Altering buttplates

[DB]

Is it ever nessessary to alter a buttplate for a project?  For instance shorten a 4 3/4 long down to a 4 3/8 ?

[Lucky R A]

 Absolutely,  much of the time you will not find a perfect part for a project even if the part was allegedly cast from an original.  Modifications are often made to any and all of the parts in a build.   Building guns is not Leggos.  You need to think on your own, solve problems, but first you have to know where you are going, before you set out to get there. 

[JDK]

I think a good example of this is when changing the length of pull.  To keep the the butt stock angles and symmetry you must change the dimensions of a given buttplate.....longer and wider (stretched) for longer length of pull and shorter and narrower for a shorter length of pull.  J.D.

[Eric Smith]

If you shorten the buttplate by cutting the bottom off some, that makes the bottom base of the stock wider, doesnt it? Wouldnt that alter the dimensions od the stock making it fatter?

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Yes, so now you take some off of the sides, from the middle down to the toe, to regain that dimension at the toe.  Then file the inside to regain the flat edges, and to thin the buttplate.

[Swampwalker]

I can't think of a build when I didn't alter the buttplate to a greater or lesser degree - changed the length, width, shape of the final, curvature, etc., it's all doable and often necessary to take what is available and make it fit your vision of the rifle you want to make.  Have some fun with it!

[Eric Smith]

Thanks guys, I am learning so much from this forum. Its hard getting started but it sure is fun in the quest.

[G-Man]

The old time gunmakers were not cranking out rifles to a set of precision specs - things were shaped proportionally and mostly by eye. There is nothing sacred about the width or height of a buttplate casting.  Buttplates and overall butt dimensions look better when you shape things proportional to the overall gun.  Obviously there are some limitations on how much shaping can be done depending on the individual features of a specific buttplate, but there is some alteration that can - often should - be done on many of them unless you are making an exact copy (exact here meaning all dimensions down to minor fractions of an inch) of the rifle it was taken from.  So alter as you need.  If you shorten it and that makes the toe wider, go ahead and narrow the sides to look proportional.  If you want to keep the general shape of a buttplate, then if you trim it in one dimension you may find you need to trim it itn another direction as well.   A big buttplate that has been shortened in height may look - and feel - awkward if you don't trim the width down a bit as well and re-taper the thickness of the edges, etc.

[Roger Fisher]

Yes, so now you take some off of the sides, from the middle down to the toe, to regain that dimension at the toe.  Then file the inside to regain the flat edges, and to thin the buttplate.

Notice he says "thin the b plate"   That's something I am guilty of not doing (enough of)!

[rich pierce]

Brass buttplates can also be lengthened and widened by skilled peening (cold forging) with frequent annealing if and only if they are soft brass.  It is easy to get an extra 1/2" of length and 1/4" of width in the body of the buttplate.  The comb is another story.  That requires more skill and I would use a swage block.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

The same applies to steel castings.  On my last Hawken build, my factory casting was not long enough in the bow to match the original I was "copying", but it had lots of thickness.  So I heated it red, and cross peened the bow, and lengthened it by over 1/8".  Dressed down it is not possible to tell I reworked it, but it is now as close as spit to the original.

[Chuck Burrows]

Brass buttplates can also be lengthened and widened by skilled peening (cold forging) with frequent annealing if and only if they are soft brass.

and if it is "bronze" try working it hot - I "forge" several types of bronze for various things and yes it can be worked hot (med to low red heat) most of the time..