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I like my guns a bit weight forward to aid in follow throuh. Is hollowing out a stock to transfer weight forward and shave a couple ounces a bad idea? Are there any dangers should be aware of?

Joined: 01 Jun 2006 Posts: 268 Location: Meridian, ID

I did it to balance my 16ga Ugartechea after adding a recoil pad. If you ever want or need to move the balance back you can fill the hollow area. The biggest danger is breaking through the side of the stock while drilling.

There were a couple of articles in Shooting Sportsman on how to do it. I will find them and post which issues the articles were in.

Guest

You didn't mention what type of gun you're shooting but taking a bit of wood out of your stock doesn't seem like it wouldn't add up to enough of a change to your gun's balance. If you hook up with a good gunsmith, he can initially set you up with some lead tape forward of your forend and let you shoot a bit to see how you like it. I know they can add a bit of lead in the magazine plug if you're shooting a pump and auto. I have a mercury recoil reducer that I have on my Beretta 390 auto (looks like hell but it works) that provides a barrel forward balance. If you're shooting a double, they can make a lead inlays drilled inside your forend. Putting choke tubes makes a mess of a SxS but that also adds a bit of weight forward to your gun.

I thought of hollowing out my new 16b Ugartechea sxs. I'll be putting a permanent pad on it soon, so I thought that would be a good time to try hollowing out the stock. I shoot fine with it the way it is, but since I'm a fan of longer barrels, I thought a tad more weight forward might help my swing even more on my 28" gun. I might try the lead weight idea first and see how I like it. Thanks for the tip.

Joined: 01 Jun 2006 Posts: 268 Location: Meridian, ID

UncleDan

You will likely have to hollow the stock in order to maintain the current balance of the gun after adding the pad. When all is said and done you might not be able to remove enough wood to get a weight forward balance. Your gun probably varies a little from mine, but based on my experience it might be difficult to achieve. The barrels on your gun are 2" longer so that will definitely be a plus.

The articles mentioned in my post above appear in the March/April 2007 and May/June 2007 issues of Shooting Sportsman. Based on my experience there is one thing I would change from the method used in the articles. I will explain it in another post or PM if you like.

Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 81 Location: Illinois

I've hollowed out the stock on several of my guns. I was able to take 6 oz. out of my restocked Fox Sterlingworth to get the balance I was after. I don't think you will have too much trouble getting 2 to 3 ounces out of the stock to account for the weight of the recoil pad. I just use a 7/8" drill bit and drill 3 holes in the stock as deep as you need to get the weight out.

Thanks guys! Maybe it would make sense to start with a small 1/2" bit first, just to be safe.

Guest

On the Jan/Feb 2008 Shooting Sportsen, they have an article on balancing your gun. They showed some different ways of performing that task that could fix things up for you....

Thank you Terry, I'll get a copy and check it out.

Joined: 01 Jun 2006 Posts: 268 Location: Meridian, ID

This is where you will find the articles on balancing a gun.