Turning the forestocks over again I could then mark down the action lines and gradually take out the bulk of the wood with the grannies tooth hand router. The depth had been marked in earlier

Note the small mallet It is one I made and is just 6" long and weighs 6 oz. Sometimes it is better to tap lightly and trying to do that with the heavier mallet can cause an oops moment.

The action is stripped of the trigger and spring but the mag release bar stays in place. The top of the trigger housing is opened up with a rat tail file till the mag release bar on the action will just slip over it so the action can start into its first fitting at the rear of the inlet.

The recoil lug can be marked into place and chiselled down to the action flat

And with a little gouge work the start of the receiver ring can be taken out.

After this stage it will be all smoke and scrape work, so things will slow down a bit.