rifle balance point

skeetlee

Active member
I am getting ready to send my barreled action to tom M to have it beaded and to have a pad installed in my mcmillan MBR. i was playing around here in the gun room tapping tubes of lead shot to the rig trying to decide how much weight i needed to send with the stock. Were would everyone agree to be the best balance point to shoot for. I am about 2 inches in front of the action as is. Thats adding 1.8 pounds of lead shot to the butt end. Should i add a little more and try to get right in front of the action for a balance point? The action i have is a small BAT SV so i didnt know if i should go that far back. It feels pretty good as is and weighs about 15.8 pounds. Should i keep it a couple inches in front of the action since the action is small? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks fellas! Lee
 
I'm not sure why the "small action" would enter into it??? You must know something I don't.

In my mind it's about stability, you grab the muzzle and shake it and watch the motion. Watch how the reaction travels and where.... the barrel's connected to the stock near the center. IMO it's important to keep weight distributed on both the front and rear surfaces of this stock as this keeps the connection point most stable. Something right on the chamber seems to be the norm.

al
 
skeet

You must have a fairly light barrel because with most long range guns the barrel is so heavy that you have to put all the weight in the butt just to bring it up to the minimum weight and that's the best you can do.

Your rifle is supported in two places, the front and rear rests, so knowing that the balance point is at some point under the action doesn't really tell you anything. Rather than trying for a balance point set the rifle up with two scales, one under the butt and the other under the foreend. For a 17 pound rifle, if you can get the butt scale up to 7 pounds or so, with the foreend at 10, you'll have a pretty good handling rifle. You'll probably end up with something more like 6 and 11.

JMHO

Ray
 
Thanks for the replies. I am inexperienced with all this thats why i asked. I only have the one scale or i would do exactly like you said. Thats does make some since to me. I dont think i will have any trouble getting the weight up front but to get 11 pounds in the rear will require about 3 or 4 pounds of lead. If i do that the balance will be under the action and maybe even under the rear action tang area?? I will experiment a little. Better yet i think i will tell tom to leave the recoil pad off. I will balance the rifle when it gets back home. We have a fella down the road that does a good job if i can get him off his butt to do it. For some reason i was thinking you needed a rifle to balance at the recoil lug area?? Sorry for the question i just want to get this right! Thanks Lee

My set up is as follows

-Krieger HV 6.5x47L 27"
-BAT SV RB LP
-Mcmillan Tooley MBR
-Soon to be Jewell trigger
-Kick-eez recoil pad
-Weaver 36X ( I will upgrade the scope before long, so i need to keep this in mind when it comes to overall weight)

So yes i am going to be a little on the light side. thanks again! Lee
 
skeet

A 27" HV is probably lighter than most long range barrels but still heavy enough.

You're not after the majority of the weight under the butt, but under the foreend instead. A foreend heavy gun will track better. If you only have one scale you can still do the test. Set the scale under the foreend at the point where the front rest would normally be. Prop up the butt with something at the point where the rear rest will be. You should get a fairly good reading of the foreend weight. Reverse the procedure to get the butt weight. The two weights added should be close to the total rifle weight.

Good Luck

Ray
 
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