I thought I'd share how I recently solved a swivel stud installation problem. Perhaps others will find this helpful.
Installing swivel studs on a stock is a fairly straight forward task. But a synthetic stock that is hollow presents a challenge. That's because a swivel stud should be installed into a solid anchor point that will provide enough material for the stud to "bite". Too little "bite" and over time the stud risks working it's way out and probably ruining the hole it was screwed into.
I purchased a 10/22 recently with a synthetic stock and no factory installed swivels. I could tell that the stock on the butt-end was hollow and knew that would be a problem with a standard swivel stud install. There are various solutions that can be found online, but I puzzled out my "own" approach. (I doubt I thought of this first, but I couldn't find any previous examples.)
I took a trip to the local Ace Hardware store and found a "well nut" that had the same thread pattern and size as the swivel stud I already possessed (i.e. 10-32). A well nut is part rubber and part metal, where the metal component is threaded. When a screw is threaded into the well nut and tightened, the rubber expands from the compression. The expansion part of this is the key.
The procedure:
1.) Drill hole into butt-stock. In this case, 3/8" hole was needed.
2.) Insert well nut into 3/8" hole.
3.) Thread swivel stud into well nut and tighten carefully. It doesn't need to be tightened very much before expansion of the well nut is sufficient to hold the stud firmly in place. Note: I also used a steel washer so that the well nut would not deform under compression from the swivel stud.
4.) Attach swivel and enjoy.
BTW, for those curious, the butt stock "shell" at the installation point is ~1/4" thick.
Nice fix.
I have struggled with that problem. always thinking about prying the butt pad off and sticking some threaded wood or aluminum in the hollow butt to hold the stud.
Then rejecting the idea because it would look like a hack job.
Quote from: Ames on September 25, 2018, 09:40:51 PM
I thought I'd share how I recently solved a swivel stud installation problem. Perhaps others will find this helpful.
Installing swivel studs on a stock is a fairly straight forward task. But a synthetic stock that is hollow presents a challenge. That's because a swivel stud should be installed into a solid anchor point that will provide enough material for the stud to "bite". Too little "bite" and over time the stud risks working it's way out and probably ruining the hole it was screwed into.
I purchased a 10/22 recently with a synthetic stock and no factory installed swivels. I could tell that the stock on the butt-end was hollow and knew that would be a problem with a standard swivel stud install. There are various solutions that can be found online, but I puzzled out my "own" approach. (I doubt I thought of this first, but I couldn't find any previous examples.)
I took a trip to the local Ace Hardware store and found a "well nut" that had the same thread pattern and size as the swivel stud I already possessed (i.e. 10-32). A well nut is part rubber and part metal, where the metal component is threaded. When a screw is threaded into the well nut and tightened, the rubber expands from the compression. The expansion part of this is the key.
The procedure:
1.) Drill hole into butt-stock. In this case, 3/8" hole was needed.
2.) Insert well nut into 3/8" hole.
3.) Thread swivel stud into well nut and tighten carefully. It doesn't need to be tightened very much before expansion of the well nut is sufficient to hold the stud firmly in place. Note: I also used a steel washer so that the well nut would not deform under compression from the swivel stud.
4.) Attach swivel and enjoy.
BTW, for those curious, the butt stock "shell" at the installation point is ~1/4" thick.
Neat idea!
O0
This is a great fix for most types of synthetic stocks - although I'd like to mention, just in case anyone is considering it, you should not do this on a USGI surplus fiberglass M14 stock, as these have been known to split along the center glue line if enough seperating force is applied.
Just need a washer and JB weld.
Drill hole insert screw.Add a little JB weld around hole extend to a bit over diameter of washer.. Add washer and a little JB weld to thread. Add Nut and JB weld to cover all.
Cheap and never going anywhere.
2cl
After a field test, I discovered you'll get much better results using a 1" length well nut rather than a 1/2" length one. That's because the one-incher extends into the stock further (obviously) which allows more room for expansion behind the hole. The swivel stud pictured in the original post is just long enough to thread into the brass barrel. When adding a washer, you may have to start the swivel stud into the well nut before inserting into hole.