McD: It depends on your particular body shape, long or short neck, broad or narrow shoulders, even scoped or not scoped gun for that matter. Cheekpiece or no? I`m 6' 4" and 295 and just built a 416 Remag with just under 1/2" of cast off. No scope on this gun. Just iron. Egg cheek and no raised comb. I`m new to the stockmaking biz, but it seems like 3/8" will do for almost anyone. In fact, I`m not sure most could tell the diff between 3/8 and 1/2 if they were not told. Tomorrow, John Ricks and I will test shoot the gun in a pattern stock, and if all is well I will start carving up an expensive chunk of wood. The test pattern comes up so quick, and right to the eye, that I wonder why I used store bought stocks for so many years..... Good luck on yer project!
I think that most people are well served by a straight stock. This is of course dependent on the shape of the shooters face but for the most part adjustment to the width of the comb will handle the job of alignment. Because I have a fairly narrow face a stock with much cast off will have me looking down the far side of the barrel! So it is, as has been previously stated, an individual requirment. Regards, Bill.
More important than pointability is recoil reduction that comes from cast off...
Bill L. I suspect you would love about 5/16th or 3/8 cast off.. I wish you were handy I'd make you shoot one of my guns...I have never had a client leave without it..when I used to make stocks for the general public..
Cast off is for off hand and hunting, not benchrest...
A cheekpiece is mere decoration and thats all there is to that...I like them but they really serve no purpose...They have no effect on cast off unless you just stuck one on after the stock was built.
Castoff curtails heavey recoil and makes a gun point by properly lineing up the eye with the sights..furthermore it takes the guns recoil away from the cheek and to the right and up a little without loosing sight of a charging Buffalo or Lion for instance...Few people realise the desireability of castoff..I would not have a DGR without it...
I would have to go along with Ray on this one. I will depend upon the indivudal build, but most people can use about 3/8" given a fairly thick butt on most heavy recoiling rifles. All of my rifles have at least 38' cast off. Weatherby use to have a 14" cast off on all factory rifles. Where this is still true today I do not know. George
Ray, No, I really don't like stocks with any significant cast off. Since I am a relatively long narrow individual a cast off stock has me looking down the off side of the barrel. Stocks for myself I make pretty well straight. For a person who is a bit wider cast off can be beneficial. Ideally I like to be able to have the stock fit so that I can shoot well at close range with only the front sight with my eye being the rear sight. For me if the stock is cast off then a Monte Carlo comb is almost a necessity to achieve this. By the way I have no objection to a tastfully done Monte Carlo stock. If I ever get down to the lower part of Idaho maybe I'll drop in.(There. That'll give you something to dread!) We have family down there we threaten to visit so you never know. Mostly we seldom go south of Lewiston since we are mostly a North Idaho bunch. Regards, Bill.
