One of the buttplates I first ordered was the CPA Schoyen as shown here in this first picture.  Obviously too big.  But, I thought I could modify it in order to end up with something close to what I needed.

Here in this second picture I'm showing my Schoyen with the plate that the gentleman here on the forum offered me.  The original plate is fairly small at 1.40 wide and 1.60 tall.

And then the final drawing of the stock.  I just about messed this stock up. I was ready the cut the head of the stock out when I realized the rifle, I had been using to draw the design, were all non-pistol grip frames.  At the last second, for some reason, I decided to measure the actual rifle being stock and realized it is a pistol grip stock which is nearly 1/4 inch taller.  The drawing shows the changes, to the front of the grip, I had to make between the two frame styles.

Photos 4 and 5 are both sides of the stock with an early version of the stock laid out on it.
Bob

I have permission to tell the story of this rifle, so here it is as best I know it.  The rifle belongs to Tom Rowe so hopefully he will pop in and correct me where I may be wrong.

As we already know it is a Ballard but, what is unusual is that it has a Remington Walker barrel on it.  The top of the barrel is marked as such.  

At some point the rifle was disassembled and the owner passed away before it was reassembled.  The estate sold all the pieces at auction, separately as parts.  I believe it was John Ambers that got wind of the parts being sold and ended up with all the rifle parts, except the wood, and got it reassembled. Although, I have a tendency to believe the forearm is original to the barrel since it appears to be a Remington forearm with the metal tip.  John installed the stock that I have shown it currently has, just so it had one on it.  A friend of Tom's saw a picture of this rifle years ago, maybe 40 years ago, and remembered it having a Schoyen style stock.  So this is the reason for the restock I am doing on it.

For the record I started this stock on January 22 when I took this first picture.

The through hole was drilled in my metal lathe with the drill bit in the chuck and the other end supported with a solid center.  I missed, on the 12 inch hole, by 1/8th inch of the target point on the butt end.  This is always a bit of an unknown as to what might happen.  Of course the ends need to be located correctly in relation to the stock pattern before drilling the hole.

While this second picture shows the tang already in most of the way, I started the tang hole with a reamer that is the same size as the rear portion of the tang.  The  reamer has a pilot that keeps the reamer inline with the through hole. This reamer was not my idea but was Greg's (GT) here on this forum.

Picture 3 shows the head of the stock touching the frame.  

Picture 4 shows what the head of the wood looks like as it is fitted up the the frame.  There is a wood extension that is fitted into the back of the frame, which can also be seen here.

This last picture shows the stock fully headed up to the frame, and the layout used to locate the through bolt hole in relation to the stock pattern.  As can be seen, I keep everything oversized until I know exactly where the frame is pointing.  I can still make minor changes at this point.
Bob

Schutzenbob wrote Today at 12:46am:

A friend has made try stocks for himself the very same way for 40 years. Some never got past the Bondo stage, some were sent to be duplicated.

On to the buttplate.

I usually do the minimum to a buttplate in order to get it fitted and attached to the stock.  

The first surface cleaned up is the large surface that contacts the wood, it would be impossible to get a good fit without having a nice surface here.  I clean it up with files and sandpaper getting it nice and flat. It also needs to be as square as possible to the prongs.  This first picture shows this surface.  The area with lines through it was reduced, hollowing out the area.  This make it easier to fit to the wood. 

This second picture shows what the plate looks like when ready to start fitting.  The sides and ends are cleaned up and shaped to what is wanted for the wood shape.  You can see it is a pretty rough sand cast plate.  When I do the final clean up and polishing I attach it to a piece of wood that can be clamped in a vice, making it much easier to hold, rather than the way I show it held in the previous pictures.

I did have an issue with the casting.  A large void showed up as I was cleaning it. Actually there are two voids.  The other, much smaller, it there close to the large one.  I filled both.

This third picture shows the void.  It was too deep to file out.

Picture 4, Since this is a silver colored plate I filed the void with solder.  The filler can still be seen here.

Picture 5, This shows the filed out finish.  It will still be seen when fully polished but unless you know it's there it should not be noticed.  It may completely disappear with age.  If these plates were readily available I would have replaced it but since they are not I needed to run with what I have.
Bob

I am now ready to install the screws.

Picture 1, Placement in this stock is a bit different because of the hole for the through bolt, its head and support spacer.  The support spacer hole is 3/4 inch so I needed to locate it on the outside of the plate so I didn't put the screw through it.  The black line on the plate shows the edge of that hole.

Picture 2, Holding a plate to the stock to drill these holes is alway interesting, this one especially!  There is not enough room for the normal clamps I would use.  So a long clamp and a step cut into the front of the stock worked well.  The prongs of the plate are tightly spaced so it took an extended holder, to hold all the tools needed to make the screw holes.  This setup in I'm my mill because of the way I do these screws.

I make all my screws.  This is what they look like while still in the lathe.  There is quite a lot going on here. 

This is a straight  #10-20 screw thread. Looking at it closely will show the threads are not sharp.  My theory is sharp threads cut the wood fibers, and this is at least part of the reason for thread pullout with wood screws. This thread just compresses the wood, keeping the integrity of the the long wood fiber in place.   

The small tip on the end is needed to help the threads to start in the predrilled hole.  It acts like the sharp point on a regular wood screw.

These screws are hard to install and take some time, even using a screw lube.  Once in, they are much easier to get in and out and this gets better the more they are used. 

The long head is for installation and building.  They will be fitted and indexed in the end.

The long shank under the head has a purpose I will discuss coming up.

Picture 4,  Every operation for the screw is performed while in the mill and not moved until completed.  The screw is actually made after its hole is machine in the plate.  The clearance hole for the thread is done first, then the shank portion of the screw is cut and lastly the head counter bore is cut.

The shank portion is cut through the plate and into the wood a short amount.  The same size all the way.  The shank of the screw, under the head, is sized in the lathe to fit this hole with a small amount of clearance.  It then acts like a dowel and no matter how many time the screw is removed and replaced the buttplate comes back the same place every time.

Picture 5,  The initial slot is simply cut with a hacksaw.  The final slot will be cut in the mill with a slitting saw.
Bob

At this point, in stocking a gun from a blank, is getting excess wood off as quickly and easily as possible.

When I was younger I just rasp it off, but now days I use a 4 inch angle grinder with a course sanding disc.  It removes wood quickly and without any grabbing that could cause issues.  These first two picture show what it looks like when the grinding is completed.   

There is still plenty left for opportunities to use a rasp!

The next thing, on the to do list, is get the stock shaped to the final profile.  There is no way to start shaping until this is done.  These next two pictures show each side after the profile is done.  This is done completely by hand and eye, with a rasp.  I do start out with a pattern line but adjust as necessary as I go for the proper flow from the front, off the frame, through the buttplate.  I have left wood at the bottom of the grip.  I was still deciding what I wanted to do there.

In this last picture I have roughed out the cheek rest saddle before starting any shaping of the rest of the stock.  I needed to know roughly how it was going to set and proportionally looked on the stock.
Bob

These two pictures show the completely roughed out stock, with a rasp, ready for sanding.  These pictures were as of yesterday just before starting on the forearm.  Still have a few hours of work to do but coming along nicely.