Adding Weight

[Lefty Red]

My Omega has a synthetic camo stock. I would like to add some weight to it, to soak up some recoil from paper patched bullets.
I have a Limbsaver on it and have a cheek pad coming.

Been told to pack it with plumbers putty. But the stock is really hollow! Was thinking of putty and then some kind of filler.

Any suggestions?

Lefty

[Sergeant Earthworm]

If you are dead set on adding weight, whatever weight you add should be installed in such a way that it can't move around.

Personally, I would advise against adding weight to your Omega. As is it is a well balanced rifle so adding weight could throw off the balance. Given that hunting will most likely be one shot per animal, the recoil isn't really all that bad, is it?

[Lefty Red]

You are right about hunting, I don't notice recoil. But I do like to shoot at the range with it. And if it had a wood stock, It would be better balanced. The hollow synthetic stock makes it nose heavy.

Lefty

[Lefty Red]

I am thinking of shot bags filled with play sand. Allows me to fit it where I want in the stock and fill with bubble wrap to hold it in place.

Lefty

[greywuuf]

if you do it just wrong... you can build a heck of a "Dead Blow" hammer out of the stock and maximize the transfer of energy to yourself ;-)

[Lefty Red]

if you do it just wrong... you can build a heck of a "Dead Blow" hammer out of the stock and maximize the transfer of energy to yourself ;-)
it
????????
Don't really see how that would do what you claim if could do? The energy from the charge going toward me, the rear, follows through the stock. Weights, sand bags, spring fixed to the frame bolt all absorb that energy. Now if placed against my head when someone fires the charge, yeah it could hit me in the head because its inline with the recoil.

[greywuuf]

simple, if you get a quantity of sand in your stock that is not secured completely it will move with the stock but wont stop with it, instead will impact again after the stock stops ( just like inside a dead blow hammer)

[fouronesix]

Kind of with Sergeant Earthworm on this one. You can add weight to mitigate recoil or even change geometry of the recoil but for one-shot hunting you won't even feel it. If the rifle is well balanced and "holds" well, adding weight might detract from those hold qualities. The only time you may benefit from some weight or added recoil buffer is during load development-- like when hunkered over the shooting bench. For bench shooting, I just pad up or put a dense, stiff pad between my shoulder and the gun butt. For really heavy recoiling arms I'll put a thin sand bag in between.

As far as doing it wrong??? The only thing i can think of is the kinetic energy phenomenon associated with really thick soft recoil pads. In that case, the solid part of the butt is held away from the shoulder. When the gun is fired the recoil is felt as a kinetic impact as the solid part of the butt easily crushes through the soft part of the pad then hits the shoulder.... for lack of a better description. The last time I noticed that was shooting full house 300 gr loads in a Win M70 375 HH off the bench a couple of years ago. It had an old thick soft honeycomb pad. I suspected it might happen and my memory of past experience was adequately re-enforced!

If loose sand or other loose material in the stock would cause a large double hit, how can a mercury reducer work? That physics doesn't seem to plumb.

Or, if the stock geometry is wrong for the way the gun is held and the upward comb rotation whacks the cheek.--- ouch! For some reason that happens to me with a standard T/C Renegade shooting heavy charges under a conical.

[Lefty Red]

Like I have stated, the rifle is barrel heavy because the stock is hollow and too light and I would like to add some weight to balance the weapon and soak up some recoil. If I could find a wooden stock, I would put it on it. Would like to get the weight up to to around eight pounds. Still thinking the sand bags is the easiest.

Lefty

[RickinTN]

Sand bag or maybe shot in some kind of container would be the easiest way that comes to mind. Foam spray insulation (The kind used to fill cracks etc. around your home) from Home depot or Lowes to hold it all in place. I've used it from an aerosol can. It will take less weight if placed in the rear of the stock to balance it than it would if you place the weight forward toward the grip on the stock. Placing it toward the rear also makes it easier to remove should you decide to. An added bonus is that with the buttstock full of foam it dampens the "plastic" sound of the stock somewhat. Experiment some on something other than the stock first because the spray foam expands considerably.
Good Luck with your project and keep us posted,
Rick

[Lefty Red]

