Butt Stock curves out?

[Deepcreektexasshane]

Hi all, yep I made a huge mistake and bought a rifle on gun broker. Looked real nice and the seller assured me it was a quality build…
Here’s the question, why would the butt stock curve out to the left? Am I missing something?

[JPK]

Cast on for a left handed shooter.

[Daryl]

Cast-off for a left handed shooter would be my guess.
It's cast-on for a right handed shooter.

[Deepcreektexasshane]

I’m not familiar with cast on cast off. I’m right handed and I Can say it points well when welded to my cheek. Is it normal? I’ve shot a thousand rifles but never a trueish long rifle.

[Daryl]

If you line up well and it doesn't smack your cheek, you're good to go. No worries.

[Deepcreektexasshane]

If you line up well and it doesn't smack your cheek, you're good to go. No worries.

Thanks Daryl! Haven’t shot it yet, there’s a slight crack in the tang area that I’m contemplating a fix for

[Pukka Bundook]

Daryl,
Cast off is for right hand , cast on for left hand use.

[EC121]

As stated above.  A LH gun curves to the left, and a RH gun curves to the right to allow the shooter to get behind the sights without tilting his/her head over the comb.

[RAT]

Cast off means the butt is moved off the center line away from the shooters face. Cast on means the butt is moved off the center line towards the shooters face. Original guns could have either cast on, cast off, or no cast at all (the butt follows the actual center line). This could depend on the maker or the customer for whom the gun was made. The "ETC" J & S Hawken rifle in the MT Historical Society is made for a right hand  shooter with the cheekpiece on the left side of the stock, but it has cast on... so the stock angles towards the shooters face.

[Pukka Bundook]

You are quite correct Rat.
I should have said cast off is butt bent away from shooter's face, rather than saying to the right, but as most are right handed, I took this for granted.
apologies, and your wording much better!

Richard.

[James Rogers]

 Cast-on is to the left sighting down the barrel and cast-off is to the right. At least that is how its defined in gunfitting circles and gunmakers like Holland and Holland, Purdy, etc.  This is done so that the terminology is used to the gun and not individual shooters who could be left or right handed, weak or dominant eyed, etc.

[Daryl]

Thanks James and Pukka Bundook. That explains it better - or at least I now understand this to be a RULE of nomenclature on gun design.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

It is easy to create the situation described by the gentleman with too many letters in his name to type here.  If the gunmaker does not maintain a centre line drawn on his/her blank throughout the entire build, the toe of the rifle can easily end up twisted out of line with the intended plane of the rifle.  This I know from having made the mistake.

[taterbug]

Taylor, if you can call it 'cast off' or 'cast on', is it really a mistake?

[RAT]

I could be wrong... but I think Taylor means the center line at the top through the comb is different than the center line through the bottom to the toe.

[Daryl]

Do one, forget the other and BINGO!

[Deepcreektexasshane]

Thank you all for the explanation. It’s definitely intentional and the toe is perpendicular, no twist. When pulled to the ready it falls right into place, perfect eye alignment without having to “lean out”.

[Pukka Bundook]

On old British guns, we do see a bit of toe out from time to time, and some fit like a glove.
If they were made to measure, there are a lot of variables at work.

James R.
Thank you or clearing it up via Purdey and Hollands.  I am not going to argue with either.  :-)

[James Rogers]

I've seen toe out on quite a few as well Richard.
This is a great feature for women and men with large pectorals. Also something im sure Dave Person is considering in the architecture of the gun his new apprentice is starting.

[smylee grouch]

On my last two rifles with flat but I had a full 1/4 inch cast off at the top of the but and 1/8 inch cast at the toe. Two inch wide butt and it seems to fit very well as I can raise gun with eyes closed and when mounted and look down the barrel the sights are lined up for me.

[Waksupi]

Sometimes, it is just the wood changing. I have a gun here, that the stock came from back east. When I was putting it together, one evening I left the trigger guard sitting in the inlet, before I closed the shop for the night. Next morning, the trigger guard was on the floor, and the stock had began bending far enough I had to bend the trigger guard to catch up with the wood. That stock now has an off cast of over an inch. Fortunately, it fits me well. 

[flehto]

As was said, the pic is one of cast off....never went more than 3/16"......Fred

[ettoreR]

Hi all, yep I made a huge mistake and bought a rifle on gun broker. Looked real nice and the seller assured me it was a quality build…
Here’s the question, why would the butt stock curve out to the left? Am I missing something?

This is cast off, most builders will add it for a better, more intuitive  shouldering, it saves you from having to crank your head over the comb to get a good sight picture. I can totally understand if it isn't set on the right side for you