So I mentioned recently that I’m in the process of fitting a stock to my gun. Well, the stock in question is a ‘The Ultimate Sniper’ stock made by Choate. It’s made to fit a Savage model 10, with the short action and a heavy barrel. I just so happen to have one. BUT…. This project is anything but ‘drop-in’ The biggest thing is that the stock is made for a right-handed action. I’m left-handed, and have a left-handed model 10.
So I had to cut a chunk out of the stock… after measuring and eyeballing and marking for a good twenty minutes, I took a hacksaw and made two cuts on marked lines down the stock to a marked ‘stopping line’. I then made perhaps six or eight cuts between the first two, and basically chipped out an opening. I attached the action and checked the fit. The hole was the correct width. I removed the action again. I then used a bastard file and a triangle file to set a slope to the bottom of the notch, and to dress the sides and clean up the hack-saw marks. During this process I played the ‘attach/detach action’ game perhaps half a dozen times. Everything finally fit!
I went to screw in the action screws. The one closest to the trigger guard bottomed out on the bolt, essentially preventing the action from being cycled. I found a #6 split-ring washer and put it on the action screw, and it fit properly. Next, I went to insert the forward action screw. It was too short! (no, I didn’t reverse them. I had them marked) I brought the stock out to my shop, and searched until I found a bit that fit the hole snugly, without binding. I seated the screw in the action, sans stock, and counted threads, then subtracted that number from the total number of threads on the screw. Keeping this number in mind, I slowly removed a few millimeters from the bedding block’s screw hole. I inserted the action screw in the hole. Not enough threads. I drilled some more (repeat, repeat, repeat)…. Eventually, I had enough screw sticking out that I could mount the barrel and action to the stock. That went off without a hitch.
Next, I tried to figure out how to mount my bipod to the stock. It has some weird rail system that I’ve never seen before, and it doesn’t really work with an off-the-shelf-bipod from Gander Mountain. I was able to remove one of the rail’s hex-head retaining screws and insert a sling swivel into the forend, but I had to add 3 washers in order to get it high enough up past the rails to mount my bipod. This led to me realizing that the bottom of the forend of this stock is flat, whereas the bipod was made to fit onto a standard, curved-bottomed rifle stock, so the mount isn’t exactly secure. I’m going to have to either find a bipod with a flat mounting area so it will mate to the stock better, or I’m going to have to find the mounting components for this rail system and invest in a few parts.
I believe I’m going to get some bedding compound and fill in the bolt handle slot on the right side of the gun. It’s not hurting anything how it is, but I’d like to clean it up a bit to make it look nicer and to help prevent dust and things form getting on the underside of the receiver.
And fitting this stock has taught me a few things. Like ‘there’s no such thing as a drop-in stock’… and that while washers may sometimes help, like with the action screw, sometimes they just help over-complicate things, like with the bipod. Overall, though, I like the stock. It adds a lot of weight, which is a help with a target rifle. It looks nice. It was a fun project. And hell, it brought a bit of excitement back to this gun for me. I have less than 150 rounds through the gun, and I get 1 and ¼ inch groups at 200 yards consistently. Maybe I can wring more accuracy out of this gun now. Hell, maybe the accuracy will go to crap now, and I’ll have to eventually put the old stock back on. But I’ll tell ya’ll something… I’m having a blast working on the rifle, and I’ll have a lot of fun shooting it this summer while I find out what it can do. I’ll post some more pictures when it’s done!
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