doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com skeleton butt on a throughbolt gun??

Yet another in my string of silly questions...

I'm assuming it's possible, but what is the generally accepted way to put a skeleton butt on a throughbolt gun? I'm assuming something like this happens on a fairly regular basis even with non-throughbolt guns in order to balance the gun by drilling out the stock a bit...is the center of the plate a "false" piece of wood (i.e. not a part of the actual stock) in order to cover up the hole? Or is the hole alone plugged? If so, it seems like either would have to be very thin...is it fragile?

Is putting one of these on a throughbolt gun akin to putting lipstick on a pig?

Thanks,
Dave

I'd say it was.

Dave,

There are a couple of ways, that I know of. First, put a plug in the draw bolt hole. Many gunmakers did this to cover weight adjustment holes in the butt. Second, apply a 1/4" extension to the butt. The Italian guys do this. A clever way to secure the extension would be with a skeleton butt plate or heal and toe plates.

Phil

An elegant way would be to have a skeleton plate with a metal enter section to cover the hole; metal around the rim of the butt and a panel across the center with upper and lower wood panels. Good milling machine project!!

Not a silly question but it does make a hard job out of an easy one. A through-bolt suggests to me a not-so-old gun and the job suggests a non-original collector's item. The way you mentioned sounds like the best way, a separate piece of wood, covering the bolt hole and held on by the skeleton metal. If you want fancy, I'd suggest a leather covered recoil pad and enjoy shooting it, instead.

Thanks, that's what I figured. I do like the look of the skeleton plates a lot, but I do worry about it being out of place on the gun, which is a very light basically "field grade" O/U with minimal embellishment that I'll restock to fit me.
I am trying to figure out a way to finish the butt without changing the balance--I need a pretty long LOP so it's something I've struggled with on guns I've worked on in the past, as even with a pretty big hole in the stock they end up butt-heavy if I put a pad on (and I don't require the recoil reduction).

What other ways to finish the butt are there I might consider?

Dave,
You thinking about the Beretta? If so, I've got a very cool Beretta imitation tortoise shell plastic buttplate for you. Think of the brown tortoise shell plastic glasses frames, with serrations and the Beretta trident logo in the center.

It certainly can be a 'false' piece of wood. 'Unconnected' would be a better term, though. When stocking, simply cut a slice off of the rear of the blank for this. Inlet skeleton plate to the butt, discounting the raised portion. Inlet slice into the plate and epoxy it to the plate permanently or so it is removable. Trim backside and put saran wrap over butt and epoxy plate and slice to butt for perfect fit, with no epoxy showing on the plate edge. Remove, trim exterior of slice, finish, and checker. A very basic description, but I hope you get the idea.

The thru-hole is best if it is as small as possible, less chance for breakage, and one can install a removable stub plug on a large hole in an existing stock. The slice, attached to the plate is not perticularly fragile, in my experience. Doing this is not much more difficult than installing a skeleton plate the normal way, again, in my experience. Personally, I don't care for 'plugs' if there is any other way around them.

TRL

David, you can simply checker the butt, and the plug will be invisible. Makes it easy to chip the toe though.

Another option is to make an ebony butt plate, match it to an ebony pistol grip plate, and add an ebony wedge at the front of the forend. You see this more on rifles and combination guns, but I would think it beautiful on an OU as well. Rosewood would work also, as would some other really hard woods.

On a plugged hole, how does one attach the plug to the stock without making it permanent, i.e. gluing? (or does it become permanent?) I would think a pressure fit could fall out over time(especially in winter when humidity is very low)??