Budget build Sterlingworth 16

[Researcher]

Great job!!

[jolly bill]

Very well done Matt. It sure turned out great.

Bill

[fox-admin]

very nice you should be very proud, not an easy task to conquer.

[DarylC]

Bravo Matt, well done!

[ROMAC]

That came out really nice.

[Jeff S]

Well I think it looks great! You’ll have a lot of fun hunting with it, especially knowing that you built it.

[Fox20obsessed]

Thank you kindly gents. I have one more in the wheelhouse to crank out before hunting season, we’ll see if I have it done in time. I’m reusing the original lumber on that (a savage re-barreled 20ga philly sterlingworth). It had an uncut stock, but a silvers pad was added and I decided to ditch the pad and put a HRBP back on there...the gun also had some misfires when I shot it the first time, but I have the parts to get that straightened out now too thanks to Mr. Dudley. As it sits I have the wood completely stripped/de-oiled and have a few small hairline cracks to repair, will then chase out the original checkering and finish in the same way I did this one so should have a matched set with 28” pipes in 16 and 20. We’ll see how it goes.
Thanks,
Matt

[snakeeater]

Out standing , nicely done. Thanks for sharing .

[49packard]

What a beautiful gun MATT!

[fn16ga]

Matt , that really turned out beautiful . Love the color of finish . Hope you keep posting about your work as I have really enjoyed all of it . You have amazing talent.

Thank you for sharing !!!

[Fox20obsessed]

Hey guys thanks for all of the kind words, I really appreciate it. Can’t wait to knock some birds down with this gun in a month or so. fn16ga...Believe it or not, I actually stained the furniture on this one using minwax stains that I custom blended to achieve the color I was looking for. If you or anyone else is curious about it just send me a PM. Once again, thanks for looking and I appreciate the praise on this one guys. I’m getting pretty close to wrapping up a refinish of another 28” sterly in 20 bore...if I have time I will try and post pics.
-Matt

[Fox20obsessed]

Progress pic of the 20 gauge to match this here 16. This is the factory buttstock and forend that I decided to freshen up. It was badly oil soaked and I spent months drawing the oil out of the wood. The checkering was poorly recut at one point in time years ago, did my best to recut the original checkering and do the best I could to repair the mistakes...All that is left now is to stain the checkering and apply finish there and then reassemble. Just in time for the upcoming grouse season. I used the same stain as on the budget 16 so now I will have a matched set of rainy day 28” sterlingworths in 16 and 20.
-Matt

[Double O]

Very beautiful work!

[ROMAC]

Great Job!

[Stan Hillis]

Brian,
I agree 100 percent with your previous post. In years past when restocking I did not have many factory buttstock samples to work off of and it was always a guessing game....I could never get the lines quite right. Now I have several examples of factory stocks with split webs etc. and it makes it that much easier to mimic factory work and make things “foxy”. I recently picked up a contour gauge to try and get every little thing exact, but find it takes way too much time and effort to use. Now I’m just going by feel and using the factory examples as a model to work from. On this particular gun I will be leaving the stock cheeks/side panels smooth and understated as seen on factory sterlingworths while in the past it has always been my tendency to shape those buggers and add elegance, but it simply doesn’t look right on the sterlys IMO. I’ve about got the forend for this thing wrapped up now and slowly working on the buttstock. If I get back to it this evening I will try and post some pics as I seat the grip cap all the way and start shaping around the pistol grip. Thanks for looking!
-Matt

That is a mistake that too many people make when restocking guns. They make the cheeks and combs too sharply defend. They think it looks better, or they don't have a clue to start with. When in the end, it just looks out of place and incorrect.

I agree 100%. Merkel is the likely worst offender in regards to sharply defining the cheek panels. I find them very offensive in looks, and in handling. Prolly just another example of Germanic style engineering and design, but not for me.

SRH