Sporterising a Trap stock

[Scully]

May be buying back a Winchester 8500 Trap I sold to my nephew. Is there a lot of work involved ‘sporterising’ the stock? Is it a case of shaving the comb, bending through the grip, or what? 

I see quite a lot of rib with this gun ( which isn’t a problem when shooting trap ) but I struggled with it constantly on a sporting lay out. I like to shoot very flat, with very little if any rib in view. Cheers

[Gordon R]

It might be worth having the comb made adjustable. I have done a few and the cutting of the moveable piece removes a slice of wood in the process. With the comb set at the lowest, the comb is always lower than before any cut was made.

[Scully]

That’s a cracking idea Gordon R, hadn’t considered that. Many thanks. 

Where would you advise I get the work done?

Edited September 2, 2018 by Scully

[Gunman]

Not a problem any competent stocker , finisher or general gunsmith should be able to do it .

You will have a B-----d gun that is neither one thing or another which will affect any potential re-sale value .

If you are going to have it done then book a session with a stock fitter and have it done properly . 

 

Edited September 2, 2018 by Gunman

[Scully]

Just now, Gunman said:

Not a problem any competent stocker , finisher or general gunsmith should be able to do it .

You will have a B-----d gun that is neither one thing or another which will affect any potential re-sale value .

If you are going to have it done then book a session with a stock fitter and have it done properly . 

And many thanks to you also Gunman. I have no idea what work would be entailed, but I’m not really bothered about resale value as I’m getting the gun for peanuts. 

Maybe an adjustable stock would improve its value, I don’t know? 

[Paul1440]

As said. Have it made adjustable. Just lowering it may not necessarily work and will adversely affect it's value. 

[Gordon R]

Adjustable stocks normally increase value.

[Scully]

Many thanks all for your contributions. 

Edited September 2, 2018 by Scully
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[welshwarrior]

Adjustable stock may indeed add value but the comb won’t be lower so will still need shaving down or bending if too high. 

[Westward]

Just a thought but lots of people, myself included, can shoot a trap gun at least as well as a sporter and in some cases better.

[welshwarrior]

On 02/09/2018 at 21:43, Westward said:

Just a thought but lots of people, myself included, can shoot a trap gun at least as well as a sporter and in some cases better.

But in his original post he points out he doesn’t shoot this trap gun well at sporting as he sees to much rib. 

[Salopian]

Scully ,

 Contact Simon the Gunsmith at Doveridge shooting ground , a specialist to the trade for fitting adjustable combs .

If you cut the comb , just the width of the blade will obviously result in a lower comb height ?

[johnphilip]

There is another way , get an Isis fully adjustable gun pad they are around 80 quid . Then you could tweek it to suit yourself . It requires some grinding on a belt sander to fit . I have done two . One for the wife and one for my pals wife . They are very nice to adjust once fitted . That way , in the futher if you wanted to sell the gun , the next person could tweek it to suit themselves .

[Scully]

On 02/09/2018 at 21:43, Westward said:

Just a thought but lots of people, myself included, can shoot a trap gun at least as well as a sporter and in some cases better.

But I can’t, as Welshwarrior points out, Im seeing far too much rib. I initially bought it thinking I could ‘compensate’ for it, but I can’t. I don’t want to have to think about each shot I take, but thanks again all, for the advice. 

[Westward]

2 hours ago, Scully said:

But I can’t, as Welshwarrior points out, Im seeing far too much rib. I initially bought it thinking I could ‘compensate’ for it, but I can’t. I don’t want to have to think about each shot I take, but thanks again all, for the advice. 

My mistake, I did read the post but that bit slipped through the ever widening cracks in my brain. I can though cope with a high stock gun because as long as the rib is below the line of sight it doesn't seem to matter how much rib is visible.

[Scully]

No problem, at all. I sold it to my nephew who could clatter all manner of things with it, but not me. It’s too nice a gun to let go completely so I need to do some work on it if I’m to keep it. 

[Hamster]

One thing that is often overlooked with Trap v Sporter stocks is that it's not just the comb that is higher but the whole stock itself if that makes sense, if you look at a typical sporting guns stock they invariably have something of a downward rake meaning the butt sits lower in the shoulder, Trap guns on the other hand almost always have a more parallel profile, I personally prefer Trap set ups not only for the higher sight picture but also the fact the butt is higher and the recoil doesn't force/slide it out of my shoulder on tower shots. 

[Scully]

Tried the gun on a pattern plate today up at the farm, before trying it on some clays. Must say the patterns are pretty impressively tight ( full and extra full ) and very evenly spread around the point of aim rather than 60/40 or whatever, as I was expecting. Will give it a season on everything ( not pheasants ) before I make any adjustments. Cant wait to try it in the hide.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

27 minutes ago, Scully said:

Tried the gun on a pattern plate today up at the farm, before trying it on some clays. Must say the patterns are pretty impressively tight ( full and extra full ) and very evenly spread around the point of aim rather than 60/40 or whatever, as I was expecting. Will give it a season on everything ( not pheasants ) before I make any adjustments. Cant wait to try it in the hide.

That sounds like a damned good plan!

[Hamster]

3 hours ago, Scully said:

Tried the gun on a pattern plate today up at the farm, before trying it on some clays. Must say the patterns are pretty impressively tight ( full and extra full ) and very evenly spread around the point of aim rather than 60/40 or whatever, as I was expecting. Will give it a season on everything ( not pheasants ) before I make any adjustments. Cant wait to try it in the hide.

That doesn't surprise me, in my experience very few Trap guns truly throw high as most appear to assume they will. The reason you may not have got on too well with it is (apart from the chokes being too tight) almost certainly to do with its weight distribution or barrel weight to be more precise. Some people get on with barrel heavy guns but most gel better with lighter barrels and it's possible that compared to your favourite gun this particular gun has either too heavy or maybe even too light a barrel weight. 

It'd be interesting if you could check the weights and balance points. 

[Scully]

I don’t think the chokes are a problem, I much prefer tight chokes. 

[Hamster]

1 minute ago, Scully said:

I don’t think the chokes are a problem, I much prefer tight chokes. 

I prefer tightish chokes too but trust me really tight ones such as you're describing will cost you birds, people often say things like I never miss a bird because of my "tight or open" choke but we do. 

It's the barrel weight, and thus weight distribution that I think may be the culprit here, at least you now know the comb in itself is not throwing high. 

[Scully]

11 minutes ago, Hamster said:

I prefer tightish chokes too but trust me really tight ones such as you're describing will cost you birds, people often say things like I never miss a bird because of my "tight or open" choke but we do. 

It's the barrel weight, and thus weight distribution that I think may be the culprit here, at least you now know the comb in itself is not throwing high. 

Tight chokes may cost me clays but not live quarry; I use Full all the time for hide shooting. I can't say I hit everything, but trust me, I don't miss much. Weight distribution may be a factor, but its something I have time to work on, but now I know where its printing I feel much more confident with it.