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I'm debating purchasing a Bishop wood stock that is not finished, needs final sanding and minor inletting to specific action/barrel. Maybe some shaping around the cheek piece. First of all, these stocks any good?

Any recommendations on who could do the finishing work? I am still tossing around doing it myself depending on how much I spend on the stock as is.

Thanks all...

I used a couple Bishop stocks in another life long ago and far away. Basically you get out of them what you put in. I never saw one that a rasp couldn't wrestle it into a more pleasing shape. Everyone's aesthetics are different, only you can decide.

As for finishing, there are many ways to skin that cat. You brought it up here so there will be ideas, claims, and procedures spewing like lava out of Mt. Aetna. Stand back. (And yes, it's not rocket science. You seem like a steady fellow and you should be able to handle this yourself.)

yeah, that was asking for a plethora of responses

thanks...

I liked the old Bishops stocks not familiar with the new ones. Do a search on finishing gun stocks there is lots of info and lots of methods. Unless you want the practice I would recommend getting the best wood you can afford as it is the same amount of work to finish a plain piece of wood as an exhibition piece.

Oh yes, you have a plethora!

Inletting was generally pretty nice on the Bishop stocks. There is usually a lot of extra wood that can be reshaped to a more slim, trim, profile, if that tickles your fancy.

There are a plethora of stock finishing recipes out there. Many if not most being pretty good. Which to select depends mostly on how much effort you want to expend.

Here's a recent topic on the subject: http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/6991085142

Bishop,Rhinehart, Fajon(sp) use to be the more popular names in stocks about 30 years or so ago. As IRC, they went out of business.I don' t know if Richards is still in business, but I think so.They all had different grades of wood and models of different stocks to pick and chose from.I still have some of their catalogs.

Final inletting and finish, as Gonahhh stated, isn't rocket science.Patience and attention to detail is required

Laurel Mountain stain is the best and will reflect wood as you move it to get light to different grain. Deep, like under glass.
Tru Oil is best with Tung oil second. Fill the grain until like a glass plate with Tru Oil only. Much work and time.
Then thin the oil and use a touch up spray gun to spray a coat without runs. Let get tacky and spray again, over and over so each coat melts and blends with each other. You will get one thick layer that way instead of many hard layers that rub through. Let dry until no odor is smelled, weeks if needed. I have propped the stocks in the truck cab in the sun to speed it up. Do not hurry, it must be dry. Now you can rub it out with what you want without breaking through a layer. The secret is one thick coat, not a thin layer that is hard under another.
A $300 plank of fine wood made into a stock is junk if you rub through. I bought planks from a kiln and pre cut them to store and dry much more before inletting and shaping.
I hated pre inletted stocks since none fit anyway. They leave wood for fit. I have chainsawed trees into planks to make stocks but the moisture content is critical before the work.
I had a white oak struck by lightning and sawed it up. I pre cut a little over, stacked and stickered in the basement for a month, dry, 35 to 40% humidity. Made a pie safe for the wife and in 20 years it is still the same with all perfect fit.
Flintlock dried better. Maple plank from a kiln.

I have two Fajen-stocked rifles, both 25-06's. One in Maple with the original 'Fajen' plastic butt plate, the other in walnut with a rubber recoil pad. Beautiful pieces of wood.

Wow! Just WOW!

Shaking my head...

Yeah, I didn't want to be the first to comment on that. I think I'll go have a beer instead of trying to straighten that mess out.

I doubt that mess can be straightened...

Using a Bishop stock. That must have been left over from days gone by - not that there's anything wrong with that. Best of luck - it's always satisfying to get a nice finish on a piece of wood.

Minor inletting?

My experience with these "90% inletted" stocks is that 90% of the wood has been removed, but 90% of the work remains.

Nothing wrong with that. Good luck, and have fun with it. Take your time - only work on it for an hour or two at a time - the results will be better.

Like most stock work, the last 10% of the work takes 90% of the effort...

Had to research things a bit due to the ridiculous nature of the post by brfshooter...
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/12889065/1

You cannot make up this kind of joke!

I had a deserving kid wistfully looking at some custom rifles, wishing he could afford something different from an off-the-shelf gun but at the same kind of money. I had a BRNO milsurp barreled action with a minty bore gathering dust, and an old pre-inlet black walnut Bishop stock that I had taken in trade in a weak moment. I set about polishing and rust bluing that turd of a barreled action, welded on an Oberndorf-style bolt handle, mounted a decent scope, and let it into the wood (not necessarily in that order). I then took a rasp to it- removed the cheek piece, slimmed it down by (seemingly) half, fitted a M70 butt plate and ebony grip cap, and chased the neatest schnabel into the fore arm tip that I ever executed. That gun finished up looking pretty sweet, even with the plain vanilla wood (and it shoots lights out). It remains the guy's favorite rifle which he proudly puts up against his buddies guns at every opportunity. I wish I had taken pictures. It took little effort on my part to give a kid a leg up- we gotta give back to the hobby now and then or we're all doomed.

Just goes to show that there are treasures buried inside of even the most mundane Bishop and Fajen pre-inlets of yore. It just takes a bit of imagination and patience to bring them to light.

Edit: And no, I didn't use Tru Oil or tung oil, or any other kind of oil. I knew the gun would be used hard in all manner of weather conditions so I gave it 10 coats of spar varnish rubbed out with 320x between coats to give a glass smooth finish that'll shed water like a duck's ass. Final rub out and waxing made for a subtle finish that some yahoos thought was an oil finish. I left it un-checkered- there are some limits to my generosity!

Exactly right. When I was 'building' ships, those a little less knowledgeable would wonder 'Why did the get the ship to 95% complete in 6 months but it took 4 months to do the last 5%'

The last wooden sailboat my buddy and I built, a 35' Sparkman&Stevens Pilot, only took us 5 months to lay the keel and scantlings and skin the hull (cold molded). It took us another two years to finish it.

My understanding from comments is most want a 1 day oil rubbed finish. It can take weeks to fill the grain alone but you want a custom stock in a few hours.
Just paint with grey deck paint.
Checker? I bet there might be one here that can do it, the rest will pay to have it done. I can tell with one question, when do you checker?
"My stock has 50 coats of linseed oil, M1 rubbed every day so it must be thick." Brilliant!
Have fun guys, I just chuckle over you that hate me, it shows a lack of smarts with no experience at all. Strange nobody shows pictures either. I would expect you would want to show your work.

Where are your pictures?