I am interested in seeing the project take shape. I to am not a fan of the 12.5" LOP that the factory stocks come with and have been looking at getting replacement stocks from either Boyd's or other companies.

The only other thing I see as being a problem for you is how the metal butt plate wraps around the top of the butt stock.

 

A new, sharp carbide blade with fine teeth in a circular saw or better a table saw will work, if you tape a spacer to the grip area so the length of the buttstock is perpendicular to the cut you want.

 

Rookie7

Even Henry Ford did not know how to build a car when he started. I admire your honesty but I respect you for wanting some advice. You more than likely are not the first to do this. But I hope you will share will all once you have done it. I know you can do it. Just sit back, Take a deep breath, think it through in your own mind. Plan it out and go for it. Sounds like to me that is just what you have done.

Put some Masking tape around the area you plan on making your cut. the tape will keep the wood from splintering or chipping. Use a extra fine blade and block the stock between two pieces of wood then make the cut. The two blocks will hold the stock true ans still while you make your cut.

Now, Just go for it. It will be okay. Just have fun and enjoy the Journey. Then share with us the end result through pictures. Plenty of pictures. Take a few for each stage of the Project. Then Post them.
444GS2

 

I took the chicken way out and ordered one of the 454 butt stocks for my 44 mag. Comes with the recoil pad installed. Had I tried to cut the old one, I would have been ordering a replacement anyway.:vollkommenauf::biggrin: DP

 

I don't have pics but have done it a time or two with other guns. I would make the cut with a compound miter saw and tape the stock with painters tape prior to the cut to lessen scratches and splits. Devcon epoxi works well for this and a couple brass or hardwood pins will keep the spacer securly mounted. Then shape the pad/spacer on the belt sander and mount the spacer and pad to the stock. Finish sand and seal the wood. It's an easy project but you might try the shorter length of pull. I found I like a pistol carbine with a much shorter length of pull.

 

Brother, Those are your guns, and it's your business what you do with them,
But if it were me, I would buy a replacement stock and keep the originals intact.
That way, if you ever decide to trade them off, you will have the entire gun
unmolested. Just my .02.

 

It's your gun, go ahead.

I just replaced a stock on a Marlin 1894C that I got for $200 because the previous owner had bobbed it off. $40 for a replacement from Numrich and I've got a decent gun for less that $250. I like that kind of deal.

 

Here is the buttstock after the cut.

 

Here is one with the spacers glued on. The small strip is osage and the bigger block is Purple Heart. I have a pachmayr 500b small pad to install once I get it shaped.

I used "Smooth On" 2 part epoxy. It's extremely strong, drys clear, and fills gaps well. It is mainly used by bowyers who make bows i.e. longbows and recurves (which is why I have it b/c I've made 4 or 5 dozen of them over the years).

It cures best under heat. I have a hot box oven that I built for bows, but for smaller glue jobs like this I just use a shop light inches from the material.

BTW, the original finish has been stripped from the stocks, and I have applied about 4 coats of Tung Oil.

 

I learned something on this project. If you can see in the previous picture the block has a lot of room on the top end of the stock but not at the toe. Next time I need to shift it further down the toe to allow enough material to continue the angle.

Here is a pic of it with the block cleaned up.

I taped the stock, marked my angle, then cut it on my delta 10" chop saw. Purple heart is extremely hard, so the top side cut where the blade met the wood was a tad squirrely. It had about a 1/16" deviation. Killed me, so I sanded the butt end with my delta disc sander to square it all off. It worked.

 

Here is a pic of the pachmayr 500b installed. What I did:

1. I pushed very small nails through the pad from the inside so I could determine where to make slits on the outside of the pad.
2. Once slits were made I put the nails back through as if to attach the pad to stock with nails.
3. I put the stock in my vice butt end up. Placed the pad on the stock and got it centered.
4. I then taped each nail with my tack hammer to mark my drill holes.
5. Took an 8 penny nail and made a larger indention where I had scored my drill points.
6. Drilled. I also drilled with an angle toward center mass of the stock b/c it's so small in comparison to others i.e. Marlin, Browning, etc.

 

Last but not least here is a pic of it cleaned up.

The stock is so small when I ground the pad to fit the wood it got down all the way to the metal reinforcement plate. I don't like that, but it's unavoidable. It will actually give it a nice silver spacer look on the sides. Didn't get that far in on the top and bottom. The rubber separated from it on the sides, but I will fix that with super glue prior to spraying the stock. The feel is exponentially better than the crescent shape.

 

Looks like it came out pretty good. Congrats on a job well done. Have you shot it yet, and if so, how does it feel?

 

It feels much better to me. I have only shouldered it with the stock cut. I plan to apply finish today if the rain here will stop. I can see why a metal or resin buttplate comes on the cowboy style rifles. Won't snag on clothing for fast shouldering. I may eventually cut the rubber off, and fabricate up some kind of metal or micarta resin buttplate. It's a 357, so recoil isn't an issue.

Now my 1894 and 92 in .44 mag?? With full power hunting loads it has a pop to it, and the crescent metal buttplate is unfriendly.

 

A smaller grind-to-fit pad to start with may get rid of the metal plate. How soon will you start the next one? DP

 

It will probably be late july before I tackle the other one b/c we are moving in a few weeks.

The one I used on the 357 is the smallest 500b that pachmayr offers. I may have to go with a different model for the puma 92 44.

 

Alright, I've got her finished now. Pics available. What you see in the pics is about 6 coats of tru-oil without a buffing at the end. Since I have taken these pics I buffed the stock really good with 0000 steel wool and added a coat of minwax floor paste. It really looks great.

The only reason I buffed it is because on the last coat a bunch of dust settled into the finish or it could have been steel wool dust that somehow got back onto the wood. Generally after I finish sanding a piece of wood I brush it off with a paint brush, blow it off with my air compressor, and then I rub it down good with either denatured alcohol or acetone. Then I apply a finish.

I didn't use Fullerplast on this stock just b/c we are moving and I didn't want to gear up for it. Not much hassle, but more hassle than applying Tru-Oil with my fingers.

When I first started on this project the stocks were very difficult to remove from the rifle and they were uneven in spots, but with a lot of elbow grease, japanese saw rasps, and sandpaper I have her fitting nicely.

The one thing I will change in the future is where you can see how I had to grind down to the metal support plate. Eventually I will cut off the rubber pad, and then re-fit the original metal plate. I have already cut off the top portion of the original plate, and have begun to heat and bend it to a straight profile.

 

Very nice. Thanks for posting the finished photos

 

My son and I went out shooting the other day. Our trip was cut short by incoming rain. He was shooting my 39A (really well with my new addition of a skinner peep), and I was shooting my 92 .357 and my 94 .357.

Took another pic of the rifle in the "wild". This pic is after the stock has been buffed down with the steel wool to knock off the high sheen, and a light coating with judicial rubbing of minwax paste wax.