I am going to make and inlet the silver oval escutcheons today. I'll then be ready to start finish work.

I am drawing and also looking for other patterns to engrave on the metal. Nothing that is super fine or fancy, but nice and elegant to add some value and class to the rifle.

Any pictures you guys have would be appreciated too. I look at what I can find to get inspiration for the work to come.

In doing the stock work I finish the stock 100% before I carve the borders or do the checkering.
The only exception is in cases where I do silver wire inlay. If I add silver wire I need to have it done before I put any oil on the wood.

I would love to have feedback from other Mannlicher lovers. What kind of details do you guys like?

The stock on my rifle is not full length. It is short and light and has a schnable at the tip. I also made a "shotgun" style trigger guard which I think adds a lot of class to the rifle. The only totally modern detail on the rifle is the fiber optic "glow sight" in front because I now have 60 year old eyes and I can't see the old ivory or gold colored sights anymore. But the green fiber shows up clearly to me.

Hopefully I can have this rifle done in a month or so, but as I said, I am uncertain what I want to do with checkering and/or carving, so I may drag my feet a bit on that part of the work.