Clients often look for custom rifle stock makers to create products tailored for them or to solve problems that no other company has been able to do.
Especially when it comes to guns, people want custom-made wood products that reflect their standards and characteristics not only aesthetically but also physically.
Creating custom wood products, however, presents numerous challenges that require exceptional skills and experience. Let’s discuss the topic with an example in the following article!
Why finding competent custom rifle stock makers is complicated
If clients are firearms collectors, they are often fascinated by the mechanisms and development of gunstock technology, so they look for innovative designs, new styles, and unusual finishes.
Most shooters, however, also use firearms for hunting or target shooting and want them to be solid, durable, and functional.
Therefore, they look for a custom rifle stock maker that can build firearm stocks with a proper fit for high-level performance. Suppliers often offer standard-sized stocks that fit the average shooter but are not built according to individual preferences. Professional shooters, in particular, understand that customization is vital for achieving consistent accuracy.
For the wood manufacturer, creating custom-made wood products often means facing tough challenges and demands. Combining aesthetics and functionality is not trivial and especially so if at the same time you have to experiment and continually test as you attempt to meet a customer’s requirements.
Therefore, you need expert technicians who know the raw material very well and have state-of-the-art technologies and tools to create perfect products.
That is why most manufacturing companies can’t create custom rifle stocks.
Let’s consider an example involving air firearms
In air guns and rifles, the pressure adjustment system is usually mechanical. A client asked Minelli to make an electronic regulation system powered by battery.
The initial challenge lay in determining the optimal placement for the battery within the rifle stock.
Collaborating closely with the client, we established the general size of the battery. We had to draw the battery housing area and design an ergonomic handle that was completely hollow internally for housing the battery and with a connection hole inside the stock itself for cable routing. The grip was then completely redesigned to fit the battery.
At this point, however, an additional problem arose: the hollow grip was fragile. After trying to shoot, the hollow handle was not durable.
We then decided to produce an inner coating to the carbon grip (a carbon tube) glued to the wood with hot epoxy glue that would make the weapon extremely rigid.
Carbon is a durable and strong material but also very light, which allows the weapon to not be too heavy and, therefore, uncomfortable to use.
Bonding carbon to wood, however, is a very complicated process.
Carbon, in fact, is an inert material. It means it does not undergo any significant physical or chemical transformation depending on external conditions. Wood, however, is a living material, constantly moving, expanding, and shrinking depending on temperature and other external factors.
Combining these very different materials requires expertise, competency, the right machines, technology, and tools as well as special glues to integrate carbon into wood and make it a unique block of material.
At Minelli, we have proudly patented CarbonWood™, a unique and innovative material that mixes carbon fibers and wood to produce a new generation of stocks that combines the performance of carbon and the beauty, elegance, and prestige of wood.
If you want to receive the CarbonWood™ stocks brochure, click here!
This example vividly demonstrates that creating custom rifle stocks means a lot of trial and error, embracing mistakes, starting over, and coming up with more innovative ideas to meet customers’ needs.
Often, once one problem is solved, another could arise, and you have to start over to find the best way to ensure a perfect long-term result.
The wood manufacturer makes the difference
When it comes to firearms, it is crucial to do all the necessary quality tests to ensure a functional product.
A competent rifle stock manufacturer must guarantee:
- the gun stock’s long life (it cannot break after a few shots)
- constant shooting accuracy (MOA)
- the right recoil absorption
Creativity and expertise must be supported by the right measurement technologies and deep quality tests to ensure maximum precision.
A reliable manufacturing company makes all of its technical resources available to the designer through innovative digital tools that complete the project and make it impeccable.
Companies that can develop such advanced projects have invested a lot in the most innovative machines and tools and sophisticated metrology software, which lets them ensure the right measurement of each component and perform all the essential quality tests.
Minelli S.p.A., thanks to its modern and innovative machinery and expert team, can guarantee resistant, durable, and beautiful gun, rifle, and carbine stocks.
We can assist you during the design phase to create a unique gun stock completely customizable according to your and your clients’ preferences and needs.
If you are looking for the best custom rifle stock makers, do not hesitate to contact us!
