do to the light and the camera / my phone in this case . however this also is because the parts on these can range almost to the point of being bronze vs brass . IE a harder red brass vs a softer yellow brass .

[Captchee]

ok so that's it for now . over the next few days ill be continuing to finish up this piece .
once the stock completely dries , ill buff it out one last time . then re install all the parts .
im also making a box for this so ill be posting photos of that as well .
I have to have this completed and off by Wednesday of this next week. still a lot of work to do .

[hanshi]

You've basically built a custom pistol just as if you'd ordered each piece alone. From looking at the original pistol there is so much difference in what you've done just so far that there's no comparison. One thing about these imported factory guns that stands out, IMHO, is the barrels are surprisingly high quality. In my experience they usually equal the accuracy of many American barrels; probably most. I'm anxious to see the final build.

[Captchee]

well pulled a very early morning . finished the pistol and got most of the box completed .still a couple things left to do
but here are some photos

[Captchee]

more

[Captchee]

and the last ones for today

[White Falcon]

Beautiful job and gun!!

[hanshi]

The difference is amazing; and I'm impressed with the result.

[Cherrybow1]

Nice! I’m planning a restock CVA pistol in maple. This build is great to see.