Is there some kind of guide for fitting a stock to a shooter? I am comfortable working on triggers, rebarreling, chambering, etc., but stock fitting seems to be more difficult. I reason I ask is that I'm going to build my wife a custom rifle. This will be a rifle fitted with a scope.

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JD

JD, I am assuming you are looking at a factory stock and not building one for her.

Most stocks are built for some imaginary standard sized person. With scoped rifles, in recent years they have raised the comb of the stock so that it is nearly parallel to the bore and approx 5/8" to 3/4" below. Most length of pulls will be around 13 1/2". That will likely be more critical with your wife. Don't go by the old axim of the length from the crook of your elbow to the trigger finger. That is for shotguns. Your concern is for eye relief. Have her shoulder the rifle and look for 1 to 1 1/2" between her right hand thumb (over the stock - assuming she is right handed) and her nose. If she is closer you need a longer stock, further away the opposite. Shortening is easy, the opposite is not true. You will have to instruct her on how to place her head on the stock, not to crawl forward, do it naturally. The pitch is not alterable unless you want to remove some wood. Most are acceptable.

If you get to get looking and have some specific questions, email me. I spend a lot more time fitting a stock to someone on a shotgun but it is good to have it the best possible with a rifle also.

I just reread your post and if you are going to build a stock you can create a pattern and have BoydBoys (n dakota company www.boydboys.com) cut a blank from the pattern. You can glass the action into the stock and it will be a piece of cake to get real good wood to metal fit. You can also use bondo to the the stock just the way you want it. They will cut a rough pattern of utility wood for $50 or so. Tell them what you are doing and they can use something that is a throw away for them. You can really spoil her and get a nice looking piece of wood. You will be pleased you did in the long run.

This will actually be an easy task. And I love creating another stock building monster, lol.

[This message has been edited by Customstox (edited 12-26-2001).]

Chic: My wife's LOP is virtually the same as mine even though there is a 5" height difference. She has one rifle that was built for her on a Brown stock, but it just isn't right. When I mount a rifle, it just comes up naturally with my head never moving. When she brings one up, she has to lower her head onto the stock; my daughter is the same way. I guess they are just long necks. Maybe putting the scope in very high rings would cure that, but I think the comb should be dropped to compensate.

Right now I've got about 5 stocks that fit the same action. They vary from straight comb to radical drop with a cheekpiece. Maybe I can fit her by trial and error.

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JD

JD, in most cases it is difficult to get the comb so you can snug your cheekbone onto the comb and look down the bore. The problem is with a bolt gun the bolt will hit the comb. About the least drop you can use is around 5/8". If she can use more you can find that by having her mount the rifle and see how much she is sighting over the center of the scope and adjust the comb accordingly. If you want to do a wood stock, I would be glad to give you some pointers.

BTW, how is Bismark? I lived there for a short time as a child. My only memories of it are driving through when I was older. Grew up "next door" in Montana, Glendive and points west. Wonderful country, and great people.

JD,

Several years ago a had a Lott made. The stock maker had a unique method of coming up with a perfect fit. He started off with a semi-inleted stock from a junk blank. Dimensions were oversize by 1/8 - 1/4 inch. When the metal was almost done (still in the white) he bedded the metal in the stock using (of all things) Bondo. We then met at the range. I had about 50 loads, both full blown and some lighter loads. He had rasp, sandpaper, extra Bondo and a bunch of 1/8" pieces of veneer cut for the butt, which was short.

It was simple, I shot, told him what didn't fit, he worked on it, I shot again, etc. etc. After a couple hours, a lot of BS and a six-pack, the stock was a perfect fit.

He then used that model for the final stock - which is also a perfect fit.

Steve

Chic: It will be a wooden stock. I can see how the method Holtz's gunmaker used would be great to fit LOP and how the pad is attached.

My plan was to use a removable recoil pad with different width pieces on the end of the buttstock until that part was perfect; then I can fit the stock to exact dimensions.

I was thinking about using different length pillars for the tang to change the comb height, just for measurement purposes.

BTW: Bismarck is great. We've basically missed the first month of winter with warmer than normal weather, but it's supposed to dip below zero tomorrow.

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JD

JD: It sounds like you need to make an adjustable stock to find the "fit", and then transfer the measurments over to a blank. Brownells has a kit for adjustable comb, and the same can be used for adjustable LOP. You can also vary the setup with a ring change on your present rifle, and then add on enough material to get the needed fit. I would be happy to assist you in this process.

Duane: Thanks for the offer. I had a serious injury just after Thanksgiving, and I'm just now able to sit up at my computer desk. I was hoping to get all the measurements, etc. out of the way so this project would be well underway as soon as I'm able to do it.

I think I've got a pretty good handle on it now.

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JD

JD, you can glue on thin 1/4 foam rubber sections to get the height right for approximations. The LOP is easy, just have her mount the rifle without a pad and fiddle with it until it is right. Measure the length and when the patter is cut there will some excess to cut off and get the pitch right. I usually go for around 2" of pitch. When cutting the blank from the pattern the duplicator will want some excess behind the finished length anyway. Either that or they will have to attache some wood for the long axis to attach to.

Chic: Good idea on the 1/4" pieces of foam. I've got the measurements done now. I'm going to reshape another stock on her "custom built" rifle to match the measurements first. We'll try that out and get a better stock made from that pattern. Thanks lots. LOP is 12 3/4", Pitch 2 1/4".

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JD