Stock with flat forend

[dgeesaman]

I’m contemplating stock options for my next field target rig. One option has a beefy, flat forend about 2.25” wide and with maybe a 1/4” radius on the edges.

I am already shooting an Anschutz 2002 with its boxy forend and it works fine on my Bog shooting sticks (I have a small towel wrapped around the yoke). HFT class.

In my mind this wider flat forend won’t help or hurt as long as it fits on the shooting sticks. But I suspect others have specific experience and might offer legality limitations, if any exist.

 

[shootermeb]

For optimal use, something to consider is the fit to the shooting sticks, like what needs to happen if you are on unlevel terrain and need to rotate the gun to level. Also, having a flat top on the shooting sticks could be beneficial in this case, rather than a cradle, assuming the sticks have a way to pivot the top to solve the leveling issue.

A 2.25 inch flat forend is reasonably common in the precision 3p stocks out there, so it isn't an unusual sizing. You can make it work in a cradle type stick where the corners of the stock kind of bite into the cradle, but there are better ways you could engineer the stick to handle the situation. If you are looking for stick improvements or replacements, the trigger sticks seem to have a quick way to help deal with the leveling issue. You probably want to avoid using something like a HOG saddle for potential rule legality issues.

 

[thane]

Twisting a rifle with flat fore end to correct for cant could cause the rifle to rest more on left or right side when on a flat or yoke support, inducing a shift of POI as the gun rebounds off left or right point.

Round bottom fore ends on supports reduce this variable. One less thing to manage.