Chiappa LA322 Bandit Boot Leg .22lr 12" Non-Restricted
- Thread starter North_Sylva
- Start date
Shipping to stocking dealers in 7-10 business days.
Stocking Dealers:
- Tillsonburg Gunshop
I've been playing with the gun as delivered and swore I wouldn't do this, but...
As entertaining as the little gun is, I couldn't stop thinking about how a full-length buttstock transformed my Henry Mare's Leg .44 from a fun toy...to a practical hunting/shooting tool. Found the stock for the Bootleg on Tillsonburg Gun Shop's site and immediately ordered it. First time ordering from them, won't be the last; very pleasant and friendly folks with whom to deal. Installation takes seconds, one single machine screw. Fit is perfect, very solid. Wood colour and finish is a perfect match for the original fore-end piece. The gun is of course infinitely easier to shoot with this buttstock in place, and the overall length is still a couple inches shorter than even the shortest bolt action .22's.
It's nice enough that I will be re-finishing all 3 stock pieces (fore-end, original pistol-grip and this buttstock) with some kind of oil finish. I don't think it's walnut but there is some woodgrain visible and the finish is very matte, will try to achieve a more semi-gloss type of sheen. I will also replace the hard plastic buttplate with a thin rubber one to ease worries about the gun slipping and falling when stood up on a smooth floor.
$135 + for this stock, and I already think it is a very worthwhile upgrade for this nice little levergun.
As entertaining as the little gun is, I couldn't stop thinking about how a full-length buttstock transformed my Henry Mare's Leg .44 from a fun toy...to a practical hunting/shooting tool. Found the stock for the Bootleg on Tillsonburg Gun Shop's site and immediately ordered it. First time ordering from them, won't be the last; very pleasant and friendly folks with whom to deal. Installation takes seconds, one single machine screw. Fit is perfect, very solid. Wood colour and finish is a perfect match for the original fore-end piece. The gun is of course infinitely easier to shoot with this buttstock in place, and the overall length is still a couple inches shorter than even the shortest bolt action .22's.
It's nice enough that I will be re-finishing all 3 stock pieces (fore-end, original pistol-grip and this buttstock) with some kind of oil finish. I don't think it's walnut but there is some woodgrain visible and the finish is very matte, will try to achieve a more semi-gloss type of sheen. I will also replace the hard plastic buttplate with a thin rubber one to ease worries about the gun slipping and falling when stood up on a smooth floor.
$135 + for this stock, and I already think it is a very worthwhile upgrade for this nice little levergun.
Will be interesting to see once you have them stripped, if you stay with the blonde furniture or decide to oil stain them darker.
Myself, prefer the darker look and went with a few coats of Varathane Espresso.
That butt stock looks pretty nice jjohnwm!
I hear you on preferring rubber butt pads for their grip when standing them up and leaning them against something.
I'd be tempted to shorten that butt stock a bit before adding a rubber but pad, I don't think you will miss the extra length in practical use, specially if you shoot with your shoulders square to the target.
With a couple inches or so removed it would look more balanced overall with the shorter barrel to my eye and keep the unit a bit more compact then it already is.
I hear you on preferring rubber butt pads for their grip when standing them up and leaning them against something.
I'd be tempted to shorten that butt stock a bit before adding a rubber but pad, I don't think you will miss the extra length in practical use, specially if you shoot with your shoulders square to the target.
With a couple inches or so removed it would look more balanced overall with the shorter barrel to my eye and keep the unit a bit more compact then it already is.
I've been playing with the gun as delivered and swore I wouldn't do this, but...
View attachment 1176090
As entertaining as the little gun is, I couldn't stop thinking about how a full-length buttstock transformed my Henry Mare's Leg .44 from a fun toy...to a practical hunting/shooting tool. Found the stock for the Bootleg on Tillsonburg Gun Shop's site and immediately ordered it. First time ordering from them, won't be the last; very pleasant and friendly folks with whom to deal. Installation takes seconds, one single machine screw. Fit is perfect, very solid. Wood colour and finish is a perfect match for the original fore-end piece. The gun is of course infinitely easier to shoot with this buttstock in place, and the overall length is still a couple inches shorter than even the shortest bolt action .22's.
It's nice enough that I will be re-finishing all 3 stock pieces (fore-end, original pistol-grip and this buttstock) with some kind of oil finish. I don't think it's walnut but there is some woodgrain visible and the finish is very matte, will try to achieve a more semi-gloss type of sheen. I will also replace the hard plastic buttplate with a thin rubber one to ease worries about the gun slipping and falling when stood up on a smooth floor.
