Ruger American Stock Mod

[Big_wals]

Finally decided to do something about the green Tupperware my American Predator came with. I wanted a more vertical grip, and have never liked how flexible the forend was. Plus, I have big hands and its too slim for me. I also wanted to add a little weight as this is mainly for shooting at the bench and doing a little coyote hunting in the winter.
The first order of business was getting rid of all the webbing, and then jb welding two carbon arrow shafts in to add some stiffness. The gap in the front is a space to bolt on a short pic rail for a bipod when im done. The nuts will then also get covered in jb weld. I also stuck a short shaft on each side to help stiffen and fill in that groove.



Roughed up and ready for bondo. I bought the stuff with 1/2 inch fiberglass strands in it. I have heard mixed results about using bondo on plastic stocks, but a friend of mine did a similar project with this stuff 5 or 6 years ago and its still going strong. Stuck a bunch of screws in for insurance.

Three coats of bondo later...

Kind of hard to see how the forend is coming out in the pics, I wanted something wider and more of a flat bottom for shooting off sandbags. The factory profile was too round for my liking. That's all I had time to do today, hopefully next weekend I can get another coat or two of bondo on and finish shaping. Haven't quite decided what I'll do for paint yet, probably sponge some on just need to decide on colors. I'll keep this updated as more progress is made.

 

[BLJ]

Looking forward to seeing it done. I ended up cutting the pistol grip off on mine and adding a piece of wood for my vertical grip. Then finishing with Bondo. I like where you are going with it.

 

[Big_wals]

Current state. I've been working on it in the evenings, got it shaped and painted with black primer. It'll probably stay this way for a while until I decide how to ultimately paint it. For anyone else thinking about a similar project, use fiberglass bondo to get it close and then regular smooth bondo to finish.You'll have to fill dozens of pinholes if all you use is the fiberglass stuff. Dont ask how I know.

 

[BLJ]

Nice work. Any idea on the weight as it sits?

 

[Big_wals]

No, haven't weighed it. I'll throw it on a scale tonight

 

[Big_wals]

Nice work. Any idea on the weight as it sits?

Stock with hardware, and complete rifle(not assembled) without magazine

 

[BLJ]

That didn’t add as much weight as I thought Looks good.

 

[Loper]

That didn’t add as much weight as I thought Looks good.

I was thinking the same thing.

I’ve been doing a bit of work on my stock. Rather than adding material to it though, I’ve been sanding down the texturing on the pistol grip and forend. Im doing it primarily from an aesthetic standpoint.

 

[Big_wals]

Finished for now. I still need to fill the stock with something, probably great stuff. And I also plan on bolting a short pic rail to the forend for throwing a bipod on.

 

[BLJ]

Paint looks good. I’m assuming a sponge? Color scheme works too.

An ARCA rail may be something else to consider for your bipod attachment. I’ve come to prefer them to picatinny rail for attachments. No notches to get hung up on and a little wider for more stability. I’d say that an ARCA rail would match the contour of the forearm very well. They offer a lot of different lengths.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07D4CGK7R/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=A5T1ODKE7KFWL&psc=1

And I use this clamp,

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B085C9V582/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=AST9DIMYBFQ3A&psc=1

IMO of course.

 

[brian_]

Looks great. I did a bondo job on my ruger american rimfire stock and wondered how it would hold up - three years later with quite a bit of use and it's still holding up well.

 

[OverInfinite]

I would highly recommend not doing the great stuff trick. I tried it on my ruger american and it didn't hardly make a difference. On a howa hogue l stuffed it full of cardboard pieces and got it about 90% full. When I filled it completely it went back to a plastic-y sound, but when I left a little out it sounded way more dead.

 

[longrange13]

Huge improvement! hard to believe that was a factory take off.