Lead weighted Rifle Stocks..

[lgm270]

Has anyone experimented with drilling holes in their rifle stock and filling with molten lead as a means of adding weight and taming recoil? 

I was thinking in terms of drilling a long, longitudinal hole down part of the length of the forearm to make the rifle a little more muzzle heavy.  Of course similar holes could be drilled in the butt for the same purpose. 

Anyone have any experience or thoughts about this?

[bcraig]

Hi, I did this once with a synthetic remington 700 except I took the barreled action out of stock then took several sheets of aluminum foil (so it would be stiff and have some body to it ) then pressed the foil into the hollow section of the forearrm. Then i lifted it out and filled it with pure lead that I melted in a lee furnace .then I pressed it back into the stock and it worked well. hope this helps you.Craig

[Dee]

This is a very old method of taming recoil but, rather than pouring molten lead in the holes just pour bird shot in the holes. That way the whole thing is reversible, and it accomplishes the same thing. Number 9 bird shot is best for this, but any bird shot will work..
I had friends doing this to single barrel shotguns back in the early 60s when I was a kid.

[Bigeasy]

Well, increasing weight will lessen recoil, if you don't mind carrying a heavy gun.  I guess the key is to distribute the lead so as to maintain decent balance and handling of the rifle.

Larry

[Dee]

Bigeasy that would be quite an accomplishment with the lead weight trick. It usually is in the butt stock and makes the rifle or shotgun butt heavy.
As a youngster we bought what we could afford, and that was usually an ole Topper shotgun, which usually meant at least a 28" barrel and a full choke. Result? Knock ya down and stomp ya for fallin.
I got a Topper 12 gauge 3" magnum shotgun once for Christmas. It had a 32" barrel and a full choke. What a goose gun. What a kicker. I poured the butt stock full of #9 bird shot, put a big recoil pad on it and didn't even sand it to fit the stock. I wanted the width. Looked like hell, but it worked. It was a poor man's shock buffer. Ahhhhh youth is wasted on the young.

[Bigeasy]

Dee I had a buddy when I was a kid who's father let him use his H&R 10 ga single shot.  I think it had a recoil pad, but didnt matter.  I remember shooting it once, and getting a bloody nose when my right hand came back into my face.  My buddy got a kick out of it, seems it pretty much happened to everyone who tried it for the first time...lol

Larry

[Frank46]

I did this with birdshot on a jungle carbine. Made a difference in felt recoil. Frank

[SteveHawaii]

Just this weekend I tried weighting the stock of my Rossi .243 youth.  The gun is simply to light, even in .234, and I was going to let some young guys use it this weekend.  I didn't have any lead shot, so that was out.  I tried some air gun BB's, but didn't have enough.  So (now don't laugh) I threw a bunch of Craftsman open end wrenches into the stock.  Since the Rossi synthetic stock is hollow, it took quite a few, using various sizes to fit.  Stuck a rag in there too to keep the rattling down.  Shot it this weekend at the range and it worked quite well.  The balance was good and recoil comfortably reduced.  Think I'll go with the lead shot as a more permanent solution.  I like the idea of being able to remove the weight if I need to.  Right now all I do is shoot it at the range.  But who knows what the future will look like.

[roper]

If it was one of my deer/elk rifles I'd be concern about balance and adding extra weight.

[Graybeard]

Can you tame recoil by adding weight? Yes that will work but as has been mentioned it generally messes up the balance and if you get enough weight to really do much recoil taming it makes the rifle too danged heavy to tote afield and still be fun. A better approach is to replace the pad with one of the new really soft and thick ones like Remington is using these days. There are several brands on the market but I must say that at this time Remington really does have the market cornered on proper recoil pads for their factory guns.

I think if you'll have a gunsmith install such a pad for you it will do more to soften recoil than adding lead. If you go the lead route be darn careful how you add it to the forearm so you don't weaken it to the point of breaking and also be aware it might play havoc with accuracy as well as soften recoil. If ya mess with the bedding it's gonna change accuracy and generally for the worse.

[hunt-m-up]

I've mentioned this in other threads before,but the trick that I think did the most for me was using an old archery bow stabilizer for this purpose, I have one in a synthetic stock and a smaller one in a wood stock. I figured if they were designed to take some of the shock and vibration from a bow why wouldn't they do the same for a gun? Most archery shops have a selection of old used ones sitting around they would part with for cheap. Stay away from the mercury filled ones, they had a rep. for leaking.

[charles p]

I once heard a joke about a fellow who fluffed up two bales of straw in the trunk of his car to lighten it up in the rear.

[jasonprox700]

You could try one of the recoil reducers that you use in shotguns.  These are usually mercury filled or are comprised of weights and springs.  These not only reduce recoil, but they also add weight. 

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=0/k=recoil+reducer/t=P/ksubmit=y/Products/All/search=recoil_reducer

[jro45]

With all my guns not one has had mercury put into its stock. I have two with brakes but I
can take them off and put a screw protector on to protect the theads.