I've often noticed that you fellows from down under are opinionated and sometimes contrary to notions. I'm not here to argue, just to state my opinion from several decades of experience with all types of firearms and mainly Custom Guns of this century. I found reference to the Golden Mean as stated in reference to 17th-19th century firearms and therefor art, architecture and decoration. I have found many examples since adopted in places where on would wonder if following the ratio was the primary influence or just convenient usage because it simply look proper?
As for rifle forend following the lead of splinter forends, that doesn't make sense to me? I have found that many gunmaking "mysteries" about how or why things were done the way they were can often be explained be figuring out what was easiest, or most convenient to the craftsmen in the shop at the time of the gun's manufacture. And often measurements that we might wonder how they were arrived at came down to simply convention repeated by measuring sticks made for shop convenience.
In other words the craftsman had a measuring stick for the buttstock of a given rifle that could be laid on the side of the stock to mark out different locations from a common point: front of grip, back of grip, front of cheekpice, back of cheekpiece, lop, etc. Therefor standardizing layout for a given rifle stock in a given workshop.

The Second page of the Golden Mean Story


30-40 Krag Custom Rifle with Golden Mean Proportions: Forend to barrel in front of action, buttstock cheekpiece location ie.

What do you mean about the cheek piece location, you use the golden mean for the placement ?

quote:

Originally posted by bt8897:
What do you mean about the cheek piece location, you use the golden mean for the placement ?

~~EXACTLY~~

quote:

Originally posted by SDH:

quote:

Originally posted by bt8897:
What do you mean about the cheek piece location, you use the golden mean for the placement ?

~~EXACTLY~~

Steve, could you elaborate on how to use the golden mean to position the cheek piece.

The length of the cheek piece is 3/5 of the length of the buttstock its placement on the butt also determined by the ratio. Read the fine print and try it out on your own stock. The combined length in front and behind the cheekpiece very close to equal the length of the cheekpiece itself. Locations and variables like the molding keep it from being exactly the same.

After you use this ratio and get used to looking for it you will find it used in many, many areas of design. It seem to lend a pleasing visual balance to the notion of proportion.~IMHO~

So I’m working on a cheek piece right now. For the length of butt stock are you measuring from behind grip, center of grip…?? For the location I just used where I shoulder the rifle and measured where the center of my cheek contacts the stock and used that for the center of the cheek piece. Do you ever have an instance where fitting the stock to the shooter alters the use of the golden mean? I will try to post some pictures of my unprofessional progress so far.

Didn’t intend to hi jack this thread-

For this purpose,draw a line from the middle of the grip cap to the comb nose.(The middle of the grip cap should be located directly below the comb nose.) Measuring from there back to the buttplate will give you the length of the buttstock. Using this length, determine the length of the cheekpiece using the Golden Mean ratio. Then you can calculate the placement of the cheekpiece with the same ratio to help locate the cheekpiece on the buttstock.
You have to do the math.

I use to teach this in my Stock Shaping seminar but I am retired...

I use the golden ratio and make the fore end .382 of the barrel length from the receiver to the muzzle.