The stock on my new Ruger 77 boatpaddle *Zytel 338 is just a hair short of 14 inches. I need to cut a half inch off and reinstall the pad but can't figure out how?? unless I cut a section out in front of the recoil pad of 3/4 an then using threaded screws and glass it all back together again and name it the Humpty dumpty gun...HELP

Tough one there Ray. Epoxy [[[[ not recommended ]]] in black might give a fair color match. But, the contours won't match and so to epoxy after you fill and sand the contours to match, the surface won't match the moulded surface.

Replace it with some other stock
or rifle.
Those things are so damned ugly I don't
see how they even sell. I'm surprised to
hear you have one.

George

NO! it will always be weak at the thin joint. Call Boyds and order a real stock. I actually, really, like those stocks, and have two tang safety Rugers on them. I machined out the stock for the tang. One 257 and one 350 Rem Mag.

Sorry Ray. Got to take back the epoxy suggestion. I heard it doesn't adhere well to Zytel. Check out Gorilla glue.
CB

Sell that stock and get this:

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/1479540

Hogue are nice stocks but weigh 2lbs 10 oz.
More than a wood stock

I like the zytel as its brutely tough, indestructalbe and its not hollow and does not make hollow noise. It flat and fits in a saddle scabbard and I can stick it upright in the snow while I gut a deer or elk...Its ugly but so far nobodys insptected it while I gut that deer or elk, Sometimes ugly is tougher than pretty...Its for hunters who use a rifle like a tool, not collectors of closet queens, and besides there is nothing pretty about any composite stock, or stainless steel rifles for that matter, the beauty in rifles is totally owned by high dollar walnut, good craftsmanship and rust blue!!

Phil shomaker sent me a picture of his boatpaddle stock shortened. He added a recoil pad and filled in with black glass and screws, and its very tough and workable according to Phil, and Lord knows he talking from experience, not guess and by gosh.

Sounds doable now....

Well hey. If looks aren't all that important. Then glass away like Phil did and be sure to treat the new pad and screws so they come out/off easily after it cures.
Got a milling machine? If not - how about this to make it look a bit more professional?

After you attach the new pad and contour the outside: Clean up the inside edges with a round ended rotary rasp OR smooth cutting router bit in your drill press that has a radius like the factory inside corners of the stock. Secure the end of the stock on a 9 inch X 18" piece of plywood or OSB covered with a towel with a strip of wood laid over a rag over the stock and pre-drill your holes & screw that into the plywood to keep it stable and flat. Shim to raise the stock higher if needed to make the area on the same plane as the press table. Then lower the rasp to the desired level and lock the press depth in position. If you like, a strip of wood screwed on the end/underside of the plywood can act as a stop and give you nice clean/straight cut at the filled area if the stock is aligned perfectly in the jig. Sounds like a really fun project. Slow & easy ...

Not so impossible now. Aye?
Great thread.
CB