How do you guys add a little more drop in the heel of an 870. Its a factory Wingmaster in 20 ga. Walnut stock. I thought I would put the stock in the mill upright (reciever end up)and increase the angle a little but figured you guys had a better way so let me know how you do it. Need to drop the heel at least 1/4". Maybe more.

Thanks and God Bless, Louis

Good Morning. Remove stock. Mask off the wood where it meets the OUTSIDE of the reciever edge. Mark 1/32" at the bottom of the stock by the trigger guard. Draw angled line to the top of the stock on both sides. By removing an angled 1/32" from the bottom of the wood you should accomplish your task quickly. Go slowly and be patient. Make sure you are taking off equal ammounts from both side as it will effect the cast of the stock as well. If you are good with a file it can be faster than a milling set up. Also less chance of chatter from the milling cutter.

great post, Dennis -
Something else to be concerned with is the angle of the attchment screw - which I don't rightly know how to adjust, but you could make an angled spacer to fit inside the stock.

its funny you ask, as the woodmaster buttstocks are the same footprint as the 20ga 870 .. and I want LESS drop in mine.

I have sucessfully altered the drop & cast-on/off on both Remington 870s and BARs, up and down and sideways A LOT, by using Dennis' method. Razor-sharp chisels are another way to do the edge work with little danger of chipping the edges of the inletting. Don't forget that the proper angle should be determined by the internal recoil surface; the part that shows should have clearance of 0.010"-0.020".
Regards, Joe

Well I did it! I used both methods. I put the stock in the mill with some floor matt foam padding on the jaws. Adjusted to have the surfade 1/32" out of level and turned up the mill wide open so I wouldn't splinter or chatter with the sharp 5/16" end mill. Simply touched off the low side and leveled the playing field on both surfaces leaving a little inner edge of the internal recoil surface. Touched up a little of the inside edges with the file.

Jeff,

Also milled a slot in the factory washer that goes inside the rear of the stock to allow for the different angle and placed a heavy 1/4" washer between the lock washer and the factory washer. 1/32" off in angle gave me exactly 1/4" more drop in the heel. Seems about right. Thanks guys.

God Bless, Louis

Congratulations. J.D. thanks for filling in all of the gaps. I guess one gets so used to doing all of the details one forgets some in the telling. Yes, hand tools are my preferred way to do this operation now. I don't own a mill but I used one for many years working for another company doing exactly the operation youngoutdoors asked about. Having a 90 degree angled head on the mill doesn't hurt either.