reducing stock flex

[ohihunter2014]

One guy just recently inadvertantly did that. Caused vertical stringing and fouling. On a thin barrel it might help but i see too many negatives.

can you clarify on the causes? vertical stringing and fouling. what is this and what does it do?

[ohihunter2014]

okay say I filled the forearm from the recoil lug to the tip with epoxy and ran a metal rod down the sides to stiffen it up will my accuracy go to crap.

[DrThunder88]

You filled the vacancies in the bottom of the forearm with epoxy? It shouldn't affect it too much if at all. Mostly it just helps to prevent the stock from bending up and touching the rifle if you're shooting from a position that puts a lot of upward pressure on the forearm. Changes in the pressure on the forearm could affect accuracy.

And the bedding problem dealt with bedding a heavy barrel a few inches in front of the recoil lug. Evidently the vibrations of firing cause the barrel to move in such a way that caused problems. Pressure point bedding typically applied pressure towards the forend tip. I suspect it fell out of favor as ammunition options diversified. A limited selection might mean that a given rifle would need to be tuned to a specific load whereas today's shooters can shop around and find a good load for their own particular rifle, which is expected to perform equally well with any load. That last part is just conjecture though.

[ohihunter2014]

You filled the vacancies in the bottom of the forearm with epoxy? It shouldn't affect it too much if at all. Mostly it just helps to prevent the stock from bending up and touching the rifle if you're shooting from a position that puts a lot of upward pressure on the forearm. Changes in the pressure on the forearm could affect accuracy.

And the bedding problem dealt with bedding a heavy barrel a few inches in front of the recoil lug. Evidently the vibrations of firing cause the barrel to move in such a way that caused problems. Pressure point bedding typically applied pressure towards the forend tip. I suspect it fell out of favor as ammunition options diversified. A limited selection might mean that a given rifle would need to be tuned to a specific load whereas today's shooters can shop around and find a good load for their own particular rifle, which is expected to perform equally well with any load. That last part is just conjecture though.


I didnt do the epoxy yet. the gun shoots very well and i want to set it up as a predator rifle which would need a bipod but the forarm flexes too much for that so i figured tighten it up with epoxy to make it more stiff.

[FW Conch]

I have yet to see a Tupperware stock touch the barrel just because a bipod was installed. Yes the stock will flex, but only if I grab the barrel and stock and push it over. If a barrel touched any stock of mine I would wrap sand paper around a deep socket and open up the barrel channel until there was no way it could touch.

There has been plenty written here about how to stiffen a Tupperware stock, and a search can easily find it.

But I agree with those who say it is a waste of time and money. The $100 invested in a Boyds stock is well worth it, and many of us up grade further. Once you have experienced an aluminum bedding block, nothing else compares.

There is no lighter stock,"for the money", than the Stevens 200 plastic stock. I keep three of them around for when I want a lite weight walking rifle, and they are plenty accurate for hunting accuracy, flex or not.

When I want to shoot small holes from the bench, I don't even consider a plastic stock.

JMHO here, but anyone who is not willing invest $100 at any point in time, is in the wrong hobby(sport) :-)). Every time I place an order I make sure I get $100 worth of stuff to justify the $15 shipping cost. And I have done that more times than I can remember.

But, if one wants to dabble with a plastic stock, go for it :-))

JMHO ... Good Luck ... Jim

[wbm]

I've been saying this for years but apparently everyone prefers to learn the hard way...

LOL! Could not be said any better.

[foxx]

i would need to see both sides of the boys stocks,i see most have a cheek rest on them,unfortunately,i'm one of the few who shoot left with a right handed rifle.:violin:
would be cool if they could use a right handed action with left handed shooting stock.:( it would for me then be a "custom" stock.lol

THey used to make these. I have a couple thumbhole stocks that are left handed with right hand bolts. Classic or prairie hunter styles might be avail in that configuration, too. I am not finding them on their new website, though. If I were you, I'd call and ask.