Sand bag or maybe shot in some kind of container would be the easiest way that comes to mind. Foam spray insulation (The kind used to fill cracks etc. around your home) from Home depot or Lowes to hold it all in place. I've used it from an aerosol can. It will take less weight if placed in the rear of the stock to balance it than it would if you place the weight forward toward the grip on the stock. Placing it toward the rear also makes it easier to remove should you decide to. An added bonus is that with the buttstock full of foam it dampens the "plastic" sound of the stock somewhat. Experiment some on something other than the stock first because the spray foam expands considerably.
Good Luck with your project and keep us posted,
Rick

Yeah, a friend added Great Stuff (red can, not for windows and doors cause it will wrap them) to his NEF 357 Handi's plastic stock. He sprayed it in and then quickly put the buttplate/pad back on. 30 minutes later the Great Stuff stripped the screws out and cracked the stock! Blue can of Great Stuff only! :)

I am going to free float the barrel today and see where I can add the weight. Thinking some plumbers putty in the fore arm. Will post some upside down pictures!

Lefty

[johnson1942]

go to brownells and get what they call a dead mule, fid some way to make it solid in you butt stock.if you have a way to get into your butt stock the dead mule can be wraped in paper towel that it soaked in gorillia glue. gorilla glue greatly expands and you can mix lead shot in the cavity also and the expanded glue will hold it in place. get a good pad from buffalo arms also.you could probably even fit two dead mules in the butt stock. they really make the diff.

[GARD72977]

I like the sand Idea! I had rather be hit with a deadblow hammer than a ball peen. If you want pack some shipping peanuts in there with the sand.

[Lefty Red]

Adding weight to the foend will only make the muzzle heavy feel worse. The entire buttstock is hollow, and that is where I would recommend that you add your weight.

Watch ebay and see if you can locate a used wooden stock. I ordered my Omega with the wooden stock precisely because I didn't want plastic, camo or not. BTW, the low comb stock is ambidextrous, but the thumbhole is too high to shoot left handed....

I have been looking since I brought it home. Even went to Boyd's and no luck. Search still continues.

[Lefty Red]

I like the sand Idea! I had rather be hit with a deadblow hammer than a ball peen. If you want pack some shipping peanuts in there with the sand.

Looks like this is my best move. And the sand soaks up the recoil instead of transfer it to the pad.
Tried to install a couple of large bolts and use Blue Great Stuff to fill the voids. That was a mess!

[Lefty Red]

go to brownells and get what they call a dead mule, fid some way to make it solid in you butt stock.if you have a way to get into your butt stock the dead mule can be wraped in paper towel that it soaked in gorillia glue. gorilla glue greatly expands and you can mix lead shot in the cavity also and the expanded glue will hold it in place. get a good pad from buffalo arms also.you could probably even fit two dead mules in the butt stock. they really make the diff.

Got a good pad, a Limbsaver. Makes a differance.
The Dead Mule needs a bolt to mount on. In theory, it soaks up the recoil from the receiver going through the bolt to the stock/butt plate.
Cheaper to use sand or shot in heavy duty leather/cloth bags. Will look into the Gorillia Glue too. Blue Great Stuff didn't work out.

[Lefty Red]

Ok, just got finished cleaning up the mess from the Great Stuff Blue Can.

Did get the barrel floated. Stock pinched the front half badly. Could only shoot three times before I had to let it cool down due to vertical stringing.

Used two surefire ways in combination. Got two thin washers to place in the bedding blocks. This caused a small seperation of the stock and barrel/receiver. I normally use it only, but could not use a thick washer due to the way the trigger guard also hinges and would not function correctly. So only a few passes with a sand paper wrapped dowel finished the job.

And normally I wouldn't mess with a hunting ML and bedding a stock or free floating the barrel. I mean, most of the time its shot less then ten times a year. But this Omega will be used on Sunday ML shoots til I get a traditional sidelock or flinter. Trying to see if the old guys will even have a few inline shoots with sights only and no bench. Especially if I can get the paper patched bullets running.

Lefty

[musty nugget]

How about lead shot mixed with epoxy? Won't shift around and if you put in too much you can drill it out. A release agent, wax or saran wrap, might help if you decide to take it all out.

