Stock shaping tips/suggestions?

[John_from_Sudbury]

Hi everyone,

I am a proud new owner of one of Mr. Russo's fine laminate A5-L stocks (thanks again!!) and I was wondering if some of you knowledgable shooters could give me some input on this. The barreled action and stock are being glass bedded by a guy I know from my local area with gunsmithing experience and he is going to help me make some minor modifications to the shape of the stock. He says the grip area needs to be customized to fit my hand for a relaxed grip, with my finger on the trigger at the first joint. He wants to slim down the pistol grip itself on the sides and remove some material from the dip where the thumb goes over the top. Before we do anything I wanted to see what you guys had to say about shaping it. Are there any good rules or methods for determining the best shape to fit someone or is this a matter of comfort type thing with no hard-and-fast rules?
Any input I can get before the wood chips start to fly would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks!!
-John
(Mines the one on the bottom)

 

[Chas1]

I'd think Joel would be able to provide some tips/advice. Just curious why didn't you have Joel do the fitting?

 

[Joel Russo]

I'd think Joel would be able to provide some tips/advice. Just curious why didn't you have Joel do the fitting?

John lives in Norther Ontario and I live in the states. I wish He was closer so I could have shaped it to his hand.

My suggestion would be to remove a little wood at a time using a half round bastard file until you get the desired feel. Then follow with the usual sanding regime to remove the file marks. It's all what your hand likes. Slimming the grip on the sides is no problem, but removing more material in the tang area or the "neck" may compromise the structural integrity of the stock. Your stock has a 3 way adjustable recoil system that adds weight to the butt, the last thing you want to do is weaken the "fulcrum area".

 

[John_from_Sudbury]

Thanks for the tips Mr. Russo. I don't think we would be taking a whole lot of material off. My brother in law has been working on his (he wanted to do everything himself) and he didn't take much off at all and it seems fine (comfortable) to me. I would have just done that too but this gunsmith aquintance of mine seemed to have a very particular idea about how my hand should rest on the grip. I figured there may be some accepted guidlines along the same lines as the methods for determining your "proper" length of pull. I can tell you that the amount of material removed would be ALOT less than some of the pictures I've seen online, like the one below. For the tang area I think I didn't explain too well what he had in mind. He is more or less talking about slightly concaving the left side edge, where the 'saddle' or dipped part of the grip levels off with the tang. Anyway this is all a great learning experience for me and I'm quite enjoying the process despite my extreme impatience to get the **** thing finished and out shooting!!
Thanks again!

(below is a stock I saw on the internet with alot of material removed - mine won't be that thin at the grip)

 

[Joel Russo]

You should be fine John.
I need to send you the instructions on the recoil system. Somehow they never made it into the box with the stocks.

 

[Buffalobob]

The primary thing that I worry about is where my finger winds up. I have a Mac A5 and my finger resides very close to the bottom of the trigger. I have an XP factory stock and my finger actually has to bend up to get into the trigger guard.

When I finished my Russo Thumbhole I worked every thing off of my trigger finger such that it goes to the trigger at the proper place automatically.

 

[Chas1]

Wow, that is alot of material taken out of that stock...wonder why.

 

[sniperjwt]

Thanks for the tips Mr. Russo. I don't think we would be taking a whole lot of material off. My brother in law has been working on his (he wanted to do everything himself) and he didn't take much off at all and it seems fine (comfortable) to me. I would have just done that too but this gunsmith aquintance of mine seemed to have a very particular idea about how my hand should rest on the grip. I figured there may be some accepted guidlines along the same lines as the methods for determining your "proper" length of pull. I can tell you that the amount of material removed would be ALOT less than some of the pictures I've seen online, like the one below. For the tang area I think I didn't explain too well what he had in mind. He is more or less talking about slightly concaving the left side edge, where the 'saddle' or dipped part of the grip levels off with the tang. Anyway this is all a great learning experience for me and I'm quite enjoying the process despite my extreme impatience to get the **** thing finished and out shooting!!
Thanks again!

(below is a stock I saw on the internet with alot of material removed - mine won't be that thin at the grip)

wow that is thin.... wonder if it has been reinforced somehow

 

[Chas1]

Wow, that is alot of material removed. Wonder why.

 

[John_from_Sudbury]

Thanks for the input everyone, I think Buffalo Bob's method of basing everything on the trigger sounds like what my freind is going for. I'm hoping we'll finish up today or tomorrow so I can bring it home with me on Friday. Last time I was at the shop I okayed some other modification ideas he had like 'ramping' the loading port cut-out so I'm eager to see how things have turned out. I'll try to get some pictures.

 

[John_from_Sudbury]

You should be fine John.
I need to send you the instructions on the recoil system. Somehow they never made it into the box with the stocks.

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