Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Stock bending

Don't know if this really gunsmithing, but, I can't think of anywhere else to ask. I have a Ruger M77 All-Weather with the injection molded stock. I like the trim lines and the general shape, but would prefer a little less drop at the comb and less height difference between the comb and heel. Has anyone tried bending these, or any, injection molded stocks? I'm thinking of clamping the front, in front of the wrist, and trying to straighten the wrist a little with another clamp and, perhaps, the judicious application of heat (flameless heat gun). Thoughts?

I doubt it can be done, but would be very curious how it turns out.

It's just a chunk of plastic. If I ruin it, I'll get a Boyd's Platinum and rasp the hell out of it.

Absolutely agree!

I would think it might work on injection molded, doubt very much on a laid up stock. Like others, would be curious to see...

I'm pretty sure injection molded stocks are thermoplastics which will allow for heat bending. The key is figuring out what plastic is used

Interesting table. Ruger calls it "glass-filled polypropylene", so the flameless heat gun should have no trouble achieving that temperature. I can't believe no-one has tried this before. Maybe no-one is as cheap and lazy as I am!

Did some Googling after reading this table. The "heat deflection temperature" of polypropylene is listed as 100*C or 212*F. Boiling water at sea level. Sounds less likely to damage parts than the heat gun. Setting up the kettle now, will let you all know how it goes.

Any chance you can video your progress? It could be interesting.

Sounds like something I would need the grandkids to help me with.

I thought I saw a video on this on the Net. There are several for bending wood stocks which has been done for a long time.

I know if you leave a cheep injection molded stock on the dash board during a hot Texas summer that you may end up with more drop, cast, twist, or who knows on the stock.

#nylon66

The first gun to shoot around corners...

A good start would be an old-style coffee pot or teakettle, a big one that makes lots of steam. The problem is, you need to keep the action area stable and cool at the same time you're playing with the wrist.

Well, the weekend has come and gone and I have some results to share. The stock started with 5/8" drop at comb and 1" drop at heel (measured from the water line). After sitting in the big sink full of hot water for 30 minutes, I set it up on our 3/4" steel plate table and commenced to clamping. It wasn't very hard to pull it with some big Bessey clamps to 1/4" drop at comb and 1/2" drop at heel. This is where I wanted it. I wrapped the wrist with some flannel strips from an old sheet and poured boiling water over it until it was well saturated. I then hit it with the flameless heat gun until the wet strips were slightly scorched on the outside. By then, I could easily smell hot plastic. Stopped heating, unwrapped the wrist and went to do something else for half an hour. When I came back, released all the clamps and the buttstock remained in the position it was in when clamped. This was Saturday afternoon. Was pretty pleased with the results. Yesterday morning, I went to re-install the barrelled action and something didn't look right. Remeasured the stock, and it has slowly bent back to almost the original dimensions. Drop at comb is 1/2" and drop at heel is 3/4". I can only conclude that I didn't get the internal portion of the wrist hot enough and there is more strength in the "memory" portion of the center than there is in the "new" surface. There is no evidence on the surface of any of this work (no bends, no ripples, no change in the checkering). I might try it again and bend it further than I want to go and hope the result ends up closer to where I want it. Sorry there are no pictures or video, but, once I got started, stopping to take pictures could have derailed my train of thought.

You don't want to bend it further hoping for some spring back. If you hit the temp correctly you will have to do it again to get it where you want it. You really need an adjustable heat gun and get the temp low enough to not burn it, but high enough that you can work quickly, so the heat doesn't have time to migrate through the stock.