Thread: hunting stock design

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Stocks look great.
I like the Tikka design but the factory one size fits nobody stocks are too short for me. Longer LOP would be great - either a longer stock or thicker pad options.

That's the good thing about carbon...super easy to shorten and that Husky will be my grandsons weapon in a few years...spacer pads might be the go...the length of the mold presents some challenges already.

Originally Posted by Fisherman

It would be good to see some photos of what you came up with...really interested in the effect of the cheek riser had on how vertical your head is. I suspect an advantage of foam is that it conforms to the shooter and allows the head to stay vertical (which I think is massively important in all sports)

Yes to a point. It's 2 layers of bedroll and somewhat compressed with taping down.

My version below. Doesn't look very pretty but it works. Originally was duct tape (silver) that started to come off after a couple of years around the grip so got another layer of strapping tape over it.

Originally Posted by Joe_90

Yes to a point. It's 2 layers of bedroll and somewhat compressed with taping down.

My version below. Doesn't look very pretty but it works. Originally was duct tape (silver) that started to come off after a couple of years around the grip so got another layer of strapping tape over it.

Attachment 123027

Attachment 123028

Attachment 123029

Attachment 123030

You seem to have kept that riser slim and the angles look good. The pistol grip looks like its nicely in between vertical and swept right back.
Something most people could live with and I think that's the way to go. I got carried away with the Husky stock.

Originally Posted by Fisherman

....really interested in the effect of the cheek riser had on how vertical your head is.....allows the head to stay vertical (which I think is massively important in all sports)

Why is it that the vast majority of the world's precision shooters actually shoot with their head way off vertical, ie looking up a fair way?

Originally Posted by 6x47

Why is it that the vast majority of the world's precision shooters actually shoot with their head way off vertical, ie looking up a fair way?

When I say vertical I mean eyes horizontal...but I'm open to comment on that because if its not important a cheek riser becomes easier.
As it is, I tend to offset my risers to the off side of the stock which I think allows my head to be slightly more vertical.

I'm thinking that the easiest way to tackle this is glue on carbon risers at a variety of heights that can go on either side off the stock so people can chose to offset or not. I'm confident That they could stop short enough to allow easy bolt removal and still provide full support.
They would cheap and weigh next to nothing.

Originally Posted by Fisherman

I hope to sell some of my development stocks to recover the cost of materials soon (like the one above)...they are perfectly good and will be guaranteed but the finish isn't perfect. A paint job would finish them but I don't have time...

Definatly interested in the tikka one. Keep me in mind when it comes time to sell.

Another trick would be pop into somewhere that has a lot of rifles such as Gun City etc and start handling / holding different shapes.

Stocks like the GRS range can have adjustable bits too so see whether that is something you would consider incorporating or see how to set one up yourself and make a f"fixed" one with those positions...

You've got cast off and butt angle to consider to get that great comfortable feel and recoil control. I like the sako hunter stock too.

Thinking about palm swell, it feels very good if you've got it correct for you but if wrong it can be wrong. For instance the sako one feels nice but to me the Carl Gustav one has the swell too far back down away from the trigger. Perhaps Finnish hands are more like my size than Danish hands. I've got a rifle with a very long handgrip, that has no swell yet it feels surprisingly good, possibly due to the soft rubber grips. If you want to sell your stocks to people with a wide range of hand shapes then a longish handgrip with no swell will accommodate them all. It also gives the options of wrapping the thumb right around the grip (axe grip) placing it in the midline so the index finger squeezes directly back towards it in line with the rifle axis) or even having the thumb out beside the stock free recoil bench rest style. A vertical target or tactical rifle style pistol grip (eg Macmillan A5 and the NZ Hi-Tech) does feel good and can shoot very well but there is a cost in weight bulk snagging on scrub and speed of use.

Looking at the fore end, a flat bottom gives good stability but for a hunting rifle my opinion is it should be a bit narrow not too wide like intended for bench resting off bags.

It goes without saying that the trigger finger must have 1-2mm clearance from the stock.

Another thing to take into account is clearance / shrouding around the safety catch specially if it extends out from the action. You don't want it sticking out in mid air to catch on twigs and stuff.

One way of dealing to a multitude of fit would be to make the stock with a small flat profile that various hand swell shapes can be fitted to. (In a similar way that you can swap AR type grips for one of a different shape. ) Think something like the shape of a 25x50 on its edge then add the shape to it afterwards. You would be able to customise shape, and material, texture and density. (soft grip, moulded, firm or wood etc)

If you are making one for yourself this wont be needed, but if you were making them for others this would allow for alteration and fitting at later dates as well

Originally Posted by timattalon

One way of dealing to a multitude of fit would be to make the stock with a small flat profile that various hand swell shapes can be fitted to. (In a similar way that you can swap AR type grips for one of a different shape. ) Think something like the shape of a 25x50 on its edge then add the shape to it afterwards. You would be able to customise shape, and material, texture and density. (soft grip, moulded, firm or wood etc)

If you are making one for yourself this wont be needed, but if you were making them for others this would allow for alteration and fitting at later dates as well

It could be done with some thought...I'm not seeing many of the Tikka vertical pistol grips tho.

Sako Finn2 adjustable works well. Pretty simple construction too.

If you are running any sort of dialing/bigger glass on a tikka style stock the comb is way to low. This doesn't matter for your average bush gun with a 3xxmm objective on it but is a royal pain if shooting an LR gun prone.

The adjustable systems like the Finn2 above offer the best of both but come at a weight penalty.

Personally I love a vertical pistol grip and high comb when shooting prone/hunting open country(rifle slung more than carried). However I much prefer a classic swept grip with a medium comb for bush hunting (rifle in hand all day) I also prefer a narrower profile for my bush gun as it feels better in hand. Forend can be nice and short as well, keeps weight down and facilitates short barrel use with suppressor if required.

I think the logical choice would be to build 2 stocks, one for the LR/open country guys and one for the standard bush hunter. Id be all over something like the finn2 for my 284 tikka

im starting to really like the old walnut stocks

Originally Posted by 264 magic

im starting to really like the old walnut stocks

Wood is such wonderful stuff. Almost anyone can work on it, rework it, make substantial changes, fix problems, drill new screw holes, oil and polish it. I presume you can't take a wood rasp to a carbon stock and fine it down by 5 or 6mm to make it fit your own hands ?

How can you glue on extra bits like a palm swell or cheekpiece and can you move them afterwards ? I'm not talking about a foam and duct tape cheekbit or the electrical tape and epoxy putty swelling I experimented with on an old fiberglass stock of mine.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

Wood is such wonderful stuff. Almost anyone can work on it, rework it, make substantial changes, fix problems, drill new screw holes, oil and polish it. I presume you can't take a wood rasp to a carbon stock and fine it down by 5 or 6mm to make it fit your own hands ?

You would be brave to try...most are a thin layer of carbon with a centre of epoxy filler that's pretty strong...but you are messing with the structure.