Castoff

[sbowman]

I'm adding about 1/8 in castoff in my latest build and need some input from you guys. which is "standard" practice?  Inlet the butt plate perpendicular to the line of castoff or inlet perpendicular to line of bore, same as with no castoff?

Steve

[Hank01]

Keep it centered to the butt. If centered to the bore then the tang will look crooked and out of position to the butt.

Hank

[JLayne]

I agree with Hank. Keep the front of the heel of the buttplate perpendicular to the cast off line. I tried it perpendicular to the line of the bore once and ended up having to re-do it because it looked crooked.

Jay

[Mike Brooks]

After 40 years of building muzzleloaders exclusively  i can now say cast off is highly over rated. I put cast off on about every gun I ever made, I don't think it actually makes that much difference in the end. It may be important in high end English shotguns,  but 18th century north American  longrifles, not so much.

[Jim Kibler]

After 40 years of building muzzleloaders exclusively  i can now say cast off is highly over rated. I put cast off on about every gun I ever made, I don't think it actually makes that much difference in the end. It may be important in high end English shotguns,  but 18th century north American  longrifles, not so much.

I'm with you Mike.  People often fail to recognize the other larger aspects such as comb line and stock shaping.  These factors are much more significant.

Jim

[sbowman]

Thanks for the feedback guys.  I will inlet it perpendicular to the line of castoff.  FWIW, I also agree with M. Brooks and J. Kibler, i can think of 5 different things off the top of my head in gunstock architecture that affect line of sight and shooting comfort, least of which is castoff. I'm only doing it for the "cool" factor LOL.  1/8th of an inch ain't gonna effect much on this rifle., Just gives me a little more wiggle room to play with the checkpiece and overall width in that area.

 Steve

[Wingshot]

Forgive my ignorance as I’m a new gun builder. My understanding is that the reasoning behind cast off or cast on (for left handed shooters) was/is primarily applied to styles or schools of longrifles that sport a crescent shaped butt plate. Placement of said plate is pulled into the area of the bicep as opposed to the shoulder pocket mounting of most modern rifles and shot guns. Am I wrong about this?

[Not English]

I basically agree with Jim and Mike. I build with cast off if room allows. I do think it is much more important for guns used for wing shooting. The sight picture is formed differently when wing shooting as opposed to rifle shooting. As far as the original question, if the butt plate is not aligned with the line of the butt, it will very badly stand out.

[Mike Brooks]

Forgive my ignorance as I’m a new gun builder. My understanding is that the reasoning behind cast off or cast on (for left handed shooters) was/is primarily applied to styles or schools of longrifles that sport a crescent shaped butt plate. Placement of said plate is pulled into the area of the bicep as opposed to the shoulder pocket mounting of most modern rifles and shot guns. Am I wrong about this?

I don't think you're  wrong. But I just can't see that a 1/8" to 1/4" is going to make much difference. As was stated above it's probably very high on the cool factor though.

[smylee grouch]

Some people think cast off helps the shooter to get in line with the sights easier/quicker when the gun/rifle has a wide butt plate. Some also think that cast off along with proper drop and pitch will help reduce felt recoil and cheek slap. More experimentation might tell the story.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I often see people adding cast off to their stocks and then have to create a cheek piece that resembles a Chinese pillow, in order to get their face in line with the sights.  It is my experience that if the stock architecture provides the correct amount of drop at the heel, and especially at the comb, a rifle will fit well and align the sights with the eye without cast off.

[Daryl]

My thoughts as well. My English rifle fits perfectly, as does Taylor's Lang. Mine has no cheek piece, yet his does have a thin(at the comb) cheek piece. Both rifles have good drop
at the heel as well as proper comb height.
The cheek piece on the Lang is pretty much for appearance only.