$135 + for this stock, and I already think it is a very worthwhile upgrade for this nice little levergun.
Got mine today too - thanks for the heads up. Great quick service from Tillsonburg- 4 days from ordering to delivery across 4 provinces. Can’t get much better.
I agree it feels like a very sensible upgrade to what is a fun, but perhaps not the most practical firearm. I’d been meaning to try making some sort of quick attach stock system for months but never got around to it. $150 delivered for this seems decent to me and more importantly saves me from making a mess of things.
I had a pistol dot on it before in OEM form, but going to be sticking a little Leupold on like yours, just waiting for rings to arrive.
What is the hammer spur extension you are using? Or any recommendations for one that is compatible with the bandits hammer?
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Also, anyone got any insight into the possibility of adding a saddle ring to the left side of the receiver?
I was thinking perhaps the flat head screw that the hammer seems to pivot on could be replaced with one with a saddle ring attached? Perhaps? Or something of the sort?
I feel this rifle lends itself well to a single point sling and this seems to be the best balance point..
Pics for reference
I was thinking perhaps the flat head screw that the hammer seems to pivot on could be replaced with one with a saddle ring attached? Perhaps? Or something of the sort?
I feel this rifle lends itself well to a single point sling and this seems to be the best balance point..
Pics for reference
Attachments
Very nice! I will definitely go with something fairly dark like that. Did you do the checkering yourself? That's way beyond my skill level.
I think you're right about it looking a bit better if it's shortened a tad, but I will be leaving it full length. I have long arms and neck and find the length very comfortable; the scope is already close enough to my eye that if this were a heavy recoil rifle I'd need to be careful. The long eye relief of a Leupold exacerbates that concern; I can't move the scope any further forward because the turrets are butted up against the front ring, and that is as far forward as the grooves allow it to go...and the eyepiece bell would interfere with the hammer even if it could move forward.
I want the scope as low as possible; no way I will hang it way up in the air like we see on many leverguns. In fact, the sort of rubber buttpad I have in mind will add perhaps 3/8-inch to the LOP.
Any work I do on the stock won't happen until winter, so I can spend some time shooting it and deciding my final course of action before then.
I think the saddle ring would be great for sling mounting if the gun is using the original pistol grip. But with a full-length buttstock, I don't think I'd want it hanging at that balance point. I'd rather the gun hang with the muzzle pointing downwards.
That's just me; I'm not a fan of floppy noisy finish-wearing saddle rings in general, have always quickly removed them from any gun I had.
Yeah, I started with a red dot as well, but with the buttstock I decided the 2x Leupold was beneficial. Sorry I can't tell you what hammer extension I used, it's just one of the 8 or 10 I had in one of my junk drawers. A half-century worth of accumulated bits'n'pieces often comes in handy for stuff like that. I'll take a couple of close-up pics of it and send them to you in a PM in the next day or so.
Just a heads-up here: if you are planning on using rimfire rings on the receiver dovetails, you will find that most brands won't fit the Chiappa. I believe this was discussed somewhere in this thread awhile back; the receiver top has a noticeable convex top profile, which interferes with the flat bottom of most rimfire rings. You need to either file down the alloy receiver top to a flat surface or, much better, use rings that are concave on the bottom to allow for this curvature. The ones I had...in another junk drawer
...were Milletts. They look and attach just like Millett Angle-Loc weaver-style rings, but are sized for 3.8-inch rimfire grooves and have a rounded bottom that matches the receiver top perfectly. They are steel, decently well finished, and they have a clamp and screw on both sides so they allow a wee bit of windage adjustment in cases where that might be useful. My Chiappa didn't need that, but if yours turns out to require the front and rear rings to be misaligned slightly to align the scope with the barrel (a very common situation with cheap rimfires) then you'd best do some lapping to prevent stressing and/or damaging the scope tube.Can-down started a thread last Dec.
Might want to check it out.
Might want to check it out.
Chee-a-pass Bandit Bootleg (AKA Booty Bandit) range reports and modifications thread
I agree with Jjohn about saddle rings, maybe if I was using the gun on horseback I'd appreciate them more but I also remove them and replace them with a loop of soft paracord through the attachment point so I can still attach a sling but don't have to deal with the rattle of the steel ring.
As for the scope position and eye relief the scope would also look and work better moved forward with some cantilever rings.
I'm pretty sure the BKL's have the right contour to work with the silly round top Chiappa used on the Booty Bandit's but if not it's an easy fix with a Mill Bastard file....
