Tag Archives: Oak leaves

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Custom Carved African Eland Rifle Stock …

Another rifle with a story to tell …

 The story behind this custom carved gunstock is that it started with a Weatherby Vangard rifle purchased with a tax return check.  The stock was added a few years later and shaped from a Maple Burl gunstock blank the the owner had been saving for the right rifle project.  It was shaped by a company specializing in aftermarket wood gunstocks.  Fast forward two years and a hunt of a lifetime was planned.  A trip to Texas to hunt the largest Antelope in the world, The African Eland.  They can tip the scales at almost a ton!  The owner was sure he would never make it to Africa to hunt but had always wanted to hunt Eland.  By going to hunt the Eland in Texas, there was the bonus of filling the freezer with steaks.  After his trip he wanted to add a memory to his stock to commemorate the hunt.  Carving African animals, any type of African animal  is one of my favorite carvings to do so I was happy to do this carving for him.

 

Here is some information about The African Eland courtesy of Wikipedia: 

The elands are spiral-horned antelopes belonging to the Bovid tribe of Tragelaphini. Females weigh  660–1,300 lb,  and stand 49–60 in at the shoulder.  Bulls weigh 880–2,200 lb,  and stand 59–72 in at the shoulder.   Coats are generally smooth at most of the body with a rough mane. Females have a tan coat, while males have a darker tan coat with a blueish-grey tinge; there may also be a series of white stripes vertically on the sides of bulls (mainly in parts of the Karoo in South Africa). But as males age they tend to turn a grayer color. Males have dense fur on their foreheads and a large dewlap. Both sexes have horns, about 26 in long and with a steady spiral ridge (resembling that of the bushbuck). The horns of males are shorter (17–26 in) and thicker than the females (20–27 in), which are more pointed. The female’s horns are wider set and thinner than the male’s. The eland has a mass of about 650 kilograms, which is the double of the kudu. They have a hump at the shoulder and a broad fold of skin hanging from the neck.  Elands are said to be one of the slowest antelopes and can even jump over a height of 2.5 meters or above.  Elands have an average lifespan of 15–20 years, and some have been known to live for as many as 25 years.  When walking, tendon or joints in the eland’s foreleg produce a sharp clicking sound, the cause of which has not been widely investigated. The sound carries some distance and is a good indication of an approaching herd.  Scientists take it as a form of communication in elands.

 

Eland Carving imageThe Maple Burl stock blank had been air dried for five years before shaping it into the gun stock.   Maple is a dense wood so it took the detail very well.   I did use photos of the client’s Eland to do the initial drawing and designing of the final design.  The Burl in the buttstock was too beautiful to carve over so I used a freeform border design and worked the Eland into the Burl without taking away from the natural grain.   The stock’s pistol grip and forend were done with a Basket Weave & Oak Leaves combination.   The caliber was a .300 Weatherby magnum so a good solid grip style was requested and a basket weave fit the bill with both solid grip and classic looks. 


This is a working rifle that gets used even with the carvings.   I am always happy to see a client happy with the work and also planning to continue to hunt with the rifle.   It is always good to know there will be more memories made with this family heirloom.    To develop your own heirloom, drop me a line.

eland drawing


Thanks for stoppin’ by…

Lance Larson  



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Custom Marlin Model 60 “Leaf Rifle”

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 My Custom Marlin model 60 “Leaf Rifle” is done and I didn’t need that rake.

                A few weeks ago I let you know about a custom  gunstock carving project on one of my own rifles.   A very accurate little Marlin rifle that sported a stock with all the beauty of a chunk of 2×4.   I chose to Marlin model 60 photocompletely cover the stock with Oak leaves and Acorns.   There are several steps in carving an individual leaf.   Since I was doing so many leaves, I found it easier to do one section of leaves at a time.  What really does take the most time is the detail shaping of each leaf and making them flow with the adjacent leaves.   I had to make sure the leaf pattern flowed but that individual leaves still stood out.

                I achieved this with varying the texture of different leaves.  Some were smooth, some were cupped with the edges up, some were of textured quite rough, and I added a texture of very fine vanes to some leaves.   I kept up this plan of leaf variations when it came to the staining of the leaves also.  I broke up the flow of the oak leaves here and there with acorns.  And for something as little different, I inlaid two simulated ivory acorns in the buttstock.

