Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Buttstock angle from bore?

I am about to shorten the L.O.P. on a Marlin 336. I know presonal preferances come into play but how do most of you prefer to cut the but. Ninety degrees to the bore (-----!) top of the but slightly longer (-----/) or bottom of the but slightly longer (-----\). Recoil is not an issue as it is only a .35 Rem. I'm thinking that the top of the but being slightly longer would give more leverage for working the lever quicker with the rifle tight to the shoulder but a little slower to get it there. Bottom of the butt slightly longer gets the gun up to the shoulder quicker with less chance for it to snag on clothing altough I hardly ever snap shoot. Ninety degrees to the bore best compromise?

How do you prefer your leverguns?

Thanks,
Dave.

Crescent

... with bolts...

The right answer is a matter of taste, but many believe the butt should be 90 degrees to the comb. Drop at comb should be a little less than drop at heel and adjusted for sight height. The result is a positive angle that hangs on the shoulder a little bit.

the angle will change the zero , you need to know the proper way to angle it. basically cut it the same as the factory angle.

Hubert
That would apply IF the factory stock actually fit... Because he is cutting it down it is obvious it does not fit, no?
art

Thanks for the replies. The main problem with the stock now is it is just a little too long. When working the lever in a heavy coat it isn't comfortable at the far end of the stroke. Changing the zero is not a problem.

Thanks again,
Dave.

Sorry I was under the impression it was too long and only needed to be shortened.

IMO its easier-faster- to shoulder if the butt is less than 90 degrees to the bore, not the comb. Say, 82-87 degrees.

That does fly in the face of conventional wisdom...

If you have a large carpenter's square, hold your arms up as if you are shooting a gun and have someone hold that framing square in the pocket of your shoulder where the butt of the gun would sit, with one leg pointed down to the floor and the other out in front of you, roughly mimicing the position of a rifle. If you are shaped like most people you will see that the square does not point out level relative to the ground, rather it points slightly down toward it. That angle is what you would want to mirror in the pitch of the butt. Usually that means that the toe of the stock is slightly longer than the heel. You are only talking a few degrees. Too much pitch and the stock will try to slide down the shoulder under recoil.

Lots of factory guns have neutral pitch, so that certainly works. But a little pitch is a little mo gooder.

i gotta' believe somewhere there is a POS butt stock for a 336 for $10 or something..... cut it and try it...

get it right on the scrap and have at the good one... let us know too.

woofer

This thread is serendipity itself.

Am in the process of taking 1 1/4" off the butt of Shillelagh to replace wood with an Olde English 1" Decelerator in hopes of shifting the balance from the middle of the magazine to the front action screw while thinking the thick pad will aesthetically balance with the metal endcap.

Existing butt is pitched 84 degrees from the boreline which puts the heel at .47" ahead of the toe.

I was planning on going 90 degrees for a straight butt. Are there actual advantages to keeping the existing angle?

GE

708
Not sure I entirely agree with you on the desired pitch... The two sides in essence say either a little less than 90 to help it hang on the shoulder or a little more than 90 to make mounting quick and easy.

Because there will be a little drop at the comb the little bit of pitch needed is built in (assuming 90 between butt and comb). To go to greater than 90 between bore and butt the comb to butt angle will be quite a ways beyond 90...

My practice follows the way I was taught and I believe the way Jack O believed it, too... And I bet there is a reason for that.
art

GE
Butt pitch is usually the included angle, so it would be 96 degrees which seems a lot to me. As I have said I run very close to right angle from comb to butt which gives me a slightly acute included angle. Most American stockmakers run pretty close to that, but there are folks on both sides.
art

Art--
I got the carpenter's square trick from the Westbrook stockmaking book. I do believe that the angle of pitch should be measured off the axis of the bore, and not to confused by the angle of the comb. (If you went off the comb, a stock with a lot of drop would have a very odd angled forward pitch.)

But the pitch that I put in is only a couple of degrees; it is hard to tell that it is not 90 degree without measuring.

I've only done a few but I just measured back from the existing butt and been happy with the results. Some have been 90� from the bore centerline and some a little less.

708
Just ran through Monty Kennedy's book with a right angle and measured... It would appear Len Brownell and Lonard Mews agree with you, though half of Mews' examples showed right angles, butt to comb. I notice most commercial stocks are cut as you describe.

Dale Goens, Jerry Fisher, Al Linden, Tom Shelhammer and just about everybody else look to have right angles between butt and comb. That is also what JO described in his "Rifle Book" IIRC.

I am willing to concede it is about the least important measurement in a stock and making it pleasing to your own eye is all that really matters.
art