Finding center for sling stud ?

FatCatsDad

FatCatsDad

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What's the best fool proof way to find the center of the stock for drilling a pilot hole for a sling stud ?

My plan is-

- 3¼" from the toe for the location.

-Tape the area to be worked on, rifle secured.

-Drill a ⅛" pilot hole followed by a 5/32" starter hole and finally a 7/32 countersink.

-Use a tiny dab of grease on the screw.

All that's left is finding
dead center so I'm not forever looking at an off center stud.

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I'd probably just eyeball it, but if you want to be that precise, calipers and/or a draftsman's compass and a vertical surface (like the wall behind your bench or a ruler against the vise jaws). make a mark at the same distance from both sides (doesn't have to be centered at this point) - split the difference between your two lines and that's your center. Use a punch to start, then a drill press or a jig to keep your hand drill perpendicular.

That's the way I'd go about it anyway. ... or maybe I'd just eyeball it.

Good luck
 
File notches on the leading edge of the screw. Acts like a tap. Then it will cut its way into the hole. Reduces risk of chipping or cracking.
 
I always preferred about 4 inches from the end of the wood... this allows considerable shortening of the stock at a future date if needed. I have seen many with the stud way to close to the end. It carries just fine with it more forward.

Brownell's once offered a level on a vee block with a hole correctly drilled. It worked great in assisting in drilling square to the stock line. Be careful if you drill a small hole first as the larger drill will want to grab and run deep. I preferred to drill slight clearance on the thread diameter less than 1/4 " deep at high speed and slow feed, then drill the correct size to depth. The slight clearance on the thread helps start the stud and stops any chipping of the wood.

Make a dot with a felt pen where you want the stud... examine where you have made this dot. Is it centered on the stock side to side? If it is not, adjust it so it is. Once centered use a center punch and make a dimple. Then holding your drill square to the stock in every direction carefully drill into that dimple. Holding the drill square is your biggest challenge.
 
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Interesting.

Does one keep the bottom of the sling base 90* to the stock?

I could never get one correct.
Always ended up with a chip of wood flaking off the butt side.

Worse thing you could do FaddyCatzs is take the butt pad off and mark a straight line from
the two butt pad mounting holes?

Use a straight edge with the gun clamped in a vice of yer choice keeping it vertically correct.
Then eye-bawl your straight edge with the bottom of the bawrill.

Me thinks.
 
If it looks good by eye, it will look good..... :)
Searching for mechanical or mathematical ways of finding center is fun, but at the end of the day all that matters is that it looks good to the eye.

Good advice from Guntech on stepping the hole size to avoid wood splinters from the coarse threads as they cut into the wood.

Larry makes it look easy using his fancy step drill bits, looks like the step bit is sized big enough let the plastic washer sit into the stock which makes sense to me, it avoids the chipping and let's the plastic spacer sit flush.

 
I have done this once in my life. I took the butt pad off and using a pencil, marked center on the butt (much easier to find). From there I used a level to draw up. With the stock lightly clamped in a drill press I aligned the bit with the pencil mark at the toe of the butt, then slid it back 3 or 4 inches.

Worked my way up in bit size then counter sunk it a bit. Not sure if it's 100% centered or not but, it's so close I can't tell.
 
I saw this method that seems sime enough, take the measurement, divide by 2.

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But nothings ever simple, battery in my calipers is dead and no spare.

I'm going to play around on some scrap wood from the short ends bucket for countersink practice.

Looks like there are lots of ways to execute this small task.

The article I was reading mentioned keeping the barrel parallel to the bench and hold the drill at 90 degrees , so I'll clamp the gun and level it, and the drill press is at 90 degrees,I'll just have to check the belt position on the pulleys after I decide what RPM to use.
 
The hole should be square with the surface of the wood and centered.

Pretty easy to do on most for-ends ... harder to do on the butt stock.
 
If talking forestock, the method shared earlier (masking tape and calipers) is the way to go. For the butstock, using a thin ruler as suggested to determine the centre is also the way to go, however it is important that stock be held firm AND square to get it right.
 
For people that struggle with holding hand drills on two axis that are hard to see (most people) simple jigs exist to facilitate keeping things straight..... use what ever technique you want to establish the location, look at it, and if it looks good proceed to center punch and drill out the correct sized holes. Brad point bits won't leave a perfectly flat hole bottom but they would be nicer to use then metal drill bits for making the larger portion of the hole that the sling stud washer sits in. I would not be shocked if the stepped bit that Larry used in the video is less then $20.
https://www.brownells.com/tools-cle...h-tools/drill-bits/swivel-base-drill-bit-set/

The jig below has a v notch so it can rest on round stock or other non flat surfaces and is quite handy even if it's just for a smaller pilot hole and then you can free hand sizes that might not be covered by the jig. Even jigs require some skill to use however as you have to line them up with your punched indentation..... if it's a real nice gun and your searching for tips online about how to do it, might be worth a visit to a smith.

It's the type of job that can be laid out with lasers and micrometers, leveled and done in a drill press.... or someone with a good eye and hands and experience could do it with a pencil, tape hand drill, some decent bits in a couple minutes.....
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Drill press and a round bar center finder ... drill your hole for the washer first using a brad then your clearance hole.
As far as holding it, pop the butt pad off and use the screw holes to secure it to an angle plate or fence (which would be weird on a drill press)

15 minute job if you have the tools at hand... if not I'm sure the other ways work just fine without over thinking it.
 
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