Here's a tip for those of you who own a Choate Ultimate Varmint or Ultimate Sniper stock. For the past three seasons, I have been shooting my Savage 110 FLP rifle which I have bolted into a Choate Ultimate Varminter stock for use in my club’s F-class matches. I decided that I wanted to add some additional weight to my stock by filling the hollow cavities in the Choate with Lead shot. It just so happened that I had a bottle of various sized Lead shot in my garage, which I had salvaged from some old shotgun shells.
There are two such cavities on the Choate stock. One is in the pistol grip, and the other behind the recoil pad in the butt. The pistol grip cap is secured with two screws, and I must say I had a devil of a time getting the cover plate off because it is such a good fit. As I filled the stock, I tapped on the sides to settle the shot so I could as much as I could into each of the cavities. I filled them to the point where the shot wouldn't rattle around inside the stock.
Many F-class shooters who use wood or laminated stocks will drill out the butt and forearm area and add Mercury-filled recoil reducers, pieces of Lead, or steel bar stock to add more weight and reduce felt recoil.
While I didn't weigh the stock before and after the addition of the Lead shot, it did add several pounds to my rig which is just fine for this rifle will only be fired from the Prone position and off a sand bag or a rest. The addition of the Lead shot should steady the rifle even further and help dampen felt recoil. While the .308 is no Butt-kicker, firing several boxes of ammunition will have an effect on anyone’s marksmanship whether you think so or not.
According to the NRA rules, an FT-R class rifle may weigh as much as 18.15 pounds including any attachments. A Bi-pod is considered an attachment. So filling the Choate stock with Lead is perfectly legal and well within the scope of fair play.
If you have a Choate stock and you have some Lead shot available why not give it a try. You’ve got nothing to lose. The great thing about this experiment is that you can always remove the shot if you don't like how it performs in your stock. http://www.choatemachinetool.com/
