Cutting a cavity into a rifle/shotgun stock to store items?

[RMP91]

I know the AK series rifles (The ones with the solid wood/plastic buttstocks) have hollowed out cavities to store cleaning tools and even a spare magazine.

How hard would it be to, say, cut a cavity into the buttstock of a 870 or 590 shotgun or M1A rifle to store small items such as cleaning tools and a small magazine (or a few emergency shells).

What would be the practicality of it?

What is the legality of it?

[Merc1138]

There is no legal problem. The AR A1 and A2 stocks also have compartments for cleaning kits. The speedfeed stocks have been around for shotguns for a while now, and the purpose of those is to store extra shells in the stock.

[RMP91]

There is no legal problem. The AR A1 and A2 stocks also have compartments for cleaning kits. The speedfeed stocks have been around for shotguns for a while now, and the purpose of those is to store extra shells in the stock.

But, from what I've seen, they only store them on the outside of the stock. I am thinking of cutting out a hollow cavity inside the buttstock itself, kind of like making a false bottom to the inside of the stock.

[SocomM4]

Do it. There have been cheap stock kits on the WTS sections to practice on.
Keep us informed.

[MasterYong]

Plenty of guns come fro the manufacturer that way.

GO FOR IT. It'll be a fun project.

My M1A has such a compartment.

[slick_711]

Most shotguns have a hollow stock as it is, so it'd just be a matter of fabricating some type of cover or hatch door for the opening you cut.

[thenodnarb]

Are you thinking of hollowing out a compartment in the side or the end of the stock? I suppose if it were wood I'd use a plunge router and a jig, and make a door out of the same type of wood.

[Alan Block]

Example



This would be pretty classy

[RMP91]

Are you thinking of hollowing out a compartment in the side or the end of the stock? I suppose if it were wood I'd use a plunge router and a jig, and make a door out of the same type of wood.

I was talking about actually carving out the inside of the buttstock itself. Not on the side, not on the top, but under the buttplate and actually carving out all the wood or plastic inside and turn the buttstock into it's own carrying compartment.

[RMP91]

Basically like this:






This one is more of what I'm talking about:

[Merc1138]

But, from what I've seen, they only store them on the outside of the stock. I am thinking of cutting out a hollow cavity inside the buttstock itself, kind of like making a false bottom to the inside of the stock.

You didn't get the point.

The AR, AK, and plenty of other guns came with storage in the butt of the stock as a basic feature. Yes, you can do it yourself and there is no legal problem.

[RMP91]

You didn't get the point.

The AR, AK, and plenty of other guns came with storage in the butt of the stock as a basic feature. Yes, you can do it yourself and there is no legal problem.

Oh I see. Sorry for the confusion, the pics above should clarify what I'm talking about.

[Databyter]

But, from what I've seen, they only store them on the outside of the stock. I am thinking of cutting out a hollow cavity inside the buttstock itself, kind of like making a false bottom to the inside of the stock.

It's a great idea. Just keep in mind the balance of the gun and try to carve out about the weight you intend to put in or it will change the feel of the gun slightly.

A pilot hole with a sharp pilot drill followed by the appraopriate sized wood drill should do this nicely. And you can even large thread the wood or make some sort of half twist tightner to put a plug into unless you want a flat plate or a hinge there.

Pics!

[RMP91]

Turns out that a lot of new shotguns and rifles have this feature by default! Guess I just have to look for the right one.... Maybe an M1A Scout Squad and M870 Police will do?

[Merc1138]

Turns out that a lot of new shotguns and rifles have this feature by default! Guess I just have to look for the right one.... Maybe an M1A Scout Squad and M870 Police will do?

Yeah, most(definitely not all, a lot of the semi-custom stuff like manners/mcmillan/etc won't have this) synthetic stocks these days are basically hollow so all you need to do is secure the butt-plate in a way that's removable(or just carry the appropriate screwdriver). A lot of people take advantage of that(or just drill the needed holes into wood stocks) to fill with lead bbs and epoxy(so the bbs don't rattle around) or mercury filled tubes to help reduce felt recoil instead of using it for storage.