I'm having a rifle built and wasn't sure which to go with. I like the steel butt plate look and was leaning in that direction. Today I went to the range and noticed they had poured a concrete floor on the firing line, nice I thought, our dues at work. I grabbed my guncase and heard a very disturbing sound, the sound of the rifle sliding out of the case and smacking the freshly poured concrete I caught it before it slide all the way out, but the impact on the steel butt plate spilt the stock from the bottom screw to the sling swivel. It is a clean break and should make for a unnoticable repair but what a heart breaker.I don't have much money in this particular rifle so that helps. It has led me to re-think my current project. I'm not so much worried about another bonehead mistake as happened today but rather a slip or fall in the woods with a hard impact on a rock or forzen ground. I can't help but think, I'm quite sure, this would not have happened with a recoil pad to absorb the impact. What do you all think?

I find your damage odd. I've dropped my .318 with its steel buttplate several times with no problems whatsoever, so I don't think that it's the buttplate that is the problem. My guess would be the wood itself. However, unless your rifle is of very moderate caliber, I'd never deliberately choose a chunk of steel next to my shoulder. Now I'm not as young as I used to be (but then, who is?), perhaps, but frankly I think that steel buttplates are nothing more than a cheap military way of preventing chipping on the stock. For hunters, a recoil pad is the only way and I don't give a bucket of warm spit what "tradition" may say about it or how noble a skeleton buttplate with checkering looks. T'Hell with it! Get a Pachmeyer unless you're building a monster slayer. Then get a KickEze.

I'll chime in and agree, something odd with this split. Do you think any military in the world would have purchased rifles that broke on a drop? They would end up having half their weapons needing replacement, after a manuever excerise. Heck in that case you would never see a servicable French rifle, they would all be broken.



Something was wrong, either the stock had issues beforehand that wasn't visable to the eye, the buttstock wasn't installed correctly, or maybe you got the freak accident. It didn't sound like you hit it hard, so I think the first two are more likely scenarios. Steel buttplates are suitable on certain rifles. I wouldn't want a big bore with one but a little 257 Bob in a mannlicher would be sweet. I think its a taste issue, personally I can't stand shotgun type shoulder pads on rifles, very 1950-60 ish and tacky in my mind. Personal taste on my part.

I agree with Old Sarge that this split is out of the ordinary. If not, there wouldn't be millions of military Mausers with steel buttplates out there. Try one of the red Pachmayr Decelerators -- they're almost as traditional as a steel plate. Hope this helps, Okie John.

I had exactly the same thing happen to me, only the rifle had a hard plastic plate. The toe of the plate broke and the wood split to the sling swivel hole. Real bummer.
That being said, I'm still going down the steel buttplate route on my upcoming 257 Roberts. I like the looks of a steel plate and think it shouldn't be too bad at all on the Roberts.

Anyway, that's my take.
- Stu

Bummer, but I also think that there is something a little strange about it cracking like that. Most all my rifles from 30-06 down get metal buttplates. I just like the looks of them better than a rubber pad, especially when matched with a similair grip cap.

I always remember what one person who bought custom rifles like I buy shirts said once when I asked him why he always had steel buttplates put on his rifles. His answer was "Putting a rubber butt pad on a custom rifle is like wearing a pair of rubber boots with a tuxedo". I always remembered that!!

If I were building a rifle I would have a recoil pad put on. If you want to dress it up you can always have it covered in leather as I had Customstox do to my 7x57. That said, my old pre-64 Model 70 30-06 that has been my faithful companion for the past 30 years has the stock steel plate. I like the looks and could never bring myself to put a saw to it. If I'm shooting it in the summer with a t-shirt on I use a Bob Allen pad that straps on my shoulder. Certainly the recoil has never bothered me in the field.

Jeff

for a hunting rifle, RECOIL PAD! There are too many nice ones out there.

My .280 with a steel buttplate hurts worse than my 300WSM with the factory recoil pad.

If it is a trophy rifle, built for show, steel is fine, but for a shooter, comfort is paramount. Flinches are too easy to develop anyway, why add that to the list of things....

IMHO, of course!

For a classic look on anything 30-06 and smaller, a Neidner style steel plate is my preference.

Regarding the split, I would suspect that there was stress in the stock from the screw in the butt plate, in other words the pilot hole for that screw may have been too small or too shallow so that when the screw was set into the stock, it wedged the wood grain, starting a crack that was not visible from the out side. Apply an impact and the split widened.

This is pure speculation on my part, however I have worked with various hardwoods, making furniture for a number of years, and have split enough to become cautious about my pilot holes, and how tight I place screws in some woods when the hole is near the end grain.

Dempsey,
If a steel butt plate is installed properly, it has full contact under all of the metal. That will distribute the load of any impact evenly across the butt. If however you have less than 100% and lets say just the edges are touching and at the screw holes, that could be a recipe for disaster. Holes in a the stock will act as points of acute high stress under a load. If the load at the hole is concentrated, the crack can happen. It is not normal.

BTW, you might consider what the recoil of the gun relative to the steel butt plate. I did one on a .35 Whelen and it was brutal.

Thanks for all the input. I suspected something may have been wrong and the screw acted like a wedge. I feel better knowing done right my future rifle will ok. It is a 338-06. I know my smith will do what I ask but I think he falls in line with Idareds line of ""Putting a rubber butt pad on a custom rifle is
like wearing a pair of rubber boots with a tuxedo". I think this cartridge is probably borderline on being tolerable with a steel buttlplate but they look so good

I understand the sentiment but I would be putting on rubber boots for that round. On the other hand if you don't like it with steel after a few rounds it is a much simpler task to cut the stock shorter for the rubber pad than add wood later for steel.

Come on CDH, what does that .280 weigh? I have a Niedner steel butt plate on my M70 in .280. The rifle weighs in @ 7.3# scoped & ready to go. I find the recoil almost unoticable w/ bullets up to 160gr. Now, my hunteverything rig is a 8.5# .338-06, that may explain something. I think the Niedner is a very classy way to finish the butt end of a rifle.

I agree, Ive got a Nieder steel plate on my 257 and they add a touch of class that a recoil pad can never have. But I wouldnt put one on a 338-06.

I think Chic is right on the money, all it takes is a small high spot of wood between the plate and the stock and all of the force of that "bump" goes right onto the high spot. Its prolly a good idea to bed the plate to the stock to prevent that. Another possibility is that one of the screws were just a bit loose and the force landed right on the head of the screw, that would certianly do it.

I prefer the look of a steel buttplate. It requires you to cut off less of that expensive walnut, it does not cause me pain if wearing hunting clothes, and it is lighter than many recoil pads.