Can I cold bend a steel butt plate?

[Kurt]

Hello all. I bought and built a Kibler SMR and I suspected I was going to have trouble with the curve of the butt plate and I do, just enough that it inhibits both my enjoyment of shooting the rifle and my accuracy. The later may or may not be true. Anyway, I was thinking if I could take it off the rifle and bend it at the full curve I could reduce the lower protrusion and make the rifle more comfortable to shoot. I'll have to trim it some and reshape the stock to match. Can the bend be made? Thanks.

[mikeyfirelock]

I think you’d be better off to build the stock up with some materials that could be temporary just to see how your planned mods will function.   Or, get /make a stock blank ( something cheap and expendable) and make your mod’s and see if that improves it. 

[whetrock]

I don't mean to insult you in any way, but do you understand that that buttplate is supposed to be shot off the bicep of your upper arm, rather than the shoulder?
If you turn your body just a little more when you aim, so that you are kind of shooting sideways, rather than straight on, then it will naturally fit on your arm.

[Kurt]

whetrock, Not insulted at all, and yes I know that is how it is to be shot. Without going into unnecessary details, I have a physical limitation that prevents it. I had my concerns prior to buying and building the rifle, but took a gamble because I wanted to build one and wanted a small caliber. Its a 40. The Woodsrunner I have is just fine but its 54.

[Jim Kibler]

Yeah, you can bend them cold.  They are a little springy, and you'll have to use some force, but you can do it.

[Kurt]

Thanks for the replies and advice, it is appreciated. I have enough info now to proceed. Thanks again for taking the time. Kurt.

[whetrock]

Thanks for the patient reply, Kurt. Let us know how it turns out.

[Kurt]

I should say that the Kibler kit was so tempting I had to take the plunge. Any issue I had with the build was due to my own apprehension concerning my skills. I can assure anyone that it if I can build one it is a testament to the quality if the kit. I am very pleased with the rifle and how it turned out and my only discomfort comes from the availability of the Fowler kit. Tempting!

[Dphariss]

The last SMR  I did had minor fitment issues and was so hard I could not fix it by peaning the buttplate even after heating red and letting it cool in the forge. I suppose I could have put it in a bucket of ash but didn’t.

[Stoner creek]

I’ll bet that it will break like glass if you try and cold bend it especially if it wouldn’t cooperate when you added the heat. You never know what you are getting with cast steel.

[Daniel Coats]

Even if you can change it you're also changing the looks of a well designed gun. I wouldn't mess with it.

[smylee grouch]

Would clamping the but plate in a vice, close jaws enough slightly and then heat and let cool as it stays clamped and slightly compressed work?

[Randall Steffy]

It seems to me that this is an opportunity to prove that Jim Kibler knows his castings, or prove him wrong. I'd bet he didn't give his advice without experience bending his castings. You got advice from the one person who should know. Unless someone tells you that from personal experience he broke a Kibler steel butt plate, I'm betting Jim knows of which he speaks. But what have I invested? My point exactly.

[Steeltrap]

I'm a "visual learner" so pics help me a lot. I dunno if this will help, but here goes.

I took a pic of Jim's SMR and "drew" some lines on it.

The green line represents a 90 degree angle from the top barrel flat, to the bottom of the buttplate as Jim has designed.

The red line represents the "what if" you move the bottom of the buttplate forward....(Leaving the top section alone)

And the very hard to see green line would represent the "new" post-bent buttplate. Bending the buttplate in this fashion would of course, require removing some wood from the bottom of the stock. Since you're straightening the buttplate, I would think metal may have to be trimmed off the bottom of the buttplate as well.

But what the finished product would be is represented (again) by  the green line. If that would help you shoot it better, I can't say....but that's likely what it would end up looking like.

[J.D.]

Your buttplate might benefit from annealing, before you attempt to bend it. 
Most of the steel castings, I have used, though they be few, appear to have benefited by annealing by laying said part on a couple of layers of charcoal briquettes, with several more layers built up over the part. The charcoal pile is lit and allowed to burn down on its own. After four, or so, hours, the cast parts seem to be softer and more ductile.

[2 shots]

 i would have to say that Jim knows his parts , knows what they are made of and knows what he is talking about. so go bend your part...

[Stoner creek]

Quit talking and bend that sucker! What’s the worst thing that can happen? You might have to spend some money on another one. Let er rip tater chip!!!

[Paul from KY]

You can bend the SMR buttplate cold. I had to bend mine since it had a slight warp that needed to be straightened.