How do you measure& establish correct length of pull?

[sha-ul]

I have a question for the assembled knowledge here, I am looking at picking up a repeating bolt action for my oldest boy's birthday next month, He will be turning 9, however he is small for his age, possibly as a result of the chemo, He is fine now(aside from being an ornery turd :P) I have settled on the MKII with the dbm, but the rifle I found I think is the adult model, with a synthetic stock, So I will either need to trim it down& make structural modifications to it or find a wooden stock, the question is How do I fit this rifle to him? especially in a way he can grow into it?

[diriel]

To establish LOP you measure from the crook of the elbow to the first (towards the elbow) knuckle joint of your trigger finger. My sister for instance happens to measure 13 3/8 which her old Savage 10FP measured exactly. Many children can easily measure 12" or even less!

A spacer system can be a bit of a pain, one approach is well a shaped balsa wood "plug" and resin to make something that you can put screw mounts into. Not a perfect approach, but if you work at it, it works. I would be interested to have one of the really Good Stock makers or enthusiasts chime in and tell us "The Real Way to Do It"

Gary

[sha-ul]

To establish LOP you measure from the crook of the elbow to the first (towards the elbow) knuckle joint of your trigger finger. My sister for instance happens to measure 13 3/8 which her old Savage 10FP measured exactly. Many children can easily measure 12" or even less!

A spacer system can be a bit of a pain, one approach is well a shaped balsa wood "plug" and resin to make something that you can put screw mounts into. Not a perfect approach, but if you work at it, it works. I would be interested to have one of the really Good Stock makers or enthusiasts chime in and tell us "The Real Way to Do It"

Gary

Thank you!! this gives me a starting point for fitting it to him. I just need to drive the hour to town& buy the rifle ;D

[sha-ul]

well, this could get interesting, I measured him from the inside of the elbow to the 1st joint on his index finger& came up with 10.5" looks like I may have to do quite a bit of trimming. :o

[Balljoint]

This Idea may cost bit more BUT if the rifle is too last for a long time cut down the stock and install an adjustable butt fixture so as he grows older he can adjust the LOP to his liking

[leather5to1]

My first hunting rifle was a rem. 700 adl in 6mm rem. My grandfather cut off 3 inches from the end of the stock and installed a new pad. It is now my go to rifle. I forgot about it for years but found the piece of the stock and dug the rifle out of the back of the vault. I was able to match the piece up, drill it and use two long wood screws to refasten it. You don't even see the splice unless you look for it. The key was that they cut it with a thin high quality band saw. I know this doesn't help your original question (I don't know how they knew how much to cut off) but I thought I'd share.

[sha-ul]

I do have a bandsaw....
the factory stock for this rifle is a synthetic, I could call up Boyds& see what they have, or recommend, although if I have to trim down the stock, the butt plate would no longer fit, should I mold one out of plastic, or use a piece of baler belting or such? I could also hammer one out of some steel, although I probably would not have enough time to do any repousse on it.

[Blue Avenger]

If you think he is going to grow, start with a tupper wear this year and then work on a better one to replace it later.

[sha-ul]

If you think he is going to grow, start with a tupper wear this year and then work on a better one to replace it later.

I gave Boyds a call earlier, they did have a youth stock, that was a factory second, when I told the guy how short his measurement was,& I might have to trim it down, he mentioned that he would look around for a but plate for a cub.
He is small enough now that a cricket is about the right size, if not a fuzz too big.
He is growing, but was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 3, then went through chemo for 2-1/2 years, so it may have stunted his growth a bit(full remission now). he is growing again, but may be a bit behind. he stands about 54" tall currently.

[Elkbane]

Sha-Ul
I have a M9317 sysnthetic stock you can have for your cut-down, then you can switch back to the full size as the boy grows. Mine is for the M9317 heavy barrel (I put an aftermarket stock on it). Trim it to size, plug the end with a piece of wood and put a slip on-pad over it.

Yours if you want it. Just PM me your contact info if interested......
Elkbane

[sha-ul]

Sha-Ul
I have a M9317 sysnthetic stock you can have for your cut-down, then you can switch back to the full size as the boy grows. Mine is for the M9317 heavy barrel (I put an aftermarket stock on it). Trim it to size, plug the end with a piece of wood and put a slip on-pad over it.

Yours if you want it. Just PM me your contact info if interested......
Elkbane


Thank you Very much for your generous offer, had I not already ordered a youth stock from Boyds yesterday am, I would gladly take you up.


now for a complete derail, are the MKII & the cub built on the same basic action? (minus the mag cut out)

[Blue Avenger]

You can get to small, to the point it is to hard to shoot when they grow. had one of the small .17s and I could not get MY head down to shot it with out pain being involved.

[sha-ul]

You can get to small, to the point it is to hard to shoot when they grow. had one of the small .17s and I could not get MY head down to shot it with out pain being involved.


Based on the measurements I took, the cricket/chipmunk he has now is~ 1/2" too long.
I plan on keeping the factory synthetic stock that came with this rif;e for when he gets bigger, the plan as it stands is to take the wood stock that is on order, trim it down to fit him, & add back spacers as he grows, to try& keep the length optimal.
I have 3 more kids I may have to do this with as well (4 total)

also do you know where I can find a rear peep sight & eventually a scope mount for this?

[bubbinator]

My wife's first rifle was a Featherweight Win M70 in .243 after she was on a dog-drive deer stand in an AL clearcut in around 1987. It had a Ramline stock fitted for the Gun Dealers 14 yr old son. She slayed a bunch on deer with it, then 6 as an anniversary present she got a Ruger 7mm-08 SS Compact that she's taken some morew der with! The Youth-size M70- my nephew took is first deer with it, and with our family being 1K miles apart, next time we planned a family event- he'd grown about a foot+ and was young man. Mid-South Shooters had a sale on RAm-line stocks for $78.00 and O ordered one for him. When he showed up with the rifle(my wife had given it to him 5 yrs. before) in 10 minutes we swapped stocks. 15 minutes later had the rifle re- zeroed with the original handloads he got before and he was in a stand! Cheaper-Than-Dirt/Sportsmans Guide/ Mid- South Shooters/Midway/Graf's allhad deals recently on stocks cheap enough to swap and cut/experiment with for not too mant bucks! As an NRA member-many thanks for promoting shooting in your family!