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Old November 18, 2012, 03:42 PM   #1
Polinese
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Filling in the stock.

Does anyone have suggestions for a good material/method to fill in the butt of a hollow stock (Savage axis) to add some weight and rigidity. I filled int he forearm with some epoxy putty, and part of the grip and that helped quite a bit. But I was hoping to find something a little more cost effective to fill in the rest of the stock.
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Old November 18, 2012, 04:14 PM   #2
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Lead shot like #7 or smaller will add weight and help reduce recoil.
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Old November 18, 2012, 04:25 PM   #3
Polinese
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I was looking for something that would solidify like some kind of foam or epoxy. Though your suggestion makes me think maybe a combo of the two is the way to go.
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Old November 18, 2012, 04:27 PM   #4
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Great stuff foam will fill in the stock, and you can add in lead shot as you fill it. Just make sure you mask off the butt well so you don't stain the stock if it spills over.
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Old November 18, 2012, 06:09 PM   #5
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You don't really need anything in the butt stock other than something to deaden sound. Adding weight there would adversely effect balance in my opinion.

The spray foam works, but is messy. Standard packing peanuts poured in under the recoil pad works just as good, is a lot easier and is easily removed if needed.

I haven't found adding anything to the forend makes any real difference in performance.
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Old November 18, 2012, 06:41 PM   #6
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Bondo might work for you.

Its used in auto body repair. Its very strong, when it dries it sands down easily, its purchasable by the jar and works a lot like epoxy, except its more of a putty. 2 part mixture that hardens when mixed.

there might be a more appropriate mixture but it will probably do what you need it to do.
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Old November 18, 2012, 10:44 PM   #7
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Yep, I was going to say bondo. Its cheap and once it hardens it doesn't move. If you make a mess and get it where you don't want it you can remove it fairly easily.
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Old November 19, 2012, 12:15 AM   #8
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The other concern I had was if i get a material that gets too hard will I have to worry about it possibly cracking or anything from flexing from the recoil or is it going to harden to the point that it gets rid of all the stock flex.
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Old November 19, 2012, 12:21 AM   #9
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I made a molded weight for a rifle using ankle weights. The bags are filled with powder and what I did was cut them open and put it in a molded container and stuffed it in the butt, that way if I ever feel the need to remove it I can.
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Old November 19, 2012, 02:57 AM   #10
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Go to your local automotive repair shop that does brake repair. Take a 5 gal bucket with you and ask them if they would put some of their "dust" (metal filings) from their brake lathes. You will only need a few scoops. You know, enough to fill the cavity. Mix up some 2 part epoxy and then add dust. You will want mostly dust, but enough epoxy to hold the dust together. It should be about the consistancy of morter or automotive bond dough. Pour the mix into the cavity until full and let set for a couple of days. The metal will provide the filler and the epoxy will hold the dust together and also bond it to the stock. This will also add some weight to the stock and help reduce recoil.

I use this method to bed my actions into my stocks. It gives me a very strong support for the action. Better than JB weld and much cheaper.
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Old November 19, 2012, 07:23 AM   #11
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In order to reduce the recoil of a muzzleloader for a teenaged shooter, I filled the hollow butt with tamped sand and then used bedding compound to seal it off and create a solid layer for mounting the HiViz squishy recoil pad. It's been working for several years. I just added a slip on pad to make the stock longer.
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Old November 19, 2012, 09:17 AM   #12
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I used a self leveling silicone caulk from Home Depot ,will fill in every empty area. Filled a Rem 700 LTR stock through the swivel hole, the stock is a HS percision stock the but pad is glued on. Went pretty slow but worked great
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Old November 19, 2012, 12:07 PM   #13
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Liquid Nails® with plastic Airsoft® BB's.

Mix in a paper cup so that the BBs are all coated and sticky but not "floating" in the liquid. There needs to be enough BBs so that they are touching each other in the mixture. Use an plastic spoon to get them in there (mask off around the end of the stock and work clean. Finish slightly proud and squash when putting the butt pad on. The Liquid Nails and BBs mixture is not heavy and does not shrink. Don't use the BBs that are coated with colored chalk, the chalk acts as a release agent and prevents the BBs from sticking together properly. Be warned, it's permanent.

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Old November 19, 2012, 12:38 PM   #14
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not sure what you are trying to fill but I second the bond Its fast, easy and light. It can be sanded and shaped if you want to add weight
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Old November 19, 2012, 12:42 PM   #15
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Sweet Shooter beat me to it,,,

I filled the plastic stock of my Mossberg 702 PLinkster,,,
With Airsoft BB's and 3M spray glue.

