Adding weight to a rifle

[SteveOak]

Let me state at the outset, I am not a gunsmith, stockmaker, cabinetmaker, machinist nor anything like it. LOL I am at best, a hack that can sometimes cobble something together that functions sufficiently for my intended purpose.

I have no idea who made the stock nor who built the rifle. If it matters, the action is a Borden TPE.

My rifle is quite nose heavy. The blue line in the pic shows the balance point. Fortunately the shooting I do does not have ANY weight limit so I am free to add whatever weight necessary to the butt to move the balance point back.

Where is the optimum balance point?

I do possess enough skills to figure out how much weight to add. The next question is how to add the weight.

The second pic shows the butt of the stock with the butt plate removed. The material exposed is very hard and is perfectly flat.

The length of pull is rather short for me so I will probably add a recoil pad to increase it..

The rifle weighs AROUND 184 oz, 11 lb, 8 oz, as it is now. I would not rule out a HV profiled barrel in the future so the ability to adjust or add more weight would be a plus.


To state my questions clearly;

Where is the optimum balance point?

What is the best way to add weight to this stock?

Is there a way to add weight that can be adjusted later?

 

[LVLAaron]

I'm not a BR guy... but I've always seen barrel stubs hidden behind the butt plate.

 

[Steve Kostanich]

By my math 190 oz. is 11 lb. 14 oz. If you are trying for a LV class BR rifle the limit is 168 oz, =10.5 lbs.
The HV limit is 13.5lbs. which is 216 oz.
Not really sure if short range BR is what you are interested in.

FWIW
Steve Kostanich

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

This can be made very simple or hard. I like the idea of an aluminum tube epoxied into the stock to accept a weight that is then attached to the butt plate. You don't want the weight rattling around in there and I've seen a couple of stocks get pretty much ruined by a loose weight slamming forward under recoil. They thought they had it padded tight but not so, at least not enough so. Pretty amazing how much inertia is generated with recoil. Attaching it to the butt plate removes all doubt.

It's not cheap but I prefer to use copper tungsten alloy for the weight itself. It's tough but machinable and weighs roughly 1.5x as much as lead. Makes a nice weight system when done right. A little easier said than done but it's very doable with a little creative planning before you start. Not a lot of space to work with so the density/weight of that alloy is very handy for this job.

Since the LOP is a little short, you could make a steel butt plate to kill two birds with one stone, as well. Again, very doable but easier said than done. I don't care much for that job at all. It takes a lot of time to get one to fit nicely, especially steel.

That rifle looks familiar but can't place it.

 

[AlNyhus]

I do a weight tube.

 

[JFrank]

PMA has weight inserts

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[SteveOak]

For the TL;DR crowd. What is the optimum balance point?

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

For the TL;DR crowd. What is the optimum balance point?

I'm not sure what TL or DR means. To your question, as with so many things, you'll get different opinions but my 2 cents are that "it depends", at least to a point. Several variables but somewhere between the front of the receiver and maybe 2 inches forward of that point. We're splitting a pretty fine hair but I think optimum depends on total gun weight, caliber/recoil, stock design and shooting style. But without more info to split that hair a few more times, about an inch in front of the receiver is a pretty safe place to be.

Playing with where you put the forearm stop on your rest can help fine tune it a lot, too.

 

[LVLAaron]

tl;dr = too long; didn't read

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

tl;dr = too long; didn't read

Ah, thank you! I'm guilty at times, too.

 

[Leeman]

Steve,

From one hack to another.........

I purchased a typical used BR rifle, original BR McMillan stock, Panda action, intending to use it for short range F class so had a 26" HV barrel installed. I also wanted to lengthen the stock so cut off the standard butt pad, fitted a thicker Pachmayr pad and filled the cavity in the pad with a lead shot/epoxy mix as I knew it would be nose heavy. Even with that it was probably balancing close to yours and I had too many flyers. I cut out the foam that was in the butt and just got some lead ingots held in place with foam in a can. The balance is now back around the front of the loading port and it seems to have cured the flyer issue I was having. If necessary I can get a pair of pliers on any of the ingots (once the pad is removed) and pull one free to lessen the weight on the back. It's definitely not as 'gunsmithy' as an alloy tube or tubes filled with lead shot that can be added or removed to change the balance point but it was cheap and seems to work.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Steve,

From one hack to another.........

