stock forearm length affecting recoil

S

savet06

Mike Suhie
I have been battling my new 30br rig for a few months now, and after finally figuring out the best combination for me and the gun I had an epiphany about the possible difference between my father's rifle and mine. I and my father have been able to easily free recoil his rifle, also a 30br, with nary a worry about getting smacked in the nose or slapped in the shoulder (the nose being the greater of the two evils). My father's rifle is pillared into a laminated Franklin BR 2000 stock which is easily 2.5-3" longer in the forearm than my Bruno/mcmillan stock.
Both rifles weigh nearly identical (within two ounces of each other), and both guns balance just forward of the action...same smith for both. The mcmillan has a weight in the butt.

Could the extra forearm length be the reason for the better behavior in the bags? the laminate stock is clear coated and slides easily in the bags after I applied some car wax to the finish. Same rest set-up for both.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Mike,
Place your rear bag on a scale and rezero the scale. Place the front rest on something the same thickness as the scale. Now place the rifles on the setup and compare the number on the scale and you will probably see the problem. You may be able to move the forend stop to the rear so that the McMillan has the same butt weight as the other rifle. With a 30 you have to watch out that the stock doesn't ride off the front bag when having minimal overhang with a rearward forend stop setting.
 
Thanks for the advice, Ray. I will try the test when I have both rifles in hand. Unfortunately, I am shooting on a Sinclair rest that has a fixed rest stop. As far as the gun goes, I have figured out what I was doing wrong (developed a flinch and was throwing shots all over the place...shoot a nice two and then flinch and pop a shot straight out the top). I have since gone to a moderate shoulder pressure and a recoil pad, and I flinch no more...won my first score match (at any distance) at 200yds the other week. Still have some refining to do, but I feel as though I can finally pay attention to the flags instead of fidgeting behind the gun. Now I just need to get the gun tracking in the bags better which I am sure is a function of the loss of feel from the Past recoil pad. Need to get that shoulder square to the buttstock!
Mike
 
Mike,
Surely you have a drill and a drill bit ???? Drill some alternate holes for the forend stop. My Metal Mayhem 30BR is a bit front heavy so I have to adjust the forend stop more to the rear compared to the other rifles I shoot off this rest set up. I will have to admit that I have never done the test with the scale but it's from laziness. What I do is with the rifle sitting on the bags I lift the butt off the rear bag and feel how much weight is on the rear. If the set up feels the least bit 'tippy' then you definitely need to more the forend stop back so that more weight is on the rear bag.
 
crb said:
Mike,
Place your rear bag on a scale and rezero the scale. Place the front rest on something the same thickness as the scale. Now place the rifles on the setup and compare the number on the scale and you will probably see the problem.
Click to expand...

Is there a generally accepted front to rear weight ratio? For example 50% front/50% rear, 60/40, etc.


Jerry
 
From my own experience with LV 30BR's, the stock design/profile has much to do with how the gun will react in the bags. I won't name stocks, but some track and handle the sharp recoil much better than others. A longer forearm will indeed move weight to the rear bag, which is good. But I doubt it will fix the problem you're having.
 
If no one has an answer for that one how about where is the balance point at?
Trigger? Pistol grip? Bolt handle?
 
Vern said:
If no one has an answer for that one how about where is the balance point at?
Trigger? Pistol grip? Bolt handle?
Click to expand...

I believe that the answer varies largely because of different stock designs, loads used, front/rear rest, and range design. I can tell you this much... Balance and tracking are of vital importance to me with a 30, and with a HV, you've got 13.5lbs. to work with to make it right. Even then, slight adjustments to the front rest may help at some ranges where you shoot at somewhat of an angle. I do prefer to balance them differently than a 10.5lb.PPC for sure.--Mike Ezell
 
Vern said:
I know this last one I have comes up out of the rear rest sometimes.
Click to expand...

I have a HBR gun thats doing the same thing, I know its going to recoil more but it was jumping more than it should have. The balance point was about 2" in front of the recoil lug. So I removed the but pad, hollowed out a recessed compartment in the butt stock, then melted lead and filled a 5/8 tube with it and epoxied it verticaly in the butt so all the weight would be as far out as possible. The lead tube weighed 10oz. I was originally 6oz underweight but I still had to remove a couple inches from the barrel to make up the difference.
Now the balance point is at the back of the recoil lug and on two scales its 61%front 39% rear. I was shooting for 60-40 but this might still work. I wont know untilnext weekend if this helped any.
 
Wanted to update this thread to thank Ray for the advice on moving the stock back in the front bag. I ended up selling my original sinclair and picked up the new version and was able to easily manipulate the fore end stop. Huge difference in the recoiling characteristics by only allowing 1" as opposed to 2-2.5" to hang over the edge of the front bag. I am still shooting free recoil with a past recoil pad, but my return to battery is much better and my gun isn't jumping like it used to. I also added a small amount of side tension on the front bag along with some teflon tape on the stock it now tracks very nicely.
Thanks again,
Mike
 
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