Shortening LOP on a Browning Hells Canyon LR...

ofbandg said:

I shorten all my stocks to somewhere between 12.5 and 13 and I'm a six footer, or at least I was before old age shrunk me. I think most factory stocks are too long, and other hunters always seem surprised how my rifles fit them better than their own. As far as shortening synthetic stocks goes I cut them rough within a quarter inch and use a table mounted belt sander to take them to the final length. This lets me keep them square and level for a better fit. I fill the empty stock with spray foam and epoxy a piece of wood in the last three quarter inch to hold the pad screws. It's better to do this before the belt sander finishing so all is flush. It's important to maintain the original pitch. I have found many people seem to want to cut at right angles to the bore and that is not the best.

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Philward said:

My hunting partner is 5'2" and he has 2 of these rifles and has cut the stock on both, once by the GS, and the second he did himself. I'm not sure you can get replacement stocks from Browning. I tried to talk him into a youth model rifle or at least a compact one or a women's one like a Camilus from WBY.

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Campo said:

I measured my LOP over the course of several hours. With a t-shirt and the 90 degree angle in the arm method, I was 1" short of the nearest point in the trigger. With my hunting clothes on, including a jacket and layers, I was almost 1 3/4" short of the trigger. So, I "happied" it out to cutting at 1 3/8", which I have not done yet.

I have three different kick-eez pads coming at 1/2, 5/8 and 3/4. They are all the same size and have the same holt spacing, so I will be able to play around and add length back if I need it. With it being a 7mm RM, I am a little worrried about recoil, but I am also installing one of the new Browning breaks, so I am going to guess that will help with the recoil.

Regarding the cut, I think I am going to use a hacksaw and a fresh blade, as I have heard horror stories about the chop saw blade melting the compound instead of cutting it. That said, I am not at all opposed to it, and will likely make a jig anyway just to see and to enjoy some more tinker time.

Regarding the pilot holes, the one on top will have to go higher than the original one, which will pull the lower one up a bit (but not too much) and avoid splitting the stock.

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Rflshootr said:

Yes. The screw holes won't line up for the original pad because of the toe angle. I did a Savage and had to fit and epoxy a piece of hardwood inside and put new screw holes in the proper location. I made a 4 sided wood box (no top, no bottom) to clamp to the fence on my chop saw, then skimmed the side facing the blade to ensure squareness, so that the original butt surface can be held square and level, the cheek piece toward the fence, then put a couple of shims under the rest of the stock to steady it while I cut it off. Once you cut through, let the blade stop before retracting it.

Why so short? Measure twice, cut once and don't forget about the thickness of the pad that was previously installed and the one to be mounted.

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ofbandg said:

The belt sander I use has it's own built in stand with a backing plate. It uses a four inch wide belt and I generally use around a 100 grit. Watch out which butt pad you are using because you have cut off the widest part of the butt so the pad will need to be shortened and some of them have metal washers around the original screw holes. It's really disappointing to grind the toe of the pad down to fit and expose the metal. The old A-bolt Brownings had a step down pad that was a misery to adapt because it had to fit so perfectly. I have never done the model you are using but it seems to be flush. It may sound strange but if I am doing one of my own rifles and it's a hard kicking caliber I will actually leave the pad flared slightly from the stock out to give me maximum surface area to distribute the recoil, but this is just a personal preference.

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Campo said:

I am retrofitting my Browning HC LR (discountinued model) and an planning to cut 1 3/8" off the stock to make the LOP right at 12" with a 1/2" recoil pad.

Looking at the cut line (left vertical line) and the pilot holes for the recoil pad (horizontal lines), does anyone see any issues? The bottom pilot hole will be drilled at a slightly steeper angle than the plotted line.

Rear sling stud will be moved forward as well.

Welcome all thoughts!

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Victor3Ranger1 said:

I would love to shorten the LOP on my Hells Canyon 7mag

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Varmint Hunter said:

If you have the McMillan stock, you can send it to them to be shortened.

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