Shortening/Re-Lengthing wood long-gun stocks for kid...then adult use.

For years my family used the same method on a couple shotguns, one of which was an A.H. Fox.

Chuck R. said:

one of which was an A.H. Fox.

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Picher said:

It's especially important to fit shotgun and centerfire stocks to kids, but doing it so they can be re-lengthened easily is also a concern.
The attached photos show how I did it for a couple of "Topper" shotguns. Drilling holes before the cutting, including countersinking for 3" long framing hex-head screws proved to be a good way of getting things aligned properly when the kids outgrow the short stocks.

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Good job! Sad how for so many folks doing things like that aren't even considered, "just buy a new one!"

someguy2800 said:

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Yup, back in those days it was viewed as a tool. All of us kids (5) including my dad learned how to shoot and hunted with that gun. On the bright side it came into the family just after WWI in trade for a couple bushels of scallops.....These are a couple of bad pictures of what it looks like now after a Doug Turnbull restoration and upgrade:





After 70 + years in and out of saltwater duck marshes and chasing woodcock & grouse, it needed it.

We’re kids for a short time, adults for a long time. I hate the look of the seam in the middle of a nice wood stock, and THAT is the condition they’d be used the longest, so I’m happy to buy cheap stocks to cut down for childhood use, then replace the full length stock when they’re grown. If you start shooting at 5 and are big enough at 15 to use a full stock, it really sucks to spend the next 60 years looking at that ugly seam your dad cut into your stock just to save a couple bucks.

Boyd’s stocks are cheap enough, it’s really a non-contributor in financial consideration. $100-150 for a stock they’ll use for a handful of years, no more than 10 years for most folks’ kids. Even better, take off stocks are around for most major models, often for $50-75.

Or, you could go the route I went with my son, and order a Manners Compact stock, which has adjustable LOP from 9-14”, with exceptional quality. He might want a new stock someday for the aesthetic, but it won’t be better, only different.

The seam is less even if you use a saw blade with a fat kerf. But generally speaking, I wouldn't bother trying to re-lengthen. I've cut down a cheap birchwood stock on a rimfire rifle, but I just sold it to another person with a young kid when we were done with it.

When I buy a rifle or shotgun for my kids, I look if there is an inexpensive factory stock I can buy or if Boyds inlets for that gun. Presently, my kids are using a Boyd's At-One adjustable rifle stock. It's ugly and somewhat heavy, but it wasn't costly and it can be adjusted for a perfect fit even as they grow and the fit changes. With CNC machine inletting, they can produce a stock like the At-One for just about any bolt-action in their catalog of patterns.

I want to get shotguns for the kids in the next couple years. Right now, Boyd's is making At-One stocks for the 500 and 870, but I hope they expand to include some gas semi-auto 20 ga.'s that are softer for kids. Since the actions and barrels don't just drop in, but attach, it's a little more complicated to tool up to produce a pattern.

The other option is to just buy a cheap factory synthetic or hardwood stock and cut it down. I check the manufacturer's parts site and Brownell's for availability. When the kids outgrow the cut-down stock, then I'll put the original back on.

Another option is to hit the auction sites and find stocks that someone else damaged or shortened.
They're usually pretty cheap.

I buy a lot of take-off factory stocks on eBay. Dirt cheap usually. Either as pattern stocks, short LOP stocks, changing looks, practicing checkering, whatever... lots of them around, $50-100 usually for common manufacturers.