What to fill hollow butt with.

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Scooter22

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I have a 12ga Stevens 107B SS shotgun with the Tenite plastic stock. I'd like to fill it to make it solid and add a little weight. Mainly to reenforce it against cracking. I don't think expanding foam will do much. I trimmed the barrel to 19" and it's very compact especially when broken in two. Snaps back together in seconds. Thanks for any suggestions.
 
I havent got any??

If you fill it with anything permanent like epoxy & foam beads or something, you would never be able to get the stock off the action again because the stock bolt would be buried under the filler.

Maybe be able to lay some fiberglas cloth into the sides if you can get into it to do it??

rc
 
Hey RC. I was going to use something like plastic/ PVC pipe to keep a channel open to the stock bolt. Unfortunately the butt plate looks to be glued to the stock. Theres a quarter size screw plug to access the stock bolt. Another plus on a solid fill is it will give something for a swivel stud to bite into. I basicly shortened it to make a 'truck" gun that could be stowed away with a box of shells. I'm on the road daily for work and may be anywhere from sketchy urban(not NYC or it's borughs) to middle of nowhere. With whats going on these days I thought it might be prudent to have a little insurance. Plus being in NY state limits me on options. So a SS shotgun isn't breaking rules or screaming nut job like my home defence one would if in the back seat of my vehicle.
 
well just a thought , put your pvc pipe to protect your stock bolt( be sure it is good and tight before you do anything,) then fill the void up with bondo--the stuff that is used to patch fenders etc. it is a form of fiberglass and is tough and dense. you my be able to pry the butt plate off or cut it off and add a nicer butt plate you get it filled with bondo or whatever you use.

Back in the day about 40 yrs ago my uncle had a springfield/ montgomery ward 16ga SXS with a tenite stock. it got loose or broke and he had an old time gunsmith make him a wood replacement stock!! it was very nice, don't remember how much it cost but it was cheap compared to what that would cost in todays market!!

Good Luck

Bull
 
Had a buddy about 20 years ago with a .300 Weatherby (Rem 700) & a hollow stock that was quite uncomfortable to shoot.

A combination of 3/8"-16 steel all thread and great stuff expanding foam sure made it more recoil friendly. It's still in service AFAIK.
 
If you're cutting the gun down for compactness, chances are you wouldn't miss an inch or so off the length of the butt.

Cut the buttplate off so you can get into the back end. Very carefully fit a piece of pvc pipe into the butt so you can leave a channel for the stock bolt. Very carefully. Fit it tight and file it so it scribes in and then use something like PVC cement to attach and seal it to the interior sides of the stock so it doesn't leak in around the bolt hole when you fill the stock cavity.

Fill the remaining void with epoxy mixed with filler. DO a very little bit at a time. Epoxy gets very hot as it cures, if there's more than a few tablespoons together in one spot. Maybe you could do a 1/4 cup at a time but be careful! You could use sawdust for filler, or even carve wood chunks that fit into the space decently and epoxy those in.

Once you've got it filled with whatever, cut and sand the new solid butt flat and fit a Decellerator or similar grint-to-fit recoil pad. You can drill and screw right to the epoxy/filler/wood chunks.

A pal of mine's gunsmith did this when he built his 14" Benelli SBS.
 
In my experience, your Tenite stock will break. Why not just replace it with a Boyd's wood stock for less than $100? Those stocks are very plain wood but well done and they fit the actions well.
 
Didn't know a replacement was available. Thanks for the link. I'll keep that in mind if it breaks. The gun and stock are in excellent shape and haven't been abused. But old plastic is probably brittle. I've fired it before several times and it wasn't pleasant. I doubt it weighs 5 or so pounds. I just want to reinforce the old stock. As I said it's going to be used as a "truck" gun if I ever need it. Hopefully I never will and it will have less than a box of 00 Buck through it in my lifetime.;)
 
Just a guess, but why wouldn't shot work? If you filled it tight it wouldn't rattle around. You could change the weight by the size of shot. Maybe even lead round bullets. Then you could remove it any time you wanted
 
Truth be told, by the time you've bought the epoxy and a new butt pad, you're probably a long way toward the price of that replacement stock. What's the time investment worth?
 
That much Loose lead shot would tend to try to stay in place during recoil.
And expand outward trying to get out of confinement.

It would probably split the sides of the plastic stock in no time at all.

Because it would act as a Non-compressable hydronic fluid inside the stock.

And that much lead shot would weigh more then the gun does.

rc
 
Geez this has turned into a project. I think I'll leave it as is and if it breaks I'll get a new wood one. Meanwhile I'll keep a lazy eye open for a old used wood stock if one pops up. My luck I'll run a couple rounds of 00 buck through it and have it shatter. Thanks all for the replies.
 
my next reply would have been "hey, if it's a last resort gun, who cares about recoil and if the stock breaks!" But making a new stock with 40 lpi checkering and using rare Icelandic palm tree wood really is the best option here.

But I'll save that comment for later
 
I don't like to rain on parades, but before assuming that a single shot shotgun will by OK to have in a car, better check the hunting and game laws. I have known folks who checked the criminal laws on having a gun in the car/truck, but fell afoul of hunting laws intended to ban poaching and jacklighting.

