Ed and Bobby: Thanks for the good advice. Gary T.

A friend bought a Corelite stock for a LR Mauser. He thumped the buttstock down to seat the action before torquing the action screws and heard a thump...then the rattle started.

We removed the recoil pad, and found a rock inside the hollow portion of the stock. It looks as if they get their mottled finish on the black stocks by putting them into a vibrating vat of these smooth, rounded, white rocks.

I bought a synthetic stock to put on an old Model 700. A year or so passed before I got around to installing it and when I did I noticed what sounded like a loose piece of plastic inside the butt end of the stock. When you tip the stock it rattles as it runs from one end of the hollow space to the other. I am thinking about drilling a small hole in the recoil pad and injecting some expanding foam insulation to stop the rattle. Anyone see any harm in this? Would it be better to just inject some glue? Thanks, Gary T.

First, a couple of things to think about.
One, the recoil pad may be removable, check for screws.

Two, I wouldn't use expanding foam, although others my chime in here, it might expand too much and cause problems. I'd use the insulating type of foam that does not expand, it simply fills and sets up in a given space. I've seen expanding foam cause some unbelievable damage, that you normally wouldn't think it has the force of expansion required to do.

On my synthetic stock, I used foam packing peanuts to fill the stock and it worked wonders at keeping the hollow noise down.

Not sure exactly how to solve your problem, but you certainly need to use a lot of caution with that expanding foam insulation.

It is almost impossible to get off some surfaces, and will bond stuff together like crazy glue.

Further, the power of the material's expansion upon curing must be seen to be believed. It usually continues to come out awhile, even after you've let off the nozzle, making it difficult to precisely meter. It is fully capable of breaking your stock, and/or blowing the pad off, if too much is injected. I have seen it break windows when applied between the jamb and jack studs.

I realize the pad may be glued on, but many, even synthetics, are screwed on. The screws would be hidden below the surface, but there will be tiny holes for a small driver to enter above each screw head. How is your's attached?

Other may have more experience with this, but if it were mine, I would be more inclined to try to remove and replace the buttplate/pad than to foam it, even if it meant separating a glued on pad with a razor blade, then re-gluing it back.

Good luck.

I've had good luck with using the expanding foam in synthetic stocks. I use "Great Stuff" that I bought at Lowes. The trick is to let the foam have a place to expand too and trim off the Excess. I didn't like the hollow sound in a Sako Finnlite and 2 Colt Light rifles. I took off the recoil pad, squirted in the "Great Stuff" let it ooze out the back end. After it dried hard I trimmed off the excess reinstalled the pad and no more hollow sound.......DJ