What to use to fill in the mag well.

[Don-T]

What would be a good thing to fill in the magazine well on one of Boyds plywood stocks? I have a target action but Boyds wouldn't make a stock without a magazine well. I figured I could fill in the well with maybe Bondo. I thought about fibreglass but wondered if it might expand when hardening and split the stock. After filling it in, I'll go ahead and pillar bed and acraglass the action.

[foxx]

If it were me, I would first fill with Styrofoam then add/top off with some kind of epoxy like jb weld. No point in filling it solid with anything but foam filler.

[olddav]

I tend to perfer like materials.
I'd find a piece of wood cut it as close to the shape of the mag well as I could and epoxy it in place.
What ever you use be sure to fill the void completly or moisture could get trapped in the stock.

[boltman13]

My gunsmith uses hardwood held in place with acrylic cauck to completely fill the void. That way if you ever need to remove it, it is easily done. This also works if adding weight in the mag well.

[FW Conch]

With Your action and what You want to do with it, go with a Widden "V" Block. But even at that, Your trying to repair a big hole that has severely weakened the stock.

Once You have used a stock with good bedding block and a full skeleton, nothing less compares. I'm sure chassis are great, but I haven't gone there yet.

JMHO...Jim :-)

[mscott71]

A block of wood or aluminum epoxied in place would be my choice. I'm about to do this very thing and will be using aluminum and Devcon.

[FW Conch]

^ www.whiddengunworks.com ^

[RC20]

With Your action and what You want to do with it, go with a Widden "V" Block. But even at that, Your trying to repair a big hole that has severely weakened the stock.

Once You have used a stock with good bedding block and a full skeleton, nothing less compares. I'm sure chassis are great, but I haven't gone there yet.

JMHO...Jim :-)

I think that's a wild exaggeration on the weakening of the stock. Its not as solid as a filled one but weak it is not. tens of millions of rifles with inside or bottom release mags out there.

For target I would go with a solid bottom if I could get it, but no issues with open bottom either. Unless serious competition it will not be a factor.

boltman13 has a fine solution.

[FW Conch]

My use of the work "weakened" was in comparison to a B&C 2997 with the full skeleton. I felt that Don T's single shot Target action deserves a good solid base. Back in '07 I got My 2997 on the advise of a knowledgeable poster who said it was the "bees knees" as far as action mounting: and it has been that. When the action screws bottom out, it's less than a quarter turn and they are torqued. I judge all of My other stocks by that standard, even though I have many that cannot meet it. I use several Stevens 200 stocks for hunting/carry rifles, because they are light, and they are accurate enough for that purpose. I have pillard those, and can get a good feel on the front screw, but there is always the mush feel on the back screw: and this is to be expected. Also in '07, I bought a Stocky's TH laminate varmint. I did a quick pillar job, and over time realized the rear screw on it, although much better, was not like the 2997. I drilled those pillars out and did a super pillar job. Again, better, but not quite there. So I got the Whidden "V" Block with the solid bottom and installed it. Solid lock down, just like the 2997.

Glueing a wood or aluminum block in the hole will certainly help, but it may not get Don T where he wants to be.

And this is the last time I'm going to write a "book" to explain a simple suggestion. I promise ;-))