Another modified Boyd's stock - this time reducing the weight a bit . . .
After purchasing my first suppressor, a .22 caliber model, I decided to pick up a bolt rifle to realize the can's full potential. I wanted to stay away from semi-autos for reliability reasons and to keep it a closed system (keep it as quiet as possible). I purchased a Savage Mark II FV for a good price and I believe it had been shot very little, if at all. To make the rifle a bit more suppressor friendly, I had the barrel cut and threaded to 17".
Aside from normal plinking and hunting uses, I also wanted to use the rifle in CMP Rimfire Sporter Matches. While reading over the CMP rules I took note of stock profiles that were acceptable and decided to shop at Boyds for a replacement to the factory Tupperware. The Rimfire Hunter fit the build list best as it appeared to be within the rules and didn't stray too much from the "sporter" look. I've had great success with Boyds stocks in the past, even modifying some to suit my specific needs (see my adjustable cheek piece mod on the Article Page). Once the stock was in hand, I installed some pillars using lamp rod and opened up the barrel channel a bit to fully free-float the barrel. I forgot to check one thing though, the weight.
I put the rifle on a scale and was disappointed to see that it was going to be over the 7.5 pound limit imposed by the CMP once the scope and rings were installed. I'd already hacked off several ounces of barrel weight and my only option at this point was to start nibbling away at the stock. One place I looked at was chopping the front of the stock down. This would have been easy enough, but there really wasn't much room in front of the channel milled under the barrel and I didn't want to loose the second swivel stud up front. Under the barrel would be the next logical place to look, but Boyds did a fairly good job of hogging that area out already. So, I turned to the other end of the stock. I removed the two screws that held the rubber recoil pad in place and used various sizes of Forstner bits to start removing some material. My bits aren't terribly sharp, but that laminate with all of the resin holding it together is really not easy to drill through. I was able to shave off 2.4 ounces drilling out the rear of the stock. Not a huge savings, but it was something.
The 1/2" rubber recoil pad and mounting screws that come with the Boyds stock weighed in at 2.9 ounces. There's a post on the web where someone had used a $1.99 pair of flip flops from Walmart to fashion their own DIY recoil pad and I used that same trick after cutting down a Ruger 10/22 for my son about two years ago with good results. Not that a .22 has any real recoil, but the flip flop pad is light and it sticks fairly well in the shoulder (something the factory hard plastic plate on the 10/22 fails at miserably). Once the flip flop was cut to rough shape I saw that it alone weighed 0.6 ounces. So, there was a savings of 2.3 ounces over the factory supplied pad. Using some epoxy, I glued it on, let it dry overnight, then sanded it flush to the stock.
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While not practical on a .22, I kinda like those slots cut along the side of the stock near the barrel. I guess they're ventilation holes. I figured I could save a bit of weight there so off I went, working up a jig for my router. Using a 1/2" bit on my router table, I fashioned up a jig using a couple pieces of 1/2" plywood. Using a 1/2" bushing in the base plate of my plunge router and a 1/4" straight bit, I made a series of passes until I had punched through to the barrel channel. I bit of sanding cleaned up some cut marks and man was I happy with the results. I don't have an exact number on the weight I saved there (maybe a couple tenths of an ounce).
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I had bought a one-piece base made out of aluminum, but the factory bases supplied with the rifle were a bit lighter so I put those back on. I coupled some low rings with an el-cheapo Simmons 4x I pulled out of the parts cabinet for now. Once everything was re-assembled I was happy to see my overall weight was 7.41 pounds. I believe that gives me enough wiggle room at weigh in.
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In the future, I may look to replace the cheap Simmons 4x with a higher quality variable. CMP rules limit you to 6x but you can tape off the adjustment ring on a higher powered scope so that its stuck on the 6x setting. Only got .09 pounds or 1.44 ounces to work with though.
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