Leaf rifle - carving complete

                 In the earlier article about this carving, I said I would count the leaves on the finished rifle.   After counting them five times and getting the same number three of those five times, I can say with some level of certainty that there are one hundred and Leaf rifle - pre-stained buttstockthirteen leaves and twenty four acorns on my rifle.  Yes, my eyes crossed several time during this process !

                 When I completed all the carving and texturing I went over it with my hands to feel for any sharp points.  When I found any, I went over them lightly with a course Scotch Brite pad.  Since this was a Light colored wood and I would have to stain the carvings, I gave it a coat of MinWax pre-stain to prevent blotchiness in Leaf rifle - walnut stain appliedthe stain.  I let the pre-stain dry about thirty minutes and then gave it a liberal coat of MinWax walnut stain.  I wiped off the excess stain and let is sit in the sun for a couple hours.   For those of you who don’t live in the desert where it is 110 degrees in the shade, you may want to let you stain dry Finished leaf rifle cheekpiece - close upovernight.   

                 I wanted to continue with leaf contrast so I used oil paints.  I used some “burnt umber” colored paint and a small amount of thinner to make my own darker walnut stain.  The leaves with the fine vane texture I stained very dark, as well as the caps of all the acorns.  I mixed the oil paint a little thinner to get a lighter shade and just painted a leaf here and there where it looked right.  The painting/staining of the leaves from Finished Leaf rifle - stained, painted, and finishedthat point on was all by what I felt looked good.  I let the stock dry in the desert sun again for several hours.   This would be the equivalent of three to four days of drying in the house.   

               The final coat was a MinWax Tung oil finish.  I applied this finish with a small foam brush  and wiped up the excess with cotton paint rags made from t-shirt material.   Then it was time to let that desert sun do it’s thing again.   My little rifle is now ready for years of dependable service in the field.   But now I have another worry…..if I set it down or lean it against a tree while I’m hunting, will I ever find it again ?


Thanks for stoppin by…..

Lance Larson

Custom carved Marlin Model 60



News

So many leaves I may need a rake…….

So many leaves I may need a rake…….


Recently I acquired a Marlin model 60 semi-auto .22 rifle.   I got lucky at a NRA Fundraising event and won it in a raffle.  I knew very little about them but once I brought this little rifle out to the range, I realized it was way too accurate not to be a keeper.   Since I will be making this my go-to small game rifle, I had to hand carve the stock.   There have been millions of these rifles sold in the last forty years so I had to custom hand carve mine like no other model 60 around.   After all, it’s what I do.   The photo below is the rifle I am starting with for my “leaf camouflage” rifle.

Marlin model 60 photo

After deciding to do some Oak Leaves on forearm and grip, I started working on the design.  As I was working on the design, an idea came to me and I decided to really go “Over-The-Top”.   I am doing a custom relief carving over the entire stock with leaves.  I thought it might be interesting to show the steps I go through to complete this project over the next few weeks (months?).


Leaf carving - Outline leaf cuts imageThe first step was to draw out an outline of the stock and then draw and trace many, many, many, many, (Did I mention many?) many leaves on the drawing of the stock outline.   This is not something to try and do at one sitting.   Transferring that pattern onto the stock and start cutting the leaf outlines is the next step.   There are several individual carving steps to go through on each leaf to complete a custom relief leaf carving into the gunstock.   Now multiply that by over a hundred leaves and I’m wondering what I’ve gotten myself into.


Leaf carving -Outline leaf cuts around cheekpiece imageThese photos show the first couple of carving steps.   The initial cutting of the leaf outlines and the start of some rough gouge work to get the basic shape of the leaves.  Since they are Oak Leaves, I have added some Acorns here and there in the design.   As you can see the stock is made from a light colored hardwood so I will have to do some staining again when I have this carving completed.  


Leaf carving - rough shaping the leaves imageI will keep you all posted as this project comes along.  There is plenty of work yet to do with rough gouging out all the leaves, and then shaping each individual leaf.  Not to mention the staining of all the individual leaves to get color and hue variation all through the stock.   I also have to put a nice finish on it too.   (What have I gotten myself into? )   I will try to get an accurate count of how may leaves are on this rifle in my next project update, unless my eyes permanently cross while counting them.   


Thanks for stoppin’ by…….

Lance Larson