I have been lurking for awhile and registered partially to ask this question. I have a Savage LH 22lr that I have been messing with to improve accuracy - a little trigger work, glass bedding, pillar bedding, and re-crown. The factory stock leaves a lot to be desired and I am in the midst of making a new stock. The inletting is almost complete and then I will change it from a rectangular block of laminated wood to a rifle stock. The general shape will be, unless I change my mind, very similar to my Savage centerfire stock which has a Monte Carlo cheek piece that I added but is otherwise a typical "tupperware" hunting rifle stock.

I have read the NRA rules which seem to permit, at least for the open class but perhaps not the hunting rifle class a monte carlo type cheek piece. I also want to leave the forend blocky, a little under 2 inches in both height and width because I like something bigger than a normal hunting rifle forend and because I also like benchrest shooting and I think a wider forend will ride the bags better. What I have in mind will look something like the Boyd's "Dakota Will" but with a forend more like a target stock.

My question is whether this will take me out of the hunting rifle configuration for silhouette. Do I need to eliminate the cheek piece and make it look more like a Pharr with just a high comb? Do I also need to taper the forend? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Jim

Here are a couple threads from the past on here to get you started. I'm not sure about the foreend part, but I'm sure others can weigh in on that.

It's ALIVE! - pictures/discussion of a stock I built

Stock additions legal? - discussion of stock attachments/dimensions

Jason,

Thanks for the previous posts. I did look but apparently not hard enough.

What was the end result of your "Frankenstock". Did you use it? Did you have any problem?

My stock is made of three pieces of wood laminated together but I don't think I have an issue with the "attachments" rule since other stocks are laminated of a lot more pieces of wood. If I mess up the bondo and paint might come out but for now I plan to clearcoat it.

I agree with you that my forend might be an issue. Maybe I need to look through the catalogs and see if I can find any hunting rifles with similar forends. That could turn into an interpretation of what a hunting rifle is too, however.

Jim

I used it from April to October of last year and it worked much better than the factory CZ stock, allowing my scores to creep up a bit. I still have it as my backup rifle now and am considering stripping the finish off, reshaping it a bit more, and making a good hunting rifle out of it.

This is what I came up with. The forend tapers a bit from front to back but little side to side.

Jim

That foreend looks mightly long and blocky to me for a hunter style stock, and you should probably measure how far the toe of the stock extends down from the boreline to make sure it's less than the maximum of seven inches. The only people whose opinions really matter are the ones running tech at your matches or the jury if anyone complains, though. That's a really nice looking stock, though, and must have taken a lot of work to come out looking that good.

Jason,

You are right, it has only about 1/2 inch taper from front to back. It is safe on depth, however. The blank I started with was only about 6 1/2 inches wide so I can't have too much drop at the toe. The back of the comb is also at about the max but I think it is no higher than the centerline of the bore. I can get a cleaning rod through it without having to bend it up (but only barely).

At my club the hunter scores are normally better than the standard rifle so no huge issue if I have to shoot standard. I can also always take a bit of wood out of the forend (but it's harder to put it back).

Thanks for the compliment. It was not as bad as I expected. I did most of the inletting on the drill press while the stock was still rectangular. Then I bandsawed to shape and use a borrowed pull knife, planes and sanders to create the shape. Finish is three coats of boiled linseed oil followed by 7 coats of wipe on poly.

Jim

Very nice!!!!!