[Lefty Red]

How about lead shot mixed with epoxy? Won't shift around and if you put in too much you can drill it out. A release agent, wax or saran wrap, might help if you decide to take it all out.

I was thinking about that. Maybe a PVC pipe filled with round balls and then filled out with epoxy.
Or hell, just fill the damn thing with epoxy.

Lefty

[johnson1942]

only some dead mules are spring loaded. i have one of those but the rest are mercury filled tubes. they are about 6 or more inches long and about 1 inch wide. they are half filled with mercury. i just drill a hole straight into the stock in the center under the butt plate and coat with glue and slip in the hole. put the butt plate back on and they are very effective. also a tube that size 1/2 filled with small bird shot works well also. the shot whips back and for from the recoil and deminishes the felt recoil. i used to tape a couple of those to the bottom under a shotgun barrel, really tames magnum loades.

[country gent]

Mix number 8 shot with silicone sealant to fill the buttstock hole. Add shot bare to get the Balance the way you want then mix with silicone sealant. Coat buttstock hole with release agent and pour in shot silicoe mix tamp pack with wood dowel and let cure. Fill left over airspace with bubble wrap paper towels ect ect. Do this in a well ventialted room as the fumes from curing will get annoying real fast.

[Lefty Red]

only some dead mules are spring loaded. i have one of those but the rest are mercury filled tubes. they are about 6 or more inches long and about 1 inch wide. they are half filled with mercury. i just drill a hole straight into the stock in the center under the butt plate and coat with glue and slip in the hole. put the butt plate back on and they are very effective. also a tube that size 1/2 filled with small bird shot works well also. the shot whips back and for from the recoil and deminishes the felt recoil. i used to tape a couple of those to the bottom under a shotgun barrel, really tames magnum loades.

Yep, did that to an old 870 and a couple of H&R Trackers when I was in high school. Buddy's Dad drilled four or five holes in the buttstock and I would fill them with 50 cal lead balls I casted. I would even drill a lone or two of holes, shallow in the forearm of the H&R and put some weight up front as well. Added 1.5-2 pound of weight to the single shot and it helps out allot!

[country gent]

We found the silicone was easier to blend with the shot and had a longer working time than most epoxies allowing for it to be packed settled better. 15 years ago I added weightto my brothers ruger Stainless / synthetic 300 win mag to bring it up to 9 1/2 lbs. I worked some in the forend rib ing and buttstock trap hole. It made the rifle much more shootable and easier to handle. Its been there ever since and hasnt needed to be reworked yet.

[Lefty Red]

We found the silicone was easier to blend with the shot and had a longer working time than most epoxies allowing for it to be packed settled better. 15 years ago I added weightto my brothers ruger Stainless / synthetic 300 win mag to bring it up to 9 1/2 lbs. I worked some in the forend rib ing and buttstock trap hole. It made the rifle much more shootable and easier to handle. Its been there ever since and hasnt needed to be reworked yet.

So just the stuff that comes in tubes for calking guns?

[johnson1942]

another property of silicone is anti vibration. i filled the whole forearm void of my sons .270 and put plastic wrap between it and the barrel and let it dry. it acted as a rubber bedding for the barrel. just trimmed of the excess when it dried. pulled the barrel off, took out the plastic wrap and reinstalled the barrel. that plus putting neoprene o rings for 6 inches on the front of the barrel and recrowning it plus a new trigger and handloading, it is a 300 yard tack driver. he first stated hunting with it when he was 11 and is now 14. has taken 7 deer. his seventh 3 days ago was a 4x4 white tail buck. again the very best thing about silicone is its anti vibration qualities. i use the stuff you do cracks and corners with.

[country gent]

Yes either in the tubes or the 25 year sealeant in the caulking tubes. Find the amount of lead shot needed mix in the silicone and pack in place.

[Lefty Red]

Well gentleman, you have sold me. I will add the caulking.

My total weight my of my Omega, unloaded is 6# and 10 ounce. Hoping to bring it up to around 8#.

Will get on this project Sunday. Right after I get some decent bullets cast and my lead find smelted down into ingots.
No rest for the wicked......

Lefty/Jerry