TargetTalk

I suffer quite a bit of discomfort in my support hand due the cant angle I use and the edge of the 1813 stock digging in. I already use kurt thune hard shell type glove and have the anschutz 4752 hand stop rotated all the way out. I therefore wanted to know if it is legal to add padding to the stock, for both ISSF and uk NSRA (I'm not confident enough to start reprofiling the stock yet!).

thanks
Bryan

I don't know the answer to your question.

You could make a small handblock that is angled/beveled/rounded. Something just a half inch deep. If you have a tall enough handstop it can be used in front of it.

The Gemini hand stop might well solve your problem. It is not cheap but it is cleverly and robustly engineered to give you up to nearly an inch of off-set for the thumb-index finger angle. I like mine very much indeed.

Bryan,

NSRA rules don't prohibit this. So long as the rifle only makes contact with your shoulder, face, and hands, and isn't glued on, then you can build it up as you like. However I think there are better solutions than sticking padding on the rifle, as this would only be addressing the symptom, not the cause.

First off, how old is the glove. Gloves don't last indefinitely, and the padding will compress and become less effective with use. Do you need a new glove? Also have you tried a different make of glove. This isn't to say that Thune gloves are inferior (they are very good), but they aren't the thickest. Perhaps a different brand would be more comfortable for you.

Back to the rifle, 1813 stocks are wide and square up front. Some people really like this, but for others the stock is too wide so the fore-end splays out their hand beyond what is comfortable, and/or is too square and bites the thumb. If this is the case, rounding off the edges to suit your hand size would be a good long term solution. Do this neatly and you won't instantly render the rifle worthless; I have an 1811 stock that was reprofiled by Jim Newby, and it looks as good as it feels. Anyway the rifle is a tool not a collectible investment like an Purdey shotgun, looks should be secondary to function.

As for switching to a Gemini handstop, this could help, but it's not guaranteed. If the current problem is that you hand sits too far under the stock, in order to locate the stop against the V of the thumb, so the edge bits the thumb muscle, then yes the Gemini could alleviate this. It can be rotated further towards the edge of the stock, so your thumb won't sit so far under the stock. However you'd get the same effect by just locating the handstop nearer the knuckle.

Where exactly is the discomfort? Is it the thumb? Is it your hand?

Tim

Hi guys

Thanks for the replies. The kurt thune glove is only a year old so isn't worn out yet, but I agree the padding is quite thin. The pain is in the fleshy bit of the palm below the thumb and is caused by the sharp edge of the stock digging into the edge of this pad. I have managed to relieve it slightly in dry firing at home by actually moving my hand back into the stock and moving the edge to contact further further into the fleshy pad. However as you comment Tim it then puts pressure onto the thumb itself. I did try shooting with a foam pad under the stock today and it did let me shoot for longer.

Cheers
Bryan

Bryan,

I take it that you have a hefty cant, so the stock is almost V shaped and bears on the left hand edge? It's difficult to resolve questions like this over the internet, but it seems to me that your pain is caused by the stock being the wrong shape and the glove being too thin. As I noted above rounding off the edges of the stock should reduce the pressure on your hand, padding will only make the pressure more tolerable. Out of interest does the pain persist if you hold with less cant?

Personally, I would recommend Monard. When I was a sophomore in high school, I got a standard jacket and a starter pair of pants; and they fit great despite being a standard size. From my observations and experience, Monard offers a much better range of standard size adjustments then champion shooters or champions choice; personally I wouldn't recommend their smallbore jackets/pants to anyone; I just haven't been impressed with how they have fit most of the shooters I have seen. Now, I have nothing against Kurt Thune, in fact I am using an older set myself. In my opinion if you are looking for an intermediate pair of standard gear, Monard would be a good bet. I am sure Kurt Thune would be fantastic too, just depends on how much money you want to spend.

Hi

I had the same problem with my 1813 stock.
I ended up making a wedge shaped to my hand. I used epoxy filler and also some polyester body filler.

I first taped up the area on the stock that I was going to mould the wedge on to so it would not permanently stick to the stock.
I moulded the basic shape using epoxy putty then finished off with body filler. I had a plastic bag over my glove and also taped up the hand stop and anything that might get in contact with the filler.
Then removed and sanded down the filler so it looked good. A few coats of paint so it didn't look too bad but you can also buy black fillers that might not need painting.
See the photos of the wedge I have on my current stock. It's a bit worn now and I chose the wrong paint but you can see the idea. As you can see this wedge is bolted to the rail but you can just use double sided tape to hold in place.

Henry