INTRODUCTION

This is a brief description, with illustrations, of a small project undertaken by the author, Bryan A. Knight, to modify a standard military surplus H&R M.12 rifle. The M.12, as originally sold by the CMP to civilian rifle clubs, is a reasonably accurate smallbore target rifle, albeit somewhat clumsy in its' general feel and appearance.    During the year 2000, a series of modifications was developed and carried out in order to improve not only its' appearance, but also its' handling characteristics for both Prone and 3-Position competition.

The majority of these modifications involved changing the contours and appearance of the stock to give it the look and feel of a modern commercial target rifle. While not pretending that this is the only way to go, the text and photos will suggest the possibilities available to those other owners wishing to improve this fine old rifle for their own usage.   Custom semi-inletted stocks for the M.12 are available from several sources, but for the inexperienced tinkerer, fully inletting and bedding a barreled action to such a stock is not a task to be undertaken lightly.  The approach given here is fairly simple, involving minor trimming/flattening operations to various portions of an existing fully-inletted stock, and gluing on strips of hardwood to give the new contours.

If you feel nervous about "tearing up" a perfectly good stock, or possibly destroying its' collector value in later years, then be aware that spare M.12 stocks are available from several sources listed on the Web.

Now, visit your local model airplane store for aircraft-quality plywood in 1' x 4' sheets, and Home Depot, Lowes or other specialty lumber store and get a supply of various pre-sized hardwood strips in thicknesses ranging from 1/16" up to 1/2" . . . Oak, Maple, Poplar and Cherry are available among others.    Some custom millworks also carry exotic hardwoods and can plane pieces to your specifications . . . at a price !    You will also need 5 and 15-Minute Epoxy glue and bulk alphacyanoacrylate cement, ("Krazy Glue"), for bonding purposes . . . again, the model airplane hobby shops are the best source.

Let's get started !

Phase 1 - Adjustable Buttplate

Right from the beginning it was decided that an adjustable buttplate was a necessity . . . in my case the choice was easy.    I already owned an older model Anschutz 1907, and after discovering that spare rubber buttplates and bases were still available from Champions Choice, in LaVergne, TN, I used mine as a pattern.   This is the best place to start whittling on the M12 stock because the buttplates' basic location and orientation is critical to good shooting position later in the finished rifle.   Other suitable buttplates are available from Anschutz, Walther, Marlin . . . in many price ranges.    Pick wisely, and then by visual inspection decide where to "cut off" the rear end of the M.12 stock to obtain an approximate location for the chosen baseplate.    Cut to suit and temporarily assemble the buttplate to the stock.    Pause here . . . lay on the floor and try a few practice dry-firing shots to see if you like the feel.    If not, then cut . . . or pad . . . to suit !

You may find, as I did, that the chosen buttplate is "too big" in the vertical direction for the M.12 butt.    No problem, as the kids say !    Flatten the lower edge of the butt, and add laminates here to build it up to the required depth.    Allow enough material to finish to the desired lateral profile of the completed stock.

Phase 2 - Pistol grip

The existing M.12 pistol grip is too short for practical usage.    Add horizontal laminates to the lower surface, (already flat !), to deepen it.  Flatten the right hand side to form a base for gluing on additional laminates there to provide material for shaping it into a typical Wundhammer palm swell.    If finger groove contouring is required, flatten the forward edge of the M.12 grip to provide a gluing base for additonal laminates here also.

Phase 3 - Butt Contouring

Go to your local health club and consult the fitness trainer . . . !    Whoops . . . sorry . . . wrong website, wrong butt !

The butt on the standard M.12 stock is very thick and clumsy . . . it can be thinned laterally by a considerable amount without affecting necessary stiffness and strength.    I would suggest removing about 1/4" to 3/8" from the right hand side, to blend with the contours of the chosen buttplate mounting fittings.    At the same time, consider deepening the relieved cutaway in the wrist area, both on top and on the right hand side, to provide a pronounced thumb groove as used on most modern, non-thumbhole stocks.    If a thumbhole conversion is required, then additional M.12 stock reinforcement with epoxy-bonded laminates above the top of the wrist, and also between the toe of the butt and the bottom of the pistol grip, will be required before cutting and forming the thumbhole.

On the left hand side of the butt, if a fixed custom-sized cheekpiece is desired, mark its' outline and trim away the surrounding face of the stock to leave it standing proud of the surface.    This is best done with a Dremel tool and contoured cutters.    Final contouring can be completed with rasp and sandpaper.     Again, get down on the floor and try it for size and shape as you work !

Commercial adjustable cheekpieces are available from several sources, complete with hardware.    Modification of the butt to accomodate these is a little more complex, and manufacturers drawings or actual components should be checked closely to get the desired effect.

Phase 4 - Forearm Deepening

Most current commercial target rifles have forearms of a depth that approximates the lower edge of the trigger guard.    This greatly improves the handling characteristics of the rifle in all shooting positions.

