Gentlemen, I recently picked up an M12-2, my first revolver, and immediately set out to get a set of stag grips for the gun. As you all know, the M12 (until the -4 revision) features slightly thinner grip straps than a standard K frame, requiring special stocks for proper fit. I contacted Mr. Grashorn about acquiring a set of his grips for this gun but he would have needed my gun to fit the stocks to as he doesn't have an M12 on hand for sizing. Considering shipping the gun and the associated FFL transfer fees quickly priced the project out of my range until...
Forum member whitecoyote, who is local to me, contacted me and offered a set of Grashorn stocks he had made for his M12. However, his were for his square butt while my M12 is a round butt version. Discussing this with him, he suggested I contact Mr. Grashorn to see if it's possible he could turn them into round butt stocks, saving me the time and cost of shipping my gun. Mr. Grashorn replied saying it's not a problem as long as there's enough material to work with. So, this became a plan. Today I picked up the stocks from whitecoyote, determined they would work and prepared to send them on to Mr. Grashorn.
But then a thought struck- I began wondering how difficult it might be to rework them myself. I took a close look at the stocks individually placed on the gun and realized it's really not that much material that needed to be removed. I did some quick Google research on working stag and decided I'd give it a try.
The job wasn't difficult at all. I used a fine pencil to trace the outline of the front and back straps onto the backside of the stocks. The next step was removing the bulk of the material with a bench grinder, being careful not to burn the stag. After roughing out the shape this way, I began hand-sanding, progressing from 60 to 80, 100, 150 and 220 grit, checking fit on the gun periodically. Brown and then green Scotchbrite followed, finishing with #0000 steel wool. The not quite finished (I plan to final fit and finish the stocks tomorrow) results are pictured below.
The stocks as I received them (whitecoyote's photos)
On his gun
On mine
As you can see, there's a little bit of porosity present at the front strap area I'll have to smooth out tomorrow but, overall, I believe they came out looking ok. Well worth the couple hours I spent on them, anyway. I'd like to thank both whitecoyote and Mr. Grashorn for their help and generosity in getting me set up with the stocks I wanted.
Forum member whitecoyote, who is local to me, contacted me and offered a set of Grashorn stocks he had made for his M12. However, his were for his square butt while my M12 is a round butt version. Discussing this with him, he suggested I contact Mr. Grashorn to see if it's possible he could turn them into round butt stocks, saving me the time and cost of shipping my gun. Mr. Grashorn replied saying it's not a problem as long as there's enough material to work with. So, this became a plan. Today I picked up the stocks from whitecoyote, determined they would work and prepared to send them on to Mr. Grashorn.
But then a thought struck- I began wondering how difficult it might be to rework them myself. I took a close look at the stocks individually placed on the gun and realized it's really not that much material that needed to be removed. I did some quick Google research on working stag and decided I'd give it a try.
The job wasn't difficult at all. I used a fine pencil to trace the outline of the front and back straps onto the backside of the stocks. The next step was removing the bulk of the material with a bench grinder, being careful not to burn the stag. After roughing out the shape this way, I began hand-sanding, progressing from 60 to 80, 100, 150 and 220 grit, checking fit on the gun periodically. Brown and then green Scotchbrite followed, finishing with #0000 steel wool. The not quite finished (I plan to final fit and finish the stocks tomorrow) results are pictured below.
The stocks as I received them (whitecoyote's photos)
On his gun
On mine
As you can see, there's a little bit of porosity present at the front strap area I'll have to smooth out tomorrow but, overall, I believe they came out looking ok. Well worth the couple hours I spent on them, anyway. I'd like to thank both whitecoyote and Mr. Grashorn for their help and generosity in getting me set up with the stocks I wanted.
