I have recently purchased my first rifle, a Savage Model 11 with accutrigger in .223. While I am incredibly happy to be out shooting I now understand a bit better the stock flex I read about leading up to my purchase. After an afternoon shooting off of a bi-pod I took my rifle apart and could see how others had been adding reinforcement without much difficulty.
Using a dremel I cleared paths in the webbing of the foreend for two pieces of 5/16 steel rod. This was the largest size that would fit in nicely although I did have to notch both rods to provide clearance for the sling swivel stud nut. Again using the dremel I roughed up both the stock and the rods to get the best adhesion possible.
I mixed up a big batch of epoxy poured and it into the stock. The rod was then pushed into the glue and more epoxy spread over top. The final product is not any higher than the stock webbing but quite a bit stronger.
I have not had a chance to go and shoot again since then but there is much less flex now, enough that there should be much less vertical movement when shooting from the bi-pod. It did add weight, I put the rod as well as the epoxy containers (used 1 and a half of the double plastic syringes) on a scale and the total weight added is half a pound. Still a light rifle and since I cant hunt in my current situation (living in a basement suite in Victoria with a motorcycle for transport) it does not really matter.
Has anyone else done anything like this? I am also interested in bedding the action but I am not really sure how that would work with this stock. It has a blind mag that is held in place by an L shaped piece of metal that rides the back pillar like a washer. I would like to bed it but aside from figuring out a new way to hold down the blind mag and replacing the back pillar with a custom one i don't really know how it would be done. Ideas?
Using a dremel I cleared paths in the webbing of the foreend for two pieces of 5/16 steel rod. This was the largest size that would fit in nicely although I did have to notch both rods to provide clearance for the sling swivel stud nut. Again using the dremel I roughed up both the stock and the rods to get the best adhesion possible.
I mixed up a big batch of epoxy poured and it into the stock. The rod was then pushed into the glue and more epoxy spread over top. The final product is not any higher than the stock webbing but quite a bit stronger.
I have not had a chance to go and shoot again since then but there is much less flex now, enough that there should be much less vertical movement when shooting from the bi-pod. It did add weight, I put the rod as well as the epoxy containers (used 1 and a half of the double plastic syringes) on a scale and the total weight added is half a pound. Still a light rifle and since I cant hunt in my current situation (living in a basement suite in Victoria with a motorcycle for transport) it does not really matter.
Has anyone else done anything like this? I am also interested in bedding the action but I am not really sure how that would work with this stock. It has a blind mag that is held in place by an L shaped piece of metal that rides the back pillar like a washer. I would like to bed it but aside from figuring out a new way to hold down the blind mag and replacing the back pillar with a custom one i don't really know how it would be done. Ideas?
