A bit off center

[OregonJohn]

I just finished a restock-refinish project for a buddy of mine. My buddy lost his right eye in a fishing accident. He has been trying to learn to shoot left handed for a while and just could not make the adjustment. He had thought that a person could make a stock with enough bend to shoot from the right shoulder and look down the action with the left eye. He asked what I thought, and I said that I was wanting to try a stock project. I told him that I would do it all for a few fishing trips for sturgeon in the Umpqua river. The gun he had was a Remington 700 BDL in 7mm magnum. When I picked up the gun, I saw that it was one of the older ones with the stainless barrel that was factory blued. I bead blasted the barrel, media blasted the action/bolt/bottom metal, and dura coated them in Desert Warrior. I am not a gunsmith and do not claim to be one. I just like to try new things. This it what I came up with. I hope it serves him well.

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[Cougfan2]

Nice job. The only thing I might be a bit worried about is with the angle of the stock right behind the trigger you might want to watch really carefully for any cracking. with the recoil directing the force straight to the rear, that grip where it angles it really going to get strained. Is there anything you did or could do to reinforce that area?

 

[Jamie6.5]

Way to help someone out OJ!

I am wondering about the stresses too, but aside from cutting and installing an offset, which would probably be worse, I don't see any other way around the problem.

 

[Cougfan2]

Or go the The Gun Room. I hear he has Remington 700's hand selected for him at the factory for right handed left eyed shooters.

 

[OregonJohn]

Thanks for the reply. The recoil angle is a concern. I used a very tight grain walnut. My buddy is a big boy and has large hands, so I made the grip area large. I would say at least two inch larger than a stock Remington in circumference. And the LOP is a concern with only the one eye. Would not like to get scoped and be unable to see for a while. I made the stock comb with a dish, to get the head over to the right. Still not sure of the type of recoil, might pull hard to the right. If it was up to me, I would put on a brake, just to be safe.

John

 

[Generator]

I hope the curve fits him perfectly, your a heck of a friend.

 

[Cougfan2]

A muzzle break is a really good idea.

 

[MarkSBG]

Very nice looking wood work! And kudos for helping out a good friend...



If you begin to see any cracking issues, you could consider applying a FRP fabric to the left side of the rifle. It would look a bit funny, but would increase the strength dramatically. You could even work the FRP into the design. (FRP is used regularly to strengthen concrete beams and columns, so it is very strong.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibre-reinforced_plastic

 

[MountainBear]

I may drill a few holes up the pistol grip area towards the tang and acra-glass a few pieces of drill rod in place. I might also mill out some wood in the fore end and acra-glass some weight in place. That should do. The bend is a bit extreme, but with a few precautions, it should be fine.

 

[Celtic Armory]

That is a kick butt stock job. I learned to shoot with either side and either eye just in case something happened and I couldn't shoot strong side. But that is a cool job. I hope it holds up for him. I would think the angle of the stock would alter the recoil and change the point of impact. So some adjustment may be needed in sighting the scope.

 

[no time]

Really nice work.