I'm 6'1" and well proportioned and I've found it's easy to adjust where a rifle sits in front of my face by changing the angle of my shoulders when using shorter youth stocks or an adjustable length stock in a shorter position. Instead of the classic bladed (angled) stance all you need to do is square up towards the target until it feels right. We are all build differently though so using and playing around with the gun will tell you what's best for you.
BKL makes a few different length cantilevered one piece mounts but they also make. set of rings where one is cantilevered that would suit your run nicely. The look a bit taller which would ease your neck strain a bit and likely just clear the hammer's arc.
As for the scope position and eye relief the scope would also look and work better moved forward with some cantilever rings.
I'm pretty sure the BKL's have the right contour to work with the silly round top Chiappa used on the Booty Bandit's but if not it's an easy fix with a Mill Bastard file....
I'm 6'1" and well proportioned and I've found it's easy to adjust where a rifle sits in front of my face by changing the angle of my shoulders when using shorter youth stocks or an adjustable length stock in a shorter position. Instead of the classic bladed (angled) stance all you need to do is square up towards the target until it feels right. We are all build differently though so using and playing around with the gun will tell you what's best for you.
BKL makes a few different length cantilevered one piece mounts but they also make. set of rings where one is cantilevered that would suit your run nicely. The look a bit taller which would ease your neck strain a bit and likely just clear the hammer's arc.
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Just back from the range with the little Chiappa in its new full length stock. Much easier to hold and shoot accurately at 50yds. I still have a 3 moa pistol dot on it.
I’d never really zeroed it too finely before as it wasn’t the easiest to hold steady at the same PoA.
Dialled it in at 25 off a sand bag, then let rip at 50. Accuracy surprised me considering my dot covered most of the target. Few rounds in same hole, rest within ~2”. All CCI SV. Can definitely be improved upon.
With a low powered scope and/or a finer reticle I think this’ll be just fine for small game. Very handy - Weighs 5lbs without the red dot, just shy of 5.3lb with the dot, mount and pic rail. 29” long and of course it takes down to around half that length for shoving in a bag.
LoP with full stock is bang on 14”.
I see your comments regarding saddle ring - they are certainly finish scratchers, though on this rifle, I don’t think I’d mind too much. Saying that, I’ll play around with sling loops first and see how it hangs.
I’d never really zeroed it too finely before as it wasn’t the easiest to hold steady at the same PoA.
Dialled it in at 25 off a sand bag, then let rip at 50. Accuracy surprised me considering my dot covered most of the target. Few rounds in same hole, rest within ~2”. All CCI SV. Can definitely be improved upon.
With a low powered scope and/or a finer reticle I think this’ll be just fine for small game. Very handy - Weighs 5lbs without the red dot, just shy of 5.3lb with the dot, mount and pic rail. 29” long and of course it takes down to around half that length for shoving in a bag.
LoP with full stock is bang on 14”.
I see your comments regarding saddle ring - they are certainly finish scratchers, though on this rifle, I don’t think I’d mind too much. Saying that, I’ll play around with sling loops first and see how it hangs.
I agree around 12 inches including a new rubber bad would likely be a good length for me.
I'd measure the height and width of the stock along the path of shortening and try and find a spot that matches the dimensions of a suitable butt pad. Might get lucky and not have to do a lot of fitting if the pad size and stock dimensions line up.
I'm pretty happy though shooting my bandit in stock form with the bungee sling mounted to the QD sling cup I embedded in the grip.
The sling helps stabilize the gun when working the lever action and I find the pistol grip shape allows me to get a decent cheek weld for support shooting off hand with a red dot.
I'd measure the height and width of the stock along the path of shortening and try and find a spot that matches the dimensions of a suitable butt pad. Might get lucky and not have to do a lot of fitting if the pad size and stock dimensions line up.
I'm pretty happy though shooting my bandit in stock form with the bungee sling mounted to the QD sling cup I embedded in the grip.
The sling helps stabilize the gun when working the lever action and I find the pistol grip shape allows me to get a decent cheek weld for support shooting off hand with a red dot.
As I stated earlier, the hammer extension was just dredged up out of my collection of bibbets, widgets and gizmos; I had no idea of make, model, etc.
But, surprise! I went to take a couple pics of it and sure enough, the maker (Williams) has their name plastered on it, along with the model number "39". Yeah, it may seem obvious...but looking over the others, this is one of only two of them that are marked in any way. Should be easy to get from Brownell's or similar, or just keep an eye peeled at gun shows. It is in absolutely perfect fit on the Chiappa; snug, solid and completely level. Also doesn't bulge very far above the top of the hammer strut. Some hammer extensions are so bulky that they can interfere with a scope even though the hammer itself clears nicely. No such issues here.
