Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Buttplate ideas

I am finishing off a sporterized 8mm Mauser for use as late season deer rifle. There is a nice recoil pad on it now, but when it's removed, it shoulders nicely with all my winter layers. I'd like to find or make a buttplate for it. I've fitted pads and buttplates before. I've got a decent sander, so shaping material would not be a problem.

What are your suggestions? It does not have to be fancy.

Get a simple black plastic plate and sand to fit.

Horn makes a good-looking butt plate, is easy to work, easy to stain, and raw material is as cheap or expensive as you could like.

Yes, buffalo horn if one can run some down.

Horn? That's a cool idea.

look on ebay for knife scales and you should find a piece of horn that will work

Galazan's used to have horn buttplates, I haven't checked their website lately though.

Sending a PM with some ideas and offers...

Well, the Mauser from Hell project has just yielded yet another kick in the pants.

In this instance, I got up early this AM and started right into Ebay to look for horn knife scales. In doing so, I missed Sitka deer's PM. Drat.

The butt of the stock is 1.6" and all the horn scales on Ebay are 1.5" . Finally, in frustration, I settled on some 5X2" black Micarta-- $9 with free shipping. My goal now is to just get something protective on the butt and see if it shoots. I still have not fully determined if this is a deer rifle or a tomato stake. If all goes well, I'll have a nice 8mm sporterized K98. If the next time out it still shoots minute-of-bushel-basket, I will have only spent $9 more.

Thanks all. I'll report on my progress.

Update: The Micarta idea worked. It's not all that elegant, but it works well enough that I can test out the rifle and get through the next season. It looks a bit like I scavanged a Formica table top. I even have a spare scale .

The really good news is that now that the scope is mounted, and the buttplate is secured, it comes up nicely and fits me.

Now I have to dig up my 8mm dies and load up test loads.

Thanks all.

I said "what the heck" when contemplating a butt plate for a little German kiplauf which had its butt trimmed flat (before I got it)- and fitted a 5/16" thick piece of ebony to it, contoured it, sanded flush whilst sanding the rest of the stock, and checkered it. Looks good, but I treat it with kid gloves as I realize it isn't as durable as steel, tough as horn, or as easily replaceable as hard rubber/plastic.

I kind of like the metal butt plates that were used on the pre-64 Model 70s and other period Winchesters. I see them pop up from time to time.

Before deciding your rifle is not worth keeping, consider a fresh muzzle crown. You would be amazed at the possibilities. I cured a horribly inaccurate (would not stay on a washing machine at 50 yds) BNIB Winchester Big Bore Carbine with a new crown.

try ipay wood it is a varry hard wood used for wood flooring

It is spelled ipe and pronounced e-pay...

It is commonly called ironwood, like at least a hundred other species.

It is very bland, though a pleasant color, and extremely dense and hard. If Shaman wants a bit to play with I will send him some.

Oh, there's all sorts of things I know I can do with it before giving up. The question is becoming how much I want to sink into this money pit before I give up.

Here's a question I've been wanting to ask y'all: This rifle has the original stepped barrel on it. It's bedded. It's an okay bedding job. Let's say I wanted to rebarrel it. Are their easy options besides another K98 barrel? I'm thinking of the future here, and I've vowed to slowly work myself towards lighter shooting deer rifles. I bought what I proclaimed to be my "last 30-06" a few years ago. Would a 7X57 barrel fit on this action? I know I'm way ahead of myself here. 8mm should be a fine whitetail round, and there's every reason to expect the rifle will shoot well with a little bit of load development. I'm just thinking.

Sitka: Thanks for the offer. Let's see how this thing shoots first.

7x57 would fit the action, sure. I would wait and see how the 8mm shoots, it may well surprise you and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the cartridge.

Lothar Walther used to make a Mauser replacement barrel complete with steps. I don't know if they still do but it would bear checking out if one were hell-bent on re-barreling and retaining the original stock.

I was gifted a Mauser 98 (early war-time BRNO) by the son of the GI who brought it back, who sporterized it some time in the 50's. The bore was (is) as minty as I've ever seen on a military Mauser, and even though I'm not a fan of stepped barrels on nice sporters I elected to leave it alone when I did a makeover on it because it is so righteously accurate. A classic case of "don't shoot the donor" if ever there was one.

As for re-crowning, a crown has to be outrageously screwed up to actually effect accuracy. As long as the bullets leave the muzzle exactly the same each time is all that matters. This has been proven to my satisfaction by men more capable than me.