[DaveD]

Not being a gunsmith, I was wondering while reading this thread, would something like a guiters Truss rod be useful? Seems it might allow for adjustments which (once again Im not a smith) could help with stringing shots due to how the stock is pulling. Just a thought.
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608019923307728870&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0

[barrel-nut]

I've had phenomenal success with Elmer's glue and wet spaghetti noodles.
:-/
I'd spare myself the grief and just spend the $100 on a Boyd's, and use it as a baseline for "farting around" with.
I have a Remington (pardon my profanity) that I tried removing the pressure point and filling the voids in the stock with automotive fiberglass Bondo in the forearm, and expanding foam and axle bolts from my old Massey Ferguson tractor in the hollow of the buttstock. No lie this time. How's that for farting around? Lol. Here's what all that accomplished:
1. Forearm flex was reduced noticeably.
2. The stock had better balance and more heft, causing recoil to be tamed significantly. It is a .30-06.
3. The stock had better balance and, did I mention, more HEFT? (remember those axle bolts?)
4. It went from a barely sub-MOA rifle to a 1 1/2 MOA rifle. Apparently cheap Remingtons like the pressure point.
5. I no longer really use it due to the psychological trauma induced by all of the above. Lots of fruitless "farting around".

I'd suggest buying the Boyd's.

[FW Conch]

;-))

[blink]

THey used to make these. I have a couple thumbhole stocks that are left handed with right hand bolts. Classic or prairie hunter styles might be avail in that configuration, too. I am not finding them on their new website, though. If I were you, I'd call and ask.

sent an email a while ago.that would be a fantastic find if they did offer something like that!!!
will send another in the near future if they don't respond in a week or so failing that i will give them a call.

[DrThunder88]

Not being a gunsmith, I was wondering while reading this thread, would something like a guiters Truss rod be useful? Seems it might allow for adjustments which (once again Im not a smith) could help with stringing shots due to how the stock is pulling. Just a thought.
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608019923307728870&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0

That seems quite similar to what I did with the allthread rod. Behold! A diagram:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e310/DrThunder88/Guns/forearmreinforcement_zps60267f4a.png

The process went something like this:

Drill lengthwise through bulkheads high enough to allow a hex nut to turn.
Push allthread (gray) through the holes, threading it through hex nuts (yellow) in each of the second-from-the-end chambers (red).
Seal and fill end chambers (blue) with 4:1 epoxy mixed with 30% chopped glass fibers.
After blue chambers cure, tighten nuts against the bulkheads as shown.
Fill all intermediate chambers with 4:1 epoxy mixed with 50% microballoons.
Proceed with secondary stiffening operations.
Realize nothing was learned from this experiment because more than one variable changed.

[DaveD]

That seems quite similar to what I did with the allthread rod. Behold! A diagram:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e310/DrThunder88/Guns/forearmreinforcement_zps60267f4a.png

The process went something like this:

Drill lengthwise through bulkheads high enough to allow a hex nut to turn.
Push allthread (gray) through the holes, threading it through hex nuts (yellow) in each of the second-from-the-end chambers (red).
Seal and fill end chambers (blue) with 4:1 epoxy mixed with 30% chopped glass fibers.
After blue chambers cure, tighten nuts against the bulkheads as shown.
Fill all intermediate chambers with 4:1 epoxy mixed with 50% microballoons.
Proceed with secondary stiffening operations.
Realize nothing was learned from this experiment because more than one variable changed.



Cool experiment nonetheless. Just something I had thought about. Just trying to get a heads up on what I can do with a factory MkII stock. Im one of those cant leave it be kinda guys.

[savagemann]

This helped A LOT. I used some aluminum tube and 90 minute epoxy.
This took me down to sub MOA with consistency.
The problem I had before doing this was when I would properly load the bipod, the stock would flex and touch the barrel on the right hand edge near the front.
I eventually got a boyds. It took me a crap ton of work to get the boyds to shoot as well as my modified tupperware.
I had floating issues and problems in the action area as well.
I had to shim the action under the rear action screw.
I have a feeling it will improve after it is bedded.
Right now, it is mostly a sub moa rifle.
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj512/savagemann69/20150111_104012-1_zpsacd99bf5.jpg

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj512/savagemann69/20150111_104108-1_zps302eb42c.jpg