Okay, so for a while I've had a scoped No4 Mk.1* Lee Enfield. Because it was wartime production, the sights leave much to be desired, thus the scope. The problem with going that route however was that any kind of a cheek weld became impossible. I tried a lace-on cheek piece and it didn't raise the comb nearly high enough and it kept sliding around. Well, I revisited this rifle today with a trick that I learned carrying sniper rifles in the Marines and I thought some people on here may find it useful.
Here's what you'll need:
1. Foam, specifically, Isopor mat (used in foam sleeping mats). They are sold at WAL-Mart for like $8. If you already have a foam sleeping pad, you may consider just cutting a uniform strip from the end. This type of foam has just the right amount of give to it and it's easy to work with.
2. Duct tape. If you don't already have this on hand, well, I'm not sure what to tell you other than to go get some immediately.
3. Vetrap (Vet-wrap). This is a product made by 3M and costs $2.50 a roll at Atwoods. It's intended for use as bandage wrapping for large animals. Other wraps may work fine too, but the important feature here is that it has a somewhat clothy texture and adheres only to itself. Vetrap is particularly good for reasons I'll address later. I did both the cheek piece (which is pretty dang tall) and the butt-pad with a single roll, but I didn't have much to spare.
I only took photos while doing the butt-pad, but the cheek riser is arguably the easier thing to make.
First, cut off sections of foam roughly the size of your existing butt-pad. From there, you can cut the pieces with scissors to match the exact shape, but don't worry about getting it perfect.
Now, stack the sections on the plate. Make sure you've forced your screws in through the foam first so that you're not guessing at it later while you're trying to put it back on the gun. This is where you're going to tape the crap out of them to ensure that they become essentially one solid extension of the butt-pad. The pic below is just of me starting it, you'll want to cover the entire thing with tape. Also, pay attention to how you tension the tape in order to get a uniform shape. This is why your foam doesn't need to be perfectly shaped, you'll just squish it with tension into the proper form.
Now, once you've gotten it all taped up, you can begin going over the tape with the Vetrap. Make sure to cover all surfaces and look to make sure you have enough layers that you won't see the duct tape through the Vetrap. Make sure you pull it TIGHT! Also, try to hide any edges that you can on the underside of the butt-pad so that you won't see them when it's screwed back on the gun. The nice thing about the Vetrap is that any folds or seams can simply be smoothed out by hand and blended to an extent. If you end up having visible lines just smooth them out with your fingers and they will blend to the rest of the wrap.
After you're done you can go ahead and mount your new extended butt-pad, and use another layer of Vetrap to cover the screw holes.
The cheek riser is done the same way, by cutting rectangles of foam and stacking them, then taping them very tightly to the stock. You'll then wrap this all up with Vetrap. The result is a sturdy, soft-feeling cheek pad that won't slide around. For this rifle, not only does my pad extend the LOP and allow me to get decent eye-relief in the prone, but it also serves as a recoil pad and the texture of the Vetrap helps the stock stay in my shoulder whereas the metal plate would just slide around.
For the price of materials, you can't do it better than this. If done properly this is a very durable setup. I made one of these for my M110 SASS and carried it all round Afghanistan with nary a problem, as did many others. One thing to be aware of when building these is to make sure your charging handle doesn't bump into it in the case of AR platforms, and that you have sufficient room to cycle or remove your bolt for bolt action platforms.
I hope this has been informative. I've gotten a lot from this community and I like to contribute back to it whenever I can.
Here's what you'll need:
1. Foam, specifically, Isopor mat (used in foam sleeping mats). They are sold at WAL-Mart for like $8. If you already have a foam sleeping pad, you may consider just cutting a uniform strip from the end. This type of foam has just the right amount of give to it and it's easy to work with.
2. Duct tape. If you don't already have this on hand, well, I'm not sure what to tell you other than to go get some immediately.
3. Vetrap (Vet-wrap). This is a product made by 3M and costs $2.50 a roll at Atwoods. It's intended for use as bandage wrapping for large animals. Other wraps may work fine too, but the important feature here is that it has a somewhat clothy texture and adheres only to itself. Vetrap is particularly good for reasons I'll address later. I did both the cheek piece (which is pretty dang tall) and the butt-pad with a single roll, but I didn't have much to spare.
I only took photos while doing the butt-pad, but the cheek riser is arguably the easier thing to make.
First, cut off sections of foam roughly the size of your existing butt-pad. From there, you can cut the pieces with scissors to match the exact shape, but don't worry about getting it perfect.
Now, stack the sections on the plate. Make sure you've forced your screws in through the foam first so that you're not guessing at it later while you're trying to put it back on the gun. This is where you're going to tape the crap out of them to ensure that they become essentially one solid extension of the butt-pad. The pic below is just of me starting it, you'll want to cover the entire thing with tape. Also, pay attention to how you tension the tape in order to get a uniform shape. This is why your foam doesn't need to be perfectly shaped, you'll just squish it with tension into the proper form.
Now, once you've gotten it all taped up, you can begin going over the tape with the Vetrap. Make sure to cover all surfaces and look to make sure you have enough layers that you won't see the duct tape through the Vetrap. Make sure you pull it TIGHT! Also, try to hide any edges that you can on the underside of the butt-pad so that you won't see them when it's screwed back on the gun. The nice thing about the Vetrap is that any folds or seams can simply be smoothed out by hand and blended to an extent. If you end up having visible lines just smooth them out with your fingers and they will blend to the rest of the wrap.
After you're done you can go ahead and mount your new extended butt-pad, and use another layer of Vetrap to cover the screw holes.
The cheek riser is done the same way, by cutting rectangles of foam and stacking them, then taping them very tightly to the stock. You'll then wrap this all up with Vetrap. The result is a sturdy, soft-feeling cheek pad that won't slide around. For this rifle, not only does my pad extend the LOP and allow me to get decent eye-relief in the prone, but it also serves as a recoil pad and the texture of the Vetrap helps the stock stay in my shoulder whereas the metal plate would just slide around.
For the price of materials, you can't do it better than this. If done properly this is a very durable setup. I made one of these for my M110 SASS and carried it all round Afghanistan with nary a problem, as did many others. One thing to be aware of when building these is to make sure your charging handle doesn't bump into it in the case of AR platforms, and that you have sufficient room to cycle or remove your bolt for bolt action platforms.
I hope this has been informative. I've gotten a lot from this community and I like to contribute back to it whenever I can.
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