Off the wall question, I know, but long story short I want to commission someone to build & install/apply/whatever the wooden pieces for an old shotgun. I have the wood, and I have the metal part of the gun.

I've called a few carpenters but they all tell me that's not what they do, I need to call someone who specializes in that kind of stuff -- but they can't tell me where to start, or what "someone who specializes in that kind of stuff" is called.

So I thought maybe we'd have some gun savvy people here who might know where I can start.

I believe they are called a "Gunsmith". Check your local yellow pages or check sports shops that carry guns. Good Luck.

Call a local gunshop...they can point you in the right direction.

The wooden part is the stock on the rifle or shotgun and someone who makes these will be fairly hard to find.

You can ask more questions on www.glocktalk.com

It's a great "gun" website.

hey wheets...

if you do not have any luck, you sure fire shot(npi) is to call the prisons. if you don't have any luck where you are, i can give you some numbers of some prisons in texas. i have worked for tdcj for over 10 years. many of the units have craftshops that the offenders use for income. you can almost bet money that you can find an offender to make absolutely anything.

hey wheets...

if you do not have any luck, you sure fire shot(npi) is to call the prisons. if you don't have any luck where you are, i can give you some numbers of some prisons in texas. i have worked for tdcj for over 10 years. many of the units have craftshops that the offenders use for income. you can almost bet money that you can find an offender to make absolutely anything.

Great idea, but in order to make a custom stock, you have to have the other parts (firing mechanism, barrel, trigger assembly,etc) available to make sure everything fits. I seriously doubt they are going to let the inmates have access to a gun, even if it is in pieces and unloaded.

I have one semi-lead -- a local guy "into" guns is supposed to send me the phone number of a place that carries the wooden pieces for antique weapons. The only problem being, I kind of want to have it made out of this specific piece of wood. It makes for a kind of neat story...

The gun is something my father inherited from his father's father's father's.... you get the idea. They had a walnut tree in their yard, that my father & his parents planted when he was just a kid. They hardly had any money so the tree was a big deal... they didn't really have any toys... just about anything that cost money was out of the question, but they bought this tree to plant, and it kind of their clubhouse/jungle gym/fort/swing/whatever. When they planted it everyone in the family carved their initals & marked their height on the tree. One day man years later after his parents had both died & he had moved away he was driving through the city on his way somewhere else and thought maybe he'd stop by, see his old house. Just so happened the owners were in the backyard with a saw getting ready to cut the tree down. My dad talked to them, told him who he was, etc. They cut out the section that had everyone's initals & stuff marked in it and gave it to him. He cut off this part - a very thin piece, and always held on to the rest of the wood, thinking one day he would use it to replace the missing wood from the gun (which his father never had the money to do), but it became one of those things where whenever he remembered it, the gun was stowed away... you know how it goes. I never knew he even had the gun pieces until Saturday, when he said in passing he'd like to get it taken care of.

Sorry for the long story... but that's why I need someone who can specifically carve the pieces out of a piece of wood that we already have.

Can prisoners there have access to carving tools - chisels, knives, etc? I don't know if they can here, I'll have to ask my father (he's an assistant warden - can't remember the exact title). For some reason I'm thinking they can't - here anyway - too much potential to make a shiv or something. Lots of regulations around that. But it could vary by security level, maybe by state. Dunno!

Wheetsin, I have friends who are into stuff like that. Please remind me in two weeks when I get back to the US for a visit (yes, two weeks) and I will ask them.

They are not the kind of guys who email so I can't do it from here.

Some go to black powder competitions, others do those renaissance type festivals, etc.

Celeste

seriously, you would be surprised. in addition, the offenders will often have authorization to make molds, take measurements, etc in secure situations. i have seen offenders handling all kinds of stuff you would never imagine. so, no, while they would not have the whole gun, but believe me, they have everything they need within the walls of a prison to come up with components of a firearm. worrying about them having a part of a weapon in a controlled setting is much less worrisome than some of the stuff that we have found hidden within the compounds. those fellas are quite crafty, it is a shame that they did not put their talents to better use!!

Great idea, but in order to make a custom stock, you have to have the other parts (firing mechanism, barrel, trigger assembly,etc) available to make sure everything fits. I seriously doubt they are going to let the inmates have access to a gun, even if it is in pieces and unloaded.

hey wheets,

these guys here have everything from power tools and saws to jeweling tools, leather working, woodworking, you name it. they have just about anything you can imagine. they have to have the proper custody status, they must have a clear disciplinary history, etc, and they are only allowed to possess/store the items in the designated area, called the craftshop. tell the asst warden that i am speaking from texas, and he will probably be aware of the capabilities of the offenders here. we have a very large prison system. (2nd largest in the world? i think) the offenders at the units where i have worked have crafted saddles, boots, etc for president george bush and george w for many many years. there are even celebrities from time to time that make orders(usually because they are sympathetic to the plight of an offender whose guilt may be questionable). let me know if i can put you in touch with someone. any decision to allow work is ultimately at the discretion of the warden. it would probably serve warden dad to call himself and identify himself by title (warden). there is a bit of a kinship among wardens. good luck.

btw-great story!