Remove the barreled action, the trigger guard, the accessory rail and the buttplate.    Decide on a lateral profile you'd like . . . check out some of the catalogue photos of current Anschutz and Walther models.   In my case I went for the "Cutaway" style of the Walther KK200 . . . fully floated barrel in the extreme !    Decide if you still want to use the existing M.12 trigger guard, or replace it with a heavy bearing plate to locate the action bedding screws.    (Note: - the existing trigger guard can be modified to make this plate if desired . . . just cut off the loop section - the bare metal surfaces left by the cutting can be re-finished with one of the commercial cold-blueing solutions)

  

The first step is to make a "backbone" for the deepened forearm.    This should be laminated to a thickness that will fit snugly, edgewise, inside the existing accessory rail slot in the M12 forearm.    It should be profiled to a shape that approximates the desired lateral contours of the chosen commercial stock.    The rear upper edge, adjacent to the M12 forearm, will need to be relieved in such a fashion that a pocket is created for the trigger guard to be installed for fastening after the stock is completed.    The lower edge of this "backbone" laminate should be relieved "inside the profile" to accomodate the installation of the accessory rail after the stock is complete . . . failure to do this at this time will necessitate a tricky routing operation during final shaping.    Then using laminates of varying thickness, and/or wood varieties for appearance, build up each side of the new backbone to the required lateral profile and width.    Add enough of these to ensure that material is available when final contouring by plane, rasp and sander is undertaken.    If you dispense with the M12 trigger guard in its' original form, then carry some of these laminates all the way back to meet and bond to the pistol grip.

  

After fully laminating the lower section of the forearm, the upper barrel channel can now be cut away, using whatever suitable saw is available. The cutaway section should not go beyond a point approximately 1-1/2 inches forward of the barrel/receiver junction.    Now trial fit the trigger guard or backing plate into the rear tunnel in the forearm extension.    After making sure that it can be inserted into its rabbetted pocket, then drill an access hole through the deepened forearm for the action bedding screw insertion.

The front end of the forearm can be shortened by several inches . . . an oblique cut is nice and gives the stock a more modern appearance.    This also serves to reduce front-end weight by a small amount . . . the M12 tends to be a little nose-heavy in balance.    Trial fit the accessory rail, and pilot drill the forearm for fasteners.

  

Final contouring of the glued-up stock is somewhat of a personal thing . . . an eye for practical as well as aesthetic lines is a great help here.     Don't hesitate to get down on the floor and try out your prone position to get a better feel for where to cut and sand . . . this is your rifle . . . it has to feel comfortable in your hands

Satisfied ?    Ok, do your final sanding, maybe use a little filler Bondo in spots that look a little low or in gappy joints.     If you wish to dimple/stipple the grip areas of the Pistol grip or forearm, now is the time to do it.    In my prototype rifle where I was still trying to get the technique down pat, I found it necessary to paint on a 'Black Racing Stripe' over the junction between the old forearm and the new lower extension.    Most of the newer commercial rifles do this nowadays, so it enhances the modern appearance.    The black paint was also used in the pistol grip area, per Anschutz practice.

   

Now stain the stock !     I recommend the use of Minwax filler stain in the colour of your choice, followed by as many coats of Minwax "Wipe-On" Satin Finish Polyurethane varnish as you deem neccessary.    A light sanding between the 'early' coats with a 400 grit wet-or-dry paper is also advised.

Phase 5 - Completion

Replace all the hardware items . . . accessory rail, (if you shortened the forearm, it may have been neccessary to trim its' length);    the buttplate assembly;    the barreled action . . . consider finding or having made, action bedding screws with Allen heads so that a torque wrench can be used for tuning the rifle.    A contoured handstop, such as the one shown, and available from Champions Choice, is also a nice improvement.    On my rifle I replaced the Redfield Olympic front sight with an Anschutz model . . . this gives you a much wider variety of aperture inserts, both metallic and clear glass/plastic, plus sight-correction lenses to choose from.

  

Similarly, if you have the original Redfield Palma rearsights on your M.12, then you will find that the aperture threads are the same as for Anschutz and Gehmann.    This provides access to a whole world of possible improvements from their accessory catalogues . . . lenses, filters . . . coloured and polarized . . . rubber eye shields, etc.      If you have the Redfield Olympic or International model rearsights, then you're out of luck . . . very few accessories available !

Another item that should be considered is the drilling and tapping of the receiver for Weaver or similar scope mounting blocks.    Unless you are fortunate (?) enough to already own an older-style Unertl or Targetspot scope and mounts, the M.12 mounting blocks are of little use, and should be removed and the threaded holes plugged.
The drilling and tapping operation had better be left to a competent gunsmith, unless you have the facilities and skill to do it yourself . . . it is better done on a vertical mill, such as a Bridgeport, to ensure accuracy.    If you do use Weaver-style mounts, it is also advisable to bevel the inner top edge of the Redfield rear sight mounting rail, to permit the ready interchange of "Iron" and "Scope" sights during a typical smallbore tournament without having to remove either mount.

Phase Whatever (?) - Other Improvements

Other ideas that might be considered by the would-be tinkerer, include making a tapered wooden block to fit under the front end of the forearm . . . very useful to adapt the rifle for benchrest competition.   If you look closely at my rifle, you will note the two large tapped holes at the front of the accessory rail where my benchrest block attaches.

As mentioned earlier, the M.12 is a rather nose-heavy rifle . . . consider the possibility of having the barrel cropped and re-crowned . . . about 5-6 inches would be adequate.    Then to restore the "Iron" sighting radius, fit a Medusa, or similar style "bloop tube".    The existing accessory rail can also be utilised to attach standard palm rests, or commercially available bipods.

Be imaginative . . . and good luck !