With this talk about the golden ratio it has put me to thinking (probably more than I should) about the forend of my stocking project. I am stocking a CZ in .416 Rigby and cannot decide on the forend design. There is a 505 Gibbs on the Lon Paul site that really gets me going. I can't decide whether to put a cap on it or not. Length is driving me crazy too. Do I just go with the original Rigby style, etc. etc. Open for suggestions, and hope you guys will post some photos. Help.

MH1 you need to put up a bit more information as in what barrel length, bb sling swivels or not, will you be scoping the rifle, will it be a up close and personal rifle or more for big PG??? To many variables to make unimformed guesses.

Von Gruff.

Von,
It has a 25in. bbl. and I will have a Leupold 1/5x5 in detachable rings. I hope to be able use the scope and open sights. I hope to take another elephant hunt and use it, possibly buff, lion, hippo, etc. I am sure I will use it for incidental plains game also. It will have a barrel mounted sling swivel and wears the factory rear sights. Thanks.

If you read a previous post on the golden rule
http://forums.accuratereloadin...1019521/m/4231076541

it becomes aparent that there are any number of different answers depending on who you may ask, but the time proven "English design" as typified by Rigby et al is for a short forearm that is just enough to hold onto to keep what weight there is more in between the hands which goes toward quicker handling. With something like the 416 you are building somewhere between 7 3/4 and 8 3/4 should be about right. Another factor in the equation is whether you will have a ebony or horn tip and prefered checkering style. If you want the point pattern to the front as well as the rear (in contrast to a square front ended checkering) this will effect the length of the forearm needed. Again how are you going to configure the balance of the stock in as far as the floor plate area with a flat bottom and sharply defined belly section or more in the way of the Rigby where the belley is rounded with no defined mag well area and looks more lively for it. The deeper the mag well area the longer the forend needs to be so the angle from the forward action screw to the forend tip is not accute.

So in effect the mag well area decision will dictate forearm length and forearm length will dictate tip length. The depth of the forend at the juncture of the ebony or horn tip can have a major effect on the visual impact.

So the sleepless nights and daydreaming that planing a rifle will continue till you make a list of the features you want and start to balance them out with each other to see if one feature will be in harmony with everything else you would like. Then the fine tuning begins and the sleepless night continue.



Von Gruff.

I like em shorter than the golden ratio calculation. IIRC 24+" barrel comes to bout 8 1/4' or so. I have several with 7 1/2 " forends with 24-25" barrels.



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