Please point me in the direction of practical tips/ methodology/technique/ to put cast onto a stock. The gun is O/U straight hand stocked, with a stockbolt. How do I bend it 2 inches or so?

Trans-pond----

I assume a "cross-eyed" stock.... Right hand shooting using the left eye?

Most of the English guns built that way had curved tangs and lockplates.....really a wonder of the gunmaker's art. I've bought a few (cheap) just to look at and study.....gone now.

It is a very major job that takes a redesign of the gun, re-making parts, and of course a new stock. For the same money you can buy an existing fine English double.
If you've been fitted and know exactly what you need I'll be happy to act as your agent at the International Arms Expo in Las Vegas next year...there are usually a dozen or so. Last year there was a pair of Dickson Round Actions with cross stocks.......$20,000 US, as I remember.

I don't know of a way to do it at all using a stock bolt for attachment.

There is a way to do it with a stock bolt -- the stock comes straight back thru the grip, then "crosses" -- the hole for the stock bolt is drilled in the side of the stock behind the pistol grip area, and capped with a fitted plug (held in place by a small screw).

Very interesting, I just read an article about it in a current magazine at the bookstore -- I think it was a browning double. Next time I go I'll try to find it again and post the title and issue here.

Todd

I dont want a cross-eyed stock' just want to tweak a little. I believe you put a windlass on the clamped stock, keep it bathed in warm linseed oil for a week or so; and keep twisting on the spanish windlass each day or two.
Seeking step by step instruction, especially over the stock bolt which will probably have to be bent in situ.
Don't they fit shotguns in the US ever?

Trans-pond---

Shotguns are seldom fitted to the customer in the U.S. It's a shame, too.

You said "tweak" and you also mentioned "two inches".

I've delt with hundreds or English and Continental guns and have never seen more than 1/2 inch cast unless it's a cross-eyed stock.

You can't bend a stock bolt in a straight hole and still expect it to turn.....it can't.

Warm oil and tension will bend the stock......unless it has a bolt through it.

I must say I am confused about what you are trying to achieve as a stock for a rt. handed rt. eye dominent shooter with 3/8" of cast-off would be considered a good bit of cast. Methods range from heat lamps to hot-oil. Here in Tx a common problem is the wood returning to its pre-bent self if left in a hot trunk or similar situation. Wood grain has a strong memory. Before any stock is cast you really should have a fitter check the amount needed or at leat shoot a 'try' gun. There are many fitters in the USA that work independantly or with gun makers to do this properly, Wenig, Kolar, Kreighoff, Kemen, Kaysa etc. etc. Once fitted with a particular cast, drop at heel, comb, LOP etc do not think it will transfer to every gun. They don't. I compete with and collect different shotguns, none of which are the least bit similar but they all fit me for their intended use.

If you just want to tweak it a little bit loosen the bolt and put a match stick (cardboard) between the wood and metal on the left side to cast off for a right hand shooter. Once you figure out what you need added where, remove that amount from the opposite side. If you need any more than the thickness of a match or possibly two you need to consider a new stock or make what you have an adjustable. Jim

By the way, that Beretta is choked F/M and I would prefer IC/M. Who and how much $ to rebore? I don't really need screw-in chokes. I wonder if reboring will screw up the barrel's regulation?

Any body gone down this road already?

Regards
Elmo

I am left handed/master eye. I have been shooting this gun for 20 years oblivious to the r/h cast off it carries. Having been shown the error of my ways I am keen to bend the stock through cenre and to put cast on. I guesstimate the total movement at the butplate will be 1.5/2 ins.
If I can master the technique, I will test fit every couple of days during the process.
I worked in a gunsmith workshop weekends as a child and remember vaguely some techniques with less clarity than others. But infra-red heat lamps, linseed oil tourniquets and spanish windlasses are in the mists of my memory!!

Trans-pond---

I just can't imagine how you figure 1.5 to 2 inches of buttstock change......are we talking about a different measurement some where?

The center line of the butt is *normally* offset away from the shooter's face (cast off) about 3/16 inch. To change that stock to cast *on* would take 3/8 inch of total movement.

A buttstock centerline that's 2 inches from the center line is suited to cross-eyed shooting and nothing else.

Again---- a bent stock bolt in a bent hole WILL NOT ROTATE. A straight bolt won't go in a crooked hole. A crooked bolt won't go is a straight hole.

Normally a stock is bent by clamping the action solid and using wedges or a windlass to put tension on the butt while very warm oil is poured onto the wrist. The one I saw set up used an old coffee maker as an oil heater and tank and the waste oil was recycled by a small pump back into the coffee pot. It takes several days and the stock darkens considerably in the process.

Call Briley in Houston.

I heard (not directly saw) that they have a new gadget that is a couple heatplates, oil, and a THICK leather pad, and a FINE FINE FINE thread twist knob. What happens is the heat it up a couple days, then put a turn or two on the knob, and let it set for 4 ro 24 hours, and turn again.

They do this with the gun and all together. I don't know about with a bolt in the stock... sounds like a physics problem!!

jeffe

Jack,

I have changed the cast on a through-bolt stock by rethreading the receiver to the correct angle and then restocking it.