Rifle stock ballance

[John Hicks]

I'm working on a new stock and have questions about ballancing the weight front and aft to get the best performance. Long fore ends and moving the action rearward in the stock will certainly shift weight to the back BUT how much weight on the rear bag is "ballanced" or enough to give great groups?
Is there a formula that works? Have there been test done? Am I reinventing the wheel that won't roll? I like to shoot HV barrels in a 10.5lb gun so there isn't much room to play with weights so I'm trying to reballance the design. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks John Hicks

 

[Mike Marcelli]

WOW. No responses? I guess I can't help that much. I use the Justice Stewart approach to pornography -- I know it when I see it -- or in this case feel it. You want to have a significant down force on the butt. The lower the better. You want to feel significant resistence when you try to lift the butt up off the rear bag. How much weight? That's a good question.

With today's heavy objective scopes, we are pushing a lot more weight forward of the traditional balance point. While you may like the idea of shooting a HV profile, you may find you have better results with an LV contour.

The best shooting gun I've ever owned was built using pretty heavy components. It weighs in at 5.15 lbs without the barrel. It shot its best with a 21" LV contour that brought the total weight to just under 10 lbs.

 

[Boyd Allen]

I think that we Americans have a tendency that I have described as, " If some is good, more is better, and too much, is just right." IMHO balance is more important than having a heavy barrel. Under five pounds at 21"- 21.5" would be just fine. I like to maintain the option of shooting heads up, true free recoil, for rapidly switching conditions. A nose heavy rifle effectively kills that option. Some stocks have longer forends and so accomplish a better balance without having to add as much weight to the butt, but one will not know if a rifle with such a stock will do its best work with the front bag in a forward position until after it is built and tested.