Jim
 
Use a PVC pipe, like suggested around the bolt with a release agent (grease or heavily oiled would be fine) and fill it with silicone calk
 
Would you care to guess how many months it would take for a butt load of silicone calk to completely cure inside a plastic stock????

Or maybe years?

Once the surface at the open butt seals over?

No more curing can, or will take place with the rest of it deep inside the stock!

rc
 
Scooter22 said:
What to fill hollow butt with.

I have a 12ga Stevens 107B SS shotgun with the Tenite plastic stock. I'd like to fill it to make it solid and add a little weight. Mainly to reenforce it against cracking. I don't think expanding foam will do much. I trimmed the barrel to 19" and it's very compact especially when broken in two. Snaps back together in seconds. Thanks for any suggestions.
Click to expand...

Dear Lord...I haven't spewed tea out my nose like this in a long time! Man, that didn't feel good! And now I've got to clean my keyboard and monitor!

I swear, skimming down the New Posts, right after your "What to fill hollow butt with" was "recommend me a grease".

:neener:


If I had a plastic stock and I wanted to do what you're wanting to do, I'd probably consider filling it with an epoxy compound. Either any commercially available conventional epoxy or what they call in the electronics world an "epoxy potting compound".

An epoxy potting compound is a low-viscosity epoxy that's used to fill in the body of certain electrical connectors after the wiring is connected to the pins.

Epoxy potting compounds can be expensive, but you don't have to pay out the nose if you look around. You can buy epoxy potting compounds fairly cheaply at a website like mouser:

http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=epoxy+potting

Mouser has epoxy potting compounds in 12 ounce sizes for the low 30 dollar range. When you consider how much it would cost you to buy the equivalent amount of epoxy by smaller tubes at your local Walmart or Lowes, it's probably a bit cheaper.

An epoxy potting compound would be very good for pouring into the stock because of it's low viscosity. It pours very easily and will fill cracks and voids much easier.


A few things here:

You've probably not mixed epoxy in large amounts...probably only small dabs for various projects. When mixing larger amounts there are two things you need to be concerned with:

1. You need to make sure you mix the epoxy components very well. Don't skimp on this. If you don't mix the epoxy thoroughly, it'll never set properly and you'll have a mess to clean up.

2. Epoxy doesn't "dry"...it "sets" as the result of a chemical reaction when you mix the hardener into. This chemical reaction generates heat. Mixing a large amount of epoxy can generate enough heat to feel very uncomfortable. It probably won't be enough to melt the plastic stock, but you should still be careful.

3. I said epoxy potting compounds are low-viscosity. And I mean THIN. If there are cracks or holes in the stock, you want them sealed or the epoxy will run right out those areas. Mask off or plug as required.

4. Mix a sample batch to see how well it turns out. Most working life for potting compounds is about an hour at 70F. As you get close to that time, the epoxy will rapidly start to set. So mix a batch in a small paper cup for several minutes. (During one critical electronic connector job, I mixed the potting compound for 15 minutes to ensure it was thoroughly mixed, then monitored it to see how long it took to set so I'd know what the working time was. I'd suggest you do this, too.)


NOW, all that said...have you considered simply buying a replacement stock? They're not that expensive. The epoxy you will need will likely run you a minimum of $40, depending on where you source it and how much you need. A new wood stock will run you $65 at a site like this:

http://www.boydsgunstocks.com/ProductDetail/4D2711815117
 
I recently filled in the hollow plastic buttstock of a Mossberg 500 using Gorilla glue and lead shot. I:

1) inserted a pvc pipe to preserve access to the bolt that connects the stock to the action,
2) stuffed fabric (rolled up and heavily compressed) into the forward part of buttstock,
3) put in some glue, sprinkled a little water to get the glue to expand and cure, and sprinkled lead shot into the glue.

The final product was heavier, very solid, and durable. Even though I left space between the rear surface of the glue and the buttpad, that glue/shot mixture never moved at all, even during a four-day shotgun class with hundreds of rounds of shot, buckshot, and slugs going through the gun.

Hint: figure out how much heavier you want the stock to be, and pre-weigh the components that you're going to use. I got the stock a little too heavy...and had a really hard time removing any of that glue after it set up. Better to start light and add glue/shot, than the reverse.
 
Geez this has turned into a project. I think I'll leave it as is and if it breaks I'll get a new wood one. Meanwhile I'll keep a lazy eye open for a old used wood stock if one pops up. My luck I'll run a couple rounds of 00 buck through it and have it shatter. Thanks all for the replies.
Click to expand...

Yep, could cause an injury if it breaks while firing it. Or it could break when you actually need it to work. What's the point of having a gun if it breaks when you need it.

Spend the $65 on a nice wood stock and be done with it.
 
My daddy had a model 12 Winchester 20 ga that he filled the butt with no.6 shot. I was able to shoot it after age 6. Matter of fact the shot is still in the butt and I'm 72,gives the gun balance.
 
Do not...

use lead shot. Over time, it corrodes and the oxide expands - it WILL crack the stock (guess how I know?).
Steel BBs are fairly cheap and would be a better choice.

PRD1 - mhb - Mike
 
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