Excessive Cast Off

[Fiftyfour]

I made a test stock from some pine and I believe that I need 3/8 to 1/2 inch cast off. Does this sound excessive to build into the stock?

[smylee grouch]

Why do you need the cast off? Is the butt plate an overly wide one? Is your physique one that you need cast off to see the sights?

[Mark Elliott]

I usually make cast off 1/4".    As long as I actually end up with a 1/4" of cast off,  holding tight to the cheek usually puts my right eye in the right place for the sights.   The cast off you need will depend on how much wood you remove from the cheek.    I usually scoop mine out pretty good.   If your try stock doesn't have the cheek really hollowed out,  that could give you more cast off.   

[Fiftyfour]

Lining up with the sights is the problem. Should I be adding more drop rather than increasing the cast?

[Mark Elliott]

I think we may need to see you holding your try stock.   Can you get someone to take a couple of photos showing your head relative to the stock.   Photos from the front, back, and side would probably be most useful.    If you don't have enough drop, that could push your head further down on the comb and cheek.   It doesn't take much wood off the cheek to fix things.    Another 1/32" of wood off the comb and cheek can make a lot of difference.     Just keep in mind that as a general rule, drop affects the vertical position of the sights and cast-off takes care of the horizontal alingment.   

[Dave R]

I prefer 3/8" cast off for myself.

[Mike Brooks]

Cast off has never made much difference in my personal guns. I add at least 1/8 to 3/8" for customer guns......I don't know how much difference it makes other than transfer of recoil, if that.

[rich pierce]

It’s a requirement now.  Customers expect castoff on a custom gun.  Somehow folks shot modern shotguns pretty well for over a hundred years with no castoff.

[Pukka Bundook]

Rich,

Cast -off has been on British guns for a long time, well over 100 years, But!...Many folks who think they have it figured out for themselves come up with excessive cast off, (Or on, depending.)

Mostly, if we get the drop right at nose of  comb and heel , 1/8 -3/8 max in normally enough.   Head erect shooting posture helps too.

As someone said up the page, too much of either and it'll bight you.

R.

[David Rase]

I think a lot of contemporary builders use excessive cast off to compensate for the overly large protruding cheek pieces they think they need.  For me, the more cast off the harder it is to get the buttstock architecture to look right.  From what I can see from the originals I have handled, excluding European pieces, the cheek pieces do not stick out as far as we tend to make them now a days.
David

[jerrywh]

 For my own guns I figure about 3/8" of cast off and on one I had 1/2". The drop has a lot to do with it and also what you intend to do with the gun. For a hunting gun a lot of cast off doesn't have a negative effect so much but for a target gun excessive cast off will give you a sore law because it will increase the side kick. More drop decreases the need for cast off. I use about 3 1/4" of drop and 3/8" of cast off.  I have an original English 10 gauge that measure about the same. High grade English guns were made more to fit.

[flehto]

I only use 3/16" of castoff on the "skinny"  Bucks County LRs and also on the heftier early Lancasters.

W/ both, the toe of the stock is tilted in so when viewed from the bottom, little or no castoff is evident. This way the trigger guards don't have to be bent  a whole lot, if any.

Top pic is  of a Bucks County w/ the 3/16" castoff, the middle pic is of a Lancaster also w/ 3/16" castoff and the bottom pic is of a Bucks County showing the nearly  unbent TG.....Fred

[Goo]

Are you shouldering off your arm ?