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Last October I made the trip to Canton, Ohio to visit the late Dennis Devault. Dennis and his company Devault Industries is known to be one of the premier stock makers in the country.
Upon arriving Dennis took some measurements and made a stock out of a dental cement similar to Bondo (the automotive patching compound). The dental cement is hard enough to shoot with, but easy to sand away or add to if needed.
We ended up shooting the trial stock for several days in a variety of clay games -- skeet, trap, and sporting clays. Here is me shooting the trial stock at the Hill n' Dale sporting clays course. It was absolutely beautiful!
Throughout those few days Dennis was making minor adjustments to the stock. He had me shoot many rounds in a row, to see where the pressure points were, what became uncomfortable, etc. When we were all done I had a trial stock that really fit me like a glove. The last step was picking out some wood that I liked. I said my goodbyes and went home to await my new stock.
Unfortunately shortly after my trip Dennis passed away from pneumonia.
The shop contacted me and said that they would continue to operate. Nothing to worry about as all of the artists in the shop would stay (wood workers, finishers, checkering, etc).
This week I received the stock back. I hope you enjoy pictures of my wood
One of the things I complained about was that the release latch got hot when shooting large volumes. Dennis said "no problem, we'll just countersink it"
The finger grooves were made from an imprint of my grip. Dennis put putty on the trial stock and had me grip it. I left an imprint in the putty which was then translated into the wood.
I only met Dennis that one time, but really got to know him during those few days. Rest in peace.
Upon arriving Dennis took some measurements and made a stock out of a dental cement similar to Bondo (the automotive patching compound). The dental cement is hard enough to shoot with, but easy to sand away or add to if needed.
We ended up shooting the trial stock for several days in a variety of clay games -- skeet, trap, and sporting clays. Here is me shooting the trial stock at the Hill n' Dale sporting clays course. It was absolutely beautiful!
Throughout those few days Dennis was making minor adjustments to the stock. He had me shoot many rounds in a row, to see where the pressure points were, what became uncomfortable, etc. When we were all done I had a trial stock that really fit me like a glove. The last step was picking out some wood that I liked. I said my goodbyes and went home to await my new stock.
Unfortunately shortly after my trip Dennis passed away from pneumonia.
The shop contacted me and said that they would continue to operate. Nothing to worry about as all of the artists in the shop would stay (wood workers, finishers, checkering, etc).
This week I received the stock back. I hope you enjoy pictures of my wood
One of the things I complained about was that the release latch got hot when shooting large volumes. Dennis said "no problem, we'll just countersink it"
The finger grooves were made from an imprint of my grip. Dennis put putty on the trial stock and had me grip it. I left an imprint in the putty which was then translated into the wood.
I only met Dennis that one time, but really got to know him during those few days. Rest in peace.
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