Installing A Curved Steel Buttplate

A discussion at our local range about what a pain it was to install a curved buttplate made me decide to install one on the Savage 219 rifle I was shooting that day. I like the look of the curved buttplate and I have installed them on several guns. As far as I am concerned, it is well worth the time to give a rifle a much more classic look than a flat plastic buttplate ever can.

There really isn’t any way of installing the curved buttplate without shortening the stock so that eliminates it from consideration for a rifle you have already brought the length of pull to the dimensions you want. However, on anew stock or even an old one that is too long, it can be just the ticket.

Naturally, you will want to avoid installing one on a truly hard kicking rifle but I find them useful for rifles chambered in .308 on down as cartridges in this range are about the limit of my recoil tolerance without a pad on the buttstock. At 70 years old I no longer feel the need to prove that I can take it.

I’ve tooken it when I In this case we want to shorten the stock by 3/4" so we measure at the middle of the butt, hold the buttplate against the stock, and mark the curve using the buttplate as a guide. was younger and dumber and today I like to shoot without pain. If that makes me a wimp, OK, I’m a wimp. The first step is to determine what length of pull you want and measure from the center of the trigger to the middle of the butt and mark the wood.

I then hold the buttplate over the stock and determine how I want it to look. There is some flexibility Once done, cut each segment off. on how much of a sweep you want from the heel of the stock to the toe. Once you have determined how you want it to look, scribe a line on the stock using the buttplate as a guide. When I’m happy with what I have, I mark it in permanent marker as a guide to cutting the wood.

Far Now we use the rasp to smooth out the wood of the butt. Lay the buttplate on the wood often to see your progress and determine where more wood needs to be removed. The buttplate is nearly in full contact with the stock. Now it is time to fit it to the stock. If you have a band saw you can simply cut the stock using the line as a guide. Leave the stock a little long to allow for fitting of the buttplate.

If you don’t own a bandsaw, the easiest way I have found is to simply make a series of cuts from the butt forward to the line you drew on the stock. I then take a thin bladed saw like a hacksaw and cut each of the segments off using the marked line and the bottom of the cuts as a guide. I then like to bevel the edges from the line in the stock toward the center of the butt so that as I use the rasp to work the wood down, I don’t have as much trouble with the edges chipping.

At first, the end of the stock is going to look like it was attacked by a mad beaver but don’t worry because that is exactly why you left the stock long. With the wood rasp, work the wood down closer to the line until it is smooth enough to start seriously fitting the buttplate. Place the buttplate on the stock and work down the high areas of the wood until you get the steel plate nearly in contact with the wood along its whole length. Now is the time to inlet the spur if your example has one.

I hold the spur down to the heel of the stock and draw the point on the Far Using a smoky candle or inletting fluid on the back of the plate where it will contact the wood is blackens any high spots. Placing the buttplate in the stock, gently tap with a nylon hammer to transfer the black material to the wood where it is in contact.

With the inletting done, scribe a line on the steel using the edge of the stock as your guide. Grind off the excess metal and cold blue the edges. comb using the buttplate as a guide. Blacken the inside of the buttplate that fits up against the wood with Dykem or other inletting black, or hold it over a candle to cover it with soot. The buttplate is then placed down on the stock held in place and tapped lightly with a plastic hammer.

Remove the plate to reveal dark spots on the wood where the plate made contact with it. Carefully remove those spots with a scraper and repeat the process. Try to just remove the blackened area without disturbing the wood alongside it. At first you will want to work only on the top of the stock until you have the spur fully inletted.

Once that is done you can work on the rest of the butt, smoking or blackening the buttplate, pressing it in place, and removing the black spots it leaves Stain the edges of the stock and cold blue the edge of the steel buttplate for a finished look. behind. Continue this process until you have full contact with the wood.

The new buttplate is going to be oversized so I like to attach it to the stock with wood screws and then use a metal scribe to scribe a line around the buttplate everyplace it extends past the stock. I then remove the buttplate and grind it down to the scribed line. You might want to deburr and cold blue the edges before you install the plate. Now you can stand back and admire your work. AG