Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats MPI or Bansner stocks?

If it helps you sleep at night.

For the sticks to be "molded in" wouldnt there need to be fiberglass resin over them? Otherwise arent they just attached some how? Just sayin

Doc is indeed responsive and will work with you.

Nope, the finish has been sanded off. The sticks go under the resin
/fill in the back and front,. Also, who ever put the sticks in had to stop were the mold stopped for the BDM cutout and the bolt handle. Why would they have bothered if the the sticks were put in after the stock was out of the mold? It's pretty easy to see this was a BDM stock at one time. The resin is the same color throughout the stock inclucing were it covers the sticks. You can still see traces of it on top of the popcicle sticks. Accu-glass doesn't even come in that color. The defense of this was it was an "ex-empolyee" who did it to make MPI look bad. Supposedly that was from Doc himself. Maybe he was a current employee when it was built. The stock went to Colorado School of Trades where the picture was taken by someone I personally trust. Matt has been a member here for a long time and I've talked to him on the phone about his line of Schmidt and Bender scopes. IMO, he's a straight shooter.

I have heard many horror stories about MPI from years past and have avoided them like the pleague. If they are building a good product now good for them.

Terry

So the fiberglass was sanded off? Ever tried sanding fiberglass?


Personally I've never been one to put much faith in horror stories or rumors. Firsthand experience trumps all

A friend had an MPI... 416 Wby. 12 shots and it started cracking at the tang.

Like I said in my previous post " firsthand experience" trumps all.Lots of friends had---------------

So now you think fiberglass can't be sanded? Ok, but that's only in the world you live in.

I was there and watched it happen.

Who installed "Your Friends "416 WBY. stock ? MPI ? or another shop? Was the stock ordered for the large magnum? Heavy Magnum calibres require heavier lamination, cross pins, etc. If you start with the wrong lamination, improperly bed the receiver, neglect to install cross pins, etc. You run the risk of structural failure. 416 WBY. has serious recoil.

Doc installed and bedded it. To his credit he tried to "fix" it...

Perhaps an 8lb all-up 416 Wby is too much of a test for the MPI... no doubt that argument could be made and I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that.

To TC1s post. MPI hand laminates the fiberglass shell of the stock, in halves. The two sides are laminated togeather, top and bottom, with glass cloth and resin. The receiver area is a poured Epoxy resin block, black in color. The bolt handle notch and mag. release notch, are NOT, in the mould. They are filed and bedded in, by the installer. This allows the same blank to be used on right or left hand receivers,regular BDL or DM models. IF the sticks were on the inside of the shell, there would be black epoxy resin between them, and urathane foam behind the ones in the nose. If the fiberglass shell was removed, there would be NO structural strength on that side of the stock. I beleave that the student glued the sticks on, in an attempt to widen the stock through the receiver and forend, as other students have done, in the past. Took photos to document his customization, and got POed when he was dogged by other students and instructors, or was told that he would need a layer of glass cloth over the sticks, to make them stay in place. I will make the offer to exchange the pictured stock, for another MPI stock of his choosing, one with a wider forend, maybe. I will properly pillar bed the stock to his barreled receiver, and let him do the rest. I will cut up the pop Sick-el stock and see just what it is made of. Please pass this info on, to your friend. Thanks

Brad,

was the stock repaired to your "friends" satisfaction?

No.

But I honestly think the 416 is too much for an MPI stock.

Having said that, I don't doubt the theory/explanation on the popsicle stick stock above... makes a lot of sense to me actually.

There are certain rifles that no one makes a lightweight stock for but MPI does, and in that instance I'd not hesitate to use an MPI. But I just don't happen to own any of those rifles so there are other options for me.

Have a great day.

Doc say's it was an ex-employee. You say it was the student. One of you is wrong. Matt said the finish came off and the sticks were there and the picture shows exactly what I decribed. You honestly don,t know if there was a skim coat on top of the sticks with a fiberglass overlay or not. That's only a guess. I see the same fill material on top of the sticks as I do the inletting. But like I said before. If it helps you sleep at night go with that explanation .

I have no problem sleeping nights. I do have a problem with second hand Stories, from somebody that hasn't a clue how the stocks are made. I was around the School of Trades for many years, and saw many such projects and clueless students. I am hands on. Show me the stock. I will cut it up and show what it is made of.The finish you discribe is a black gel coat. It dosn't "come off" If you were to sand or file through the gel coat, you would see the fiberglass cloth material. Doc at MPI had said that IF, now that is IF the sticks were laid in the shell of the stock, it "Could Have Been" a disgruntaled employee. Not that it was one. I have the skill level to epoxy 3/8" rebar into another makers stock, take some lame photos, and slander their product. Not happening. You don't like MPI Stocks. I get it. If you are OK with your actions. Good for you. Life goes on. I have come not to beleave 90% of what I see or read on the Net, because of things like this. You probably beleave the TV show, American Guns, is all real also. I'm done.

The problem with sending the stock to you is you have less credibility than the guy who took the picture in the first place and seem to be nothing more than a MPI cheerleader. As far as your comments about me slandering the company, that's complete bullchit. All I did is comment on the photo's and you went into your MPI is capable of no wrong rant, which BTW is nothing more than a wild guess on your part. I don't believe a lot of the things I read on the net either and you are a perfect example.

That is one hell of an offer. I would trade it in a heartbeat even if I were the one who glued the sticks to it , or not. I know 440dodger personally and he has had more MPI's in his hands than any one I know. FWIW, his fiberglass and rifle building skills are top notch and I have seen happy-customer-o-plenty walk out of his shop.

Get your buddy to send him the hacked one. Your pard will get a professionally bedded, new stock and 440 can cut the hacked one up and finally end the popsicle pizzin match once and for all. I would love to see pix of that thing cut down the middle, then butterflied to tell the real story.

Ouch! that hurt. ;-) Well I can tell when I am talking to a brick wall. I just hope that the other Campfire readers can use their brain and deduce that I do know what I am talking about, as far as fiberglass, stock work is concerned. I have bedded several Hundred MPI Stocks in the past 20+ years. That is what I do. I am not sure what you might do, and won't even try to figure it out. If my comments were constrewed as an " MPI is capable of no wrong rant"
I appologise to the readers of this post, as I know that everybody makes mistakes. I take nothing back as far as the BS posted about the photo. Offer still stands on the stock.

MPI is far and away the biggest piece of [bleep] schit to have ever entered the literal stock market.

BT/DT and still trying to get the smell off my mitts.