I am in the process of gathering everything to build a 416 Taylor and am wondering about the stock. The rifle will be on a 98-09 Argentine and will have open sights exclusivelly. The stock I have is a very straight grained piece of Bastogne that is semi-inletted for a mauser. The problem is there is no drop at the heel. Do I need any? Am I asking for problems? Will the sights have to be tall? As always, any help will be appreciated.

Cedarmike,

Most stocks that are built with a high comb for rifles are tying to get your eye 1 1/2" above the bore line to match up with the scope. It is difficult for most people to get a good face weld and be that high but they are normally close. Your stock, I would imagine approximates dimensions that will yeild those results. Unfortunately it is not the best for open sights. You may not want your sights that high to accomodate mismatched stock dimensions but it is up to you. You also may have enough material to be able to lower the top of the stock line to accomodate the iron sights. We need a few more dimensions before we know if it will suit you or not. Look first for an open sight rifle that seems to fit you well and measure the dimensions of the stock. The important one is the drop to the place on the stock where your cheek contacts. Draw a line on your stock starting from the nose at about 5/8" drop at that point through the dimension you found to give you that drop and see what the length of the butt of the stock is from top of that line to the toe (bottom) of the stock.

To me it appears that it is a person's physique dependent problem.

All (well, almost all) my rifles have straight stocks and open sights and I don't see any problem. Find a rifle with a straight stock and open sights and see what it looks like........

Customstox has the right answer. If you can find one, go to a stock fitter (sometimes different from a stock maker). If you can visit two or more, compare their thoughts. If the say, "it's a rifle, stock fit doesn't matter," turn around and run away!

You can interpolate what will fit you by mounting a rifle you like with your eyes closed. Estimate where your eye is lining up in the scope (high, low, center, etc. Then turn the rifle upside down on a table (between the jaws of a vise bench like the Craftsman WorkMate is ideal). Then measure the height of the comb from the center line of the bore. This will give you a reference measurement. Next measure from the centerline of the bore to the point your eyes lined up. Add these numbers together, and that will be the necessary drop from the line of sight of your chosen sighting system. Use the bore's centerline as your reference point since that's the universal "comon reference" on all rifles.

Minor things that may impact this will be cast on or off, and thickness of the montecarlo or stock at comb.

Lastly, make sure there is either no taper or a slight downward slope from rear to front of the comb. The reverse will "whack" you good under recoil.

Well, that's my two cents.

Have fun

Safe Hunting

Clint

As always guys, thanks for the info. No where else can a guy get this much good info without too much BS.
Thanks
Mike