finished another gun

[jtkwest]

just finished this gun for my friend, it is 110cm fully enclosed poured epoxy/graphite track, 6 piece teak laminate. 9/32" x 57" riffe spear. neptonics trigger and handle frame. super padded butt (made out of flip flop) ) outer dimensions of the stock is 1 .5" wide x 1.4 " tall. 6 coats of teak oil for the finish with wet sanding in between coats with 320 grit paper.

 

[alexrom1207]

Nice gun, interesting choice of butt material. I would think the flip flop would screw up the balance (as most of them are very buoyant)? How'd you get around that?

 

[blaiz]

the slipper butt pad is pretty common, especially here in hawaii. You just have to do all the ballasting after the butt has been installed.

Nice work jtkwest... Still been trying to get my guns built. Have a few stocks laminated but havnt gone much further than that.:friday

 

[Salehthefish]

Hey man very nice looking congrats...

All best

 

[jtkwest]

Nice gun, interesting choice of butt material. I would think the flip flop would screw up the balance (as most of them are very buoyant)? How'd you get around that?

so far i havent ballasted any of the guns i have built. i have plans to do a couple big guns for this winter blue water season. those will be ballasted. i have built 6 guns so far .all but one were rear handle and very slim. the weight of the metal handle frame seems to add a little weight.enough to offset the little bit of flip flop. i have a gun just like this, that i have been using for 6 months now. i didnt add any lead and it is almost neutral in the water, i like it that way.

 

[jtkwest]

here is the same model gun after 6 months abuse but no flip flop . it needs oiling.maybe tomorrow

 

[foxfish]

Nice gun & very interesting about the guns balance!
Very often I have to add 1-2ozs (55g) to get the most out of my guns, I mean perfectly balanced so as you can put one finger through the trigger guard & the gun just hovers!
You must have a good eye for you guns.

 

[jtkwest]

to be honest, i dont really fully understand the ballasting thing. it seems to me if your gun sinks at all, you shouldnt add any lead. and why arent riffe guns or sea hornet or ab biller or any brand i have ever seen or heard of ,(with exception of online custom gun builders) has no ballast. i think maybe it makes more sense on mid handle guns, but not so much on rear handle ones. does that make sense? my thin reef guns are almost neutral in the water, if you let the gun go in the water, it sinks very slowly, i think i timed it as 15 seconds to fall 25 ft to the bottom, it is ever so slightly weighted at the tip. if i could, i would add a little buoyancy at the muzzle,