Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Match Grips for a Daisy 7X7 Part 1

Still tweaking the Daisy 717 that Nick sent me. It's shooting fine and all, but you probably already know how I feel about the plastic grips. I've been using electrical splicing tape to keep them from moving around. It's invisible and it works, but they're still plasticy.

Made a stop at Terry Lumber and found a nice walnut board.

Sort of traced the original plastic grips, then made the requisite changes to make it more of a true 10-meter grip profile. Cut the grips our on the scroll saw. Tried to get the figuring in a semi-prominent location on the left grip.



I'll still need a spacer and a palm shelf. Later.

I need to have the guys at Terry keep an eye out for more pieces of walnut like this.

Sanded the top of each grip flat to get a tight fit against the 717's frame.

Then, using a transfer punch, marked the location for the grip screw.

Drilled the screw hole.

There's a protruding stud on each side of the 717's grip frame. Needed to counterbore the inside of each grip to fit over it.

Went just deep enough to let the grips seat flush.

Like so.

Counterbored the outside of the grip to recess the head of the screw

A little extra material all around. I noticed that the pin holding the sear in the grip frame extends just beyond flush. This was what I was after--a second point to anchor the grips to prevent rotation/movement.

Seating the grips left a small 1/8" round indentation on each side from the pin. I drilled each grip approx. 1/4" deep at that point.

Then found a piece of hardened 1/8" rod. Scored it with a carbide knife in the lathe.

Then ground it to length. Left it about 1/2" longer than the original pin.

Pressed it in and the old pin pushed right out.

Another view. The pin will keep the grips from rotating--well, the pin and the tight fit at the top of the grip frame against the receiver.

And the sanding begins.

Used about anything on hand to make the wood removal go faster.

As always, this is a trial and error fit. I sand until the grip fits my hand.

Most of the sanding was done using various sizes of sanding drums. Much of this work is identical to other grip projects I've attempted. I added a label to those archived posts so you can now search for "grips" to find them easier.



Remember to wear a mask when working with walnut, as it's a lung irritant.

Starting to look like something.

Test fit.

Adding a groove for my palm.

Man, that's a lot of dust. More to come.

2 comments:

Ryan said...

Ok. Cool. Know I know a sanding drum (drums) mounted in a drill press will work for contouring hardwood grips. A trip to Harbor Freight will provide me with a nice selection I'm sure.

Excellent, I've got a Sheridan that want's to be free of some plastic!

derrick38 said...

Ryan,

Yes, Sheridans and plastic should never be used in the same sentence. HF does have the sanding drums. The Sheridan has minimal inletting--IIRC. Don't forget to use that dust mask.