Thread: Howa 1500 S/A lightweight stock options

Originally Posted by LMcNab

Reviving this thread, this may be a stupid question so brace yourselves. Would anyone know whether it would produce an acceptable result to chop, reshape and lighten the houge stock like above then just carbon wrap it? Would the wrap add enough strength to the notoriously floppy houge or do you need a more rigid core?

Hey @LMcNab,

Reshaping the factory hogue stock will take off some weight, I did it more for a nicer shape. It wasn't the version with the soft rubber coating, just plastic. Can't say I've noticed it having flex worse than any other synthetic stock.

If you where after maximum rigidity I'd be thinking milling/router a slot down the length of the forend then holding a carbon fiber arrow shaft in place with epoxy.

If doing a full wrap around the stock, I think the inletting would give a bit of trouble if you put a layer of carbon cloth and resin in there. You would need to make the inletting oversize, lay up the carbon back to exactly the right size and shape again. In theory that could be done, I wouldn't try it.