laying out a rifle stock.

[curly]

I'm looking for information on how to lay out a rifle stock with the grain of the wood. I have a blank already that has been cut pretty much, straight grain to the barrel, as it should be. My problem is I need more drop to the butt. To do this, I have to shift the barrel muzzle down. How many degrees can I shift the barrel down without putting the grain of the wood in jeoprody of cracking at the wrist?

Thanks, Curly

[Dave B]

Curly,
It wont make that much difference to drop the line of the barrel a few degrees to get your drop. It becomes more of an issue with a quarter sawn blank than a slab sawn blank when it comes to musket grain at the wrist. You should be just fine making that slight change. In fact it may make the grain run more in line with the wrist as you tip your barrel down the grain at the wrist starts to line up closer to the axis of the wrist the farther you drop the barrel muzzle. I say go for it.

[curly]

Thanks for the input Dave.......well appreciated.

[Swampwalker]

Curly,
It's my belief that it's more important to have good grain flow through the wrist of the rifle than the forearm.  On most of my guns, the grain angles up somewhat along the length of the forearm, and angles down to extend parallel to the wrist, as much as possible given the limitations of the piece of wood I'm working with.  I much prefer to work from a plank, which gives me the latitude of laying out my stock however I want to.  The layout you suggest can only help.