The chequering...yes. It was a bugger. I had never done a longrifle before, and with a half stocked rifle, I simply put the stock into a chequering cradle and have at it, rotating the stock easily while the cradle is secure in the vise. Not so easy with a five foot + rifle. I had to clamp the rifle in the vise in rubber pads, and cut about 3/4" at a time, then rotate the stock and retighten - over and over and over. It took me two full eight hour days with new 60 deg. cutters in my Dem Bart handles. You will notice that the diamonds are not quite square, and oriented vertically rather than longitudinally. When I chequer, which is not often, I turn out all the shop lights except one incandescent bulb over the vise. The eye strain caused headaches in more ways than one. But i got through it, and only had a few oops. The flat topped chequering gives the wrist a very secure grip.
I elected to brown the steel using a solution called Neider Browning Solution ( I believe) made up by an eighty year old friend in Marysville BC. I was there turkey hunting a couple years ago, and he gave me a big vanilla bottle full - probably 8 oz. It produces a very very fine grained brown that is quite plum coloured and even. The recipe may have come from Angier's book on Bluing and Browning. When boiled and carded it produces a serious black finish with the same fine grain.
Again, I appreciate your favourable comments.
