I shortened the pull yesterday on a .410 Stoeger Uplander, that I won at a S x S shoot recently, for my grandson. I then fitted a thin hard red buttpad. After determining how much to cut off I set some dividers to that measurement and scribed the line to follow around the butt. I sawed it off using a hacksaw and a fine tooth blade and it turned out very well, requiring very little "sanding flat". Only problem was that on the off side the wood splintered off the surface in tiny splinters from the blade pushing through on the cut. The wood in that gun is very soft, doesn't appear to be walnut. If I had wrapped the area to be cut with masking tape would it have prevented this splintering, or was I just using the wrong kind of saw?

Stan

I always tape 'em and use a power mitre box with a really sharp carbide blade. It takes a little jigging and fixturing to get the stock in square, but, it makes for a clean cut.
You could try the same with the same gun, just taking a sliver off the cut stock to clean up the cut.

Best,
Ted

I agree with Ted here. If you don't tape around the cut line you'll probably get splinters. I use an ancient Millers Falls hand miter box to do this with some adjustment and clamping. Taping is also necessary when fitting a pad or you'll ding the stock.
BTW: I use Gorilla tape. This is really tough stuff.
Jim

I have both a miter (chop) and table saw. The table saw with a sled is much better than a chop saw. Tape is a very good idea.

bill

I use a radial arm saw and try to go slow and steady. I shim up the butt the way I want it and clamp it to the table. Always wrap it with tape. I use Scotch electrical tape, wrapped very tightly. Mike Orlen's suggestion is to cut it about 1/16" or so, longer than you want it and then feather cut the last bit, to reduce the likelihood of splintering or chipping. Cleaning up the last bit on a belt sander accomplishes the same thing. Some of today's plastic finishes like to take out little chunks in spite of good preparation.

I am about to embark on the same task for my Grand Son - Stan where did you get a hard thin red rubber pad ? I believe that one off of a old Ruger Rifle would be ideal, but I haven't located it yet.

To prevent the wood from splintering, how about making a very light 1/8" cut all of the way around the stock first ?

You can usually prevent splintering, even with plastic finishes, by scoring your scribe line with a fresh razor blade or X-Acto or surgical knife. Just cut through the first layer of wood fibers and be careful not to veer off your scribe line. This works better than just tape.

Replacement, that makes alot of sense, much better than making a light cut with a saw.

I like replacements idea as well. I think I'll try this the next time.
Jim

Hey I just did it on a power mitre saw, scribing it with an exacto-knive, no tearouts ! Worked great !

Good deal.

Your blade must be very sharp and have lots of teeth too. I use a Freud 80 tooth carbide trim blade and masking tape. I like the idea of scribing first with a razor or x-acto knife, especially on the off side of the cut. You want to slice the wood fibers, not rip them out.

If you use a table saw as I do, it helps to make a sled that rides in the mitre guage slot. Then you can shim and lightly clamp the stock to get a square cut at the exact pitch you desire.

Power saw blades must have no runout in order to get a clean cut. Years back, a buddy bought a used radial arm saw that splintered every cut, even with good new blades. We found that the previous owner must have allowed the saw to slam into the table when he loosened it to adjust the angle. The motor shaft was bent at the blade end which gave a slight wobble at the cutting edge. It was only about .015" as I recall, but was enough to cause tearout. Fine for framing, but useless for finish work.

I made a sled for a bansaw. I found that the bansaw blade is not as thick as a table saw and you can go really slow to cut along the taped line.For me there is more control. I made my sled with four adjustable stops to cut any size stock. If anyone would like to see some Pictures let me know.

Regards, Gordon

Gordon, I sure would like to see the pictures of your sled.

One more tip regarding the splintering prevention: When you remove the tape, don't pull it off at right angles to the stock, pull it off in line with the comb, as if you were pulling the stock off, straight to the rear. (hope this makes sense)

I also use a 14tpi blade on an old Milwaukee Delta bandsaw. No tearout of long grain or finish, slight ragout at bottom of cut which, if you cut 1/16 off scribe, can easily be faired or "shot" with the best abrasive plane of all--3x24 belts (80 or 100 grt)on a sanding block. Walnut is pretty soft after all. Don't really need a sled but I do stick a couple of blocks of wood or a wedge to one face of stock with 2S tape to protect and jack the cut line up to vertical. I have 10" radial arm, 12" chop, a 10" Unisaw, a Langdon Acme mitre box, 36 yrs. of experience in the woodbotching trades, all my digits, and I don't shorten finished stocks on any of these.

jack

Makes complete sense. If you remove the tape to the rear and there are any loose splinters they'll likely stay attached and you can glue them back down without a trace.
Jim

Thanks all. Some good ideas here. I especially like the idea of scoring the scribed line with a sharp blade to cut through the surface grain. I've cut other buttstocks this same way and never encountered this problem, but always with dense walnut. Thanks to all.

postoak, I used a Uncle Mike's red rubber rifle pad, which had a black hard base. Looks good on there. The reason I stayed away from the nicer pads like the Decelerators, etc. is that they have a metal insert that prevents grinding away large amounts around the periphery. This pad had no insert, the black base is it's support. By the time I cut the stock down enough to end up with a 12 1/2" pull the base of the butt was pretty small, which required grinding away a lot of pad. Turned out great, though.

Here's the pay-off. This afternoon I took Jackson out to the field with the new gun, and the old Comet r/c trap. I let him get the feel of holding it awhile at shoulder, then let him dry fire a bit to get the feel of the triggers (which aren't great). I then hung some clays on some tree limbs and let him break them from about 15 yards, stationary. Then I loaded up the trap for the real deal. I told him to premount the gun on clay birds until he gets better at mounting, showed him a couple of clays in the air, pushed off the safety and told him to keep his finger out of the trigger guard until he saw the clay. When the first bird left the trap he crunched it about 25 yds. out. I was beside myself! He didn't fully realize what he had done, and though he missed the next several nothing will take away the memory of seeing his first clay bird shot at break with that new gun. I'll never forget it, I know that. After a short session we called it quits for the day. Being old enough to have a grandson has it's benefits!!

Grandpa Stan

Buff on a coat of wd40 ,before you tape off, at least two thickness ,and you wont pull up splinters.
Plus of course a " mitre" saw blade fine tooth,and you rock it back and forth before you break out the bottom[hardly no down pressure,just the weight of the saw]

look

Stan: This is what it's all about in the "Grandpa" arena. I have four grandchildren and have had the pleasure of introducing two to shooting at my club. They have to be at least 8 years old so I have two more to go. I know were wandering off subject here but the most important legacy IMO we can leave is to introduce the younguns to the positive side of firearms ownership.
Jim

He asked could he take the little .410 S x S home with him, but I said "No, not yet. We need to leave it here for a while longer". As soon as he is handling it well enough to suit me I'll move him to a 20 gauge. Maybe a couple of seasons. from now. The little gun will be there for his little brother, who is five, and their first cousin, my other grandson, who is six.

Thanks again for the ideas on the buttstock sawing.

Stan

Keith uses exactly the blade that has done sterling work for me for years, a 10" Freud wih 80 SHARP carbide teeth, in my compound mitre saw. Once I have the stock taped and squared up, I clamp it tightly to the saw table to ensure no movement during the cutting process.