I purchased a typical used BR rifle, original BR McMillan stock, Panda action, intending to use it for short range F class so had a 26" HV barrel installed. I also wanted to lengthen the stock so cut off the standard butt pad, fitted a thicker Pachmayr pad and filled the cavity in the pad with a lead shot/epoxy mix as I knew it would be nose heavy. Even with that it was probably balancing close to yours and I had too many flyers. I cut out the foam that was in the butt and just got some lead ingots held in place with foam in a can. The balance is now back around the front of the loading port and it seems to have cured the flyer issue I was having. If necessary I can get a pair of pliers on any of the ingots (once the pad is removed) and pull one free to lessen the weight on the back. It's definitely not as 'gunsmithy' as an alloy tube or tubes filled with lead shot that can be added or removed to change the balance point but it was cheap and seems to work.

The main thing here is that it works.

 

[boltfluter]

I do a weight tube.

Al is the guy to hire for this job. Not as easy as it would seem at first glance.
Paul

 

[AlNyhus]

Thanks, Paul. It's one of those jobs that seem simple but as Mike pointed out, it's full of pitfalls if you don't 'think backward' a bit. I can't emphasize enough how critical it is to have the weight supported at the front. Here's a couple for the O.P. to ponder.

Good shootin'

Weight system tube install

This one is ready to head 'west river' to it's owner. Robertson LV stock with a weight system to better balance it for the HV class. Closed end 7/8" o.d. tube is bedded into a base of epoxy. The butt plate is also bedded to the back of the stock: 1/4-20 screw will attach the weight...

forum.accurateshooter.com

Stock weight system project

Recently, @jimmymac and I worked up a weight system for his LV gun (10.5 lbs) to bring it up to HV weight (13.5) and better balance it. Jim sent his butt plate and a piece of .750 O.D. tungsten copper rod 8" long to use as the weight. Here's what we did, in case someone is looking at doing...

forum.accurateshooter.com

Panda/Robertson bedding

I love it. A lot better than my vice in a vice.

forum.accurateshooter.com

 

[Will Henry]

What a very nice way to add weight to the butt. A nice installation too. I have but one suggestion: In the future, instead of wrapping the weight with tape, cut grooves for three o-rings on the weight. The o-rings should do a good job of supporting the weight and will be just a little more hi-tech than the electrical tape. The alternative would be to place the o-rings in the tube, but cutting a groove in the middle of the tube can be a problem. WH

 

[Greg@wfcustom]

You don't want the weight rattling around in there and I've seen a couple of stocks get pretty much ruined by a loose weight slamming forward under recoil. They thought they had it padded tight but not so, at least not enough so. Pretty amazing how much inertia is generated with recoil. Attaching it to the butt plate removes all doubt.

I hate to admit this but I have personal experience with this.
My very first SRBR rifle is a very early Bat S in a Bordon stock.
The stock had a molded in fiberglass tube in the butt and so I added a nice tight fitting weight
to make a switch barrel LV/HV, and off we went.
Late in that first season at the end of the HV stage, I noticed a big star crack in the front of the pistol grip!
When I went to remove the weight after the match to switch back to LV, it wasn't there.
It was about 6" further down the tube where it had broken through the end and was working on the grip from the inside like a damn slide hammer! It really is amazing the amount of recoil force that is generated.
Needless to say all of my weight systems are now firmly attached to the butt plate, and installed in a
thin wall aluminum or PVC tube bedded in Devcon in the foam filled butt.
Ain't nothin moving now, except the whole rifle.
+1 for the Tungsten/copper alloy tough to machine, but doable. Pure tungsten not so much!
YMMV
G

 

[LVLAaron]

I sure am jealous of you guys getting to add weight.

 

[Greg@wfcustom]

What a very nice way to add weight to the butt. A nice installation too. I have but one suggestion: In the future, instead of wrapping the weight with tape, cut grooves for three o-rings on the weight. The o-rings should do a good job of supporting the weight and will be just a little more hi-tech than the electrical tape. The alternative would be to place the o-rings in the tube, but cutting a groove in the middle of the tube can be a problem. WH

I like to cut a small recessed o-ring groove at the plate end of the wood stocks to give a bit of tension to the plate against the weight.
G

 

[AlNyhus]

What a very nice way to add weight to the butt. A nice installation too. I have but one suggestion: In the future, instead of wrapping the weight with tape, cut grooves for three o-rings on the weight. The o-rings should do a good job of supporting the weight and will be just a little more hi-tech than the electrical tape. The alternative would be to place the o-rings in the tube, but cutting a groove in the middle of the tube can be a problem. WH

I actually cut some grooves in a piece of aluminum round stock to try that. Every time I pulled the weight out, the 'o' rings wanted to stay in the tube. -Al

 

[AlNyhus]

I like to cut a small recessed o-ring groove at the plate end of the wood stocks to give a bit of tension to the plate against the weight.
G

That would be a good way to go, also....a bit of a step at the end of the weight. I'm doing one now in my Hunter stock and trying a round adhesive fiber pad at the back of the weight...like what goes on the bottom of chair legs.