Worked perfectly after I tamped them in tight.

Aarond

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Old November 19, 2012, 03:20 PM   #16
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I have a savage axis, and like most cheap synthetic stocks its completely hollow. Was gonna fill in the stock with something to add weight and rigidity to the flimsy stock since no aftermarket stocks exist for the rifle.
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Old November 20, 2012, 10:41 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Polinese View Post
I have a savage axis, and like most cheap synthetic stocks its completely hollow. Was gonna fill in the stock with something to add weight and rigidity to the flimsy stock since no aftermarket stocks exist for the rifle.
This is the reason I steer everyone I can away from the Axis. I would say to add regular BB's instead of air sort BB's if your goal is weight, rigidity too.
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Old November 20, 2012, 11:37 PM   #18
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Yea if it were any other gun I'd just sell it, but she was my first so decided I'll hang onto her and put a little effort into improving her.

I think the axis was a good concept of making an even more affordable rifle... but some of the choices made (such as the recoil lug) are odd to me, and I don't see why they didn't make the gun a little more user/aftermarket friendly.

I get that its disposable etc but even so...
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Old November 23, 2012, 12:12 AM   #19
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Quote:
I don't see why they didn't make the gun a little more user/aftermarket friendly.
Because at a comparable price point Savage already makes the Stevens rifle which uses the same action as the main Savage line and therefore has wide availability of aftermarket parts. So there's just not a lot of money in developing aftermarket parts for the Axis when people who want to build and upgrade primarily buy the Stevens or Savage actions.
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Old November 23, 2012, 09:03 AM   #20
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I recently added "Great Stuff" foam to my Tikka T3 Lite, not to add weight, but to reduce noise from scraping against brush in the field and to insulate the stock to help make it warmer to the touch in cold weather. It worked fine.

I didn't want to add weight, so didn't think of adding lead shot, but if it were to be added, a concentration located parallel to the bore might help to keep recoil straight back.
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Old November 23, 2012, 10:56 AM   #21
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I filled the synthetic stock on my Marlin 60 with play sand. Didn't mix in any glue or anything; just made sure it was topped off. Worked like a charm. Rifle has better balance and is much more stable with off-hand shooting. Didn't do anything for recoil because... well... there wasn't any to begin with.
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Old November 24, 2012, 08:18 AM   #22
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Polyurethane foam. "Great Stuff" (as mentioned by a previous poster) is one brand. Works perfectly. Just tape off the outside of the stock, to prevent any spill over from bonding to the outside of the stock. The poly foam is VERY sticky, so it will permanently bond to the inside of the stock - and won't ever get loose. It will automatically fill all the spaces and voids inside, so you don't have to pack it in, as you would something like Bondo - so it's much easier. The foam will deaden the hollow sound of the stock nicely. It will also make the butt area of the stock much more rigid.

The poly foam is light weight, so it adds little to the stock by itself. You can add additional weight simply by pushing some other material into the foam, such as shot, metal washers.....almost anything. You can easily balance the added weight by not adding it to the rear portion of the butt stock, but rather, further forward. Just apply the foam in "lifts", or layers. In other words, add a small amount of foam into the forward most part of the cavity, then add some weight....then add more foam, etc. etc. It's quite easy.

After the foam is set, simply trim any overflow with a razor blade...and re-install the butt cap or pad. Voila.

I've done a bunch of stocks this way, over the years.

Last edited by wpsdlrg; November 24, 2012 at 08:24 AM.
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Old November 24, 2012, 12:35 PM   #23
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I read the instructions on the "Great Stuff" can and it said that cleanup before setup can be done with acetone, but I used "Break Free Powder Blaster" to clean the application tube and nozzle and it worked fine. It probably contains acetone anyway.
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Old November 24, 2012, 01:31 PM   #24
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Did not work well for me !!!

Quote:
The foam will deaden the hollow sound of the stock nicely.
Perhaps it's the difference in stocks but I used Great-Stuf, in one of my in-line hunters and it had very little effect on reducing the sound. I too layered my application and it did fill the stock nicely but that's about it. .....

Be Safe !!!
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Old December 12, 2012, 07:03 PM   #25
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i recently used half inch cpvc filled with 7 shot and capped on both ends.cut it to length and held it dead center while i filled in with spray foam.balanced out really nice and it was fast and easy.also put 3 inch masking tape on the stock for easy clean up.i also shot a bottle of gorilla glue into the shot to keep from rattling no problems so far.it cost me about 10 bucks.
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