Attempt at DIY Cheek Pad

[MrSpiffy]

I've been annoyed at my Savage MKII, because the stock provides such a poor cheek weld when using a scope. I've looked at cheek pads, but don't want to spend the cash right now. So I thought I'd see what I could whip together on my own.

I think I may have used a sewing machine once, maybe in middle school. Sewing isn't really considered "manly", so I've avoided it. Plus, it's really not very fun, if you don't know what you're doing. I had some fun times with rats' nests of thread from time to time. But here's what I came up with... it's not awesome compared to what you can buy, but it should do the job. And it sure looks nicer than some foam secured with duct tape!

I started by finding an approximate shape for the stock of my rifle and cutting that out of my cloth.



I then decided to double up on the cloth, to ensure it would be long-lasting and wouldn't have issues with the thread pulling through the cloth, if I really tighten it up. I used a different cloth for this, as it's all I had available. Hence the gray on the underside.



Then I stitched up the outside, making some hems along the edges to make it look a little better, and to help with durability. I don't want the cloth to fray more than necessary. (The loops are on the wrong side here... I actually pulled them off and reattached them to the opposite side. There was no room for the velcro on the other side because of how the pad would sit.)



I then found some closed-cell foam and used three layers to make the pad portion of my project. I made a pouch for it, using the same double-layered technique I showed above. Shoved the foam into it. And then hemmed it over. I then attached that to the wrap, along with some webbing and velcro.



And here it is on my Savage MKII. It bunches a bit between the straps. But it should hold just fine. And I can remove it for use on other rifles, if I want to. Now I just need to test it at the range.







Any input is welcome! Any thoughts? Comments? Questions? And if anyone has any plans to make their own, I'd love to see them. I couldn't find much to work with, so I had to just wing it. I'd love to have an actual plan to work with next time I want one of these.

 

[Cal-gun Fan]

Looks great!

 

[madcratebuilder]

If you add a strap that would go around the end of the butt it well help with the bunching.

Like this.

 

[MrSpiffy]

That's an excellent suggestion, madcratebuilder! I'll see if I can work that into the design.

 

[helotaxi]

Rip the stitching on the straps and take them off. Wrap the cuff around the stock where you want it and secure it with a piece of duct tape. Align your straps so they are straight and lay flat and mark where they need to go. If you look at your last picture, you can see that the buckle on the front strap is pulled at an odd angle and the strap is bunched down in one end of it. That is the cause of your bunching. You might find that moving the buckle piece farther up on the side will help a bit as well.

You might want to stitch or glue a piece of suede or neoprene on the cheekpiece. I've got a feeling that Cordura will get uncomfortable.

Overall a nice design that's pretty well executed for the first attempt. Best part is that it's all yours and no one else has one like it.

 

[BCRider]

At my club we run a Jr .22 night for the kids. We're using the Savage Mk I FVT single shot with peep sights. Even as adults we find that we need to use a "jaw weld" instead of a cheek weld to get our eye up even with the raised peep sight.

The current plan is to make some raised up cheek rests. But instead of a padded one like yours I'm going to get some 1/8 Kydex and cut it out to a cheek pad shape and heat mold it directly over the existing stock's comb and cheek area. We'll then use some counter sunk screws and tubular spacers to tune the height along with a lower fixing screw in a sloted hole to allow some tuning. Obviously this involves modifications that you may not want to do to your rifle's stock what with the holes drilled in it. But since the stocks are not really doing the job now anything is going to be better than what we've got.

 

[MrSpiffy]

helotaxi, thanks for the suggestions! If I'm feeling ambitious (which I'm not, at the moment, since it took me 5-6 hours to figure the first iteration out), maybe I'll fix the angle of the straps. I noticed it, too. I just didn't have the energy to pull it all off again. But, as an engineer, I tend to attempt perfection. So, I may just give it a whirl, anyway.

BCRider, I looked at Kydex cheek rests, but I have two issues with them. First, I don't want to modify my stock, useless as it is. For some reason it just bothers me to drill holes in it. And second, I'm not a huge fan of the look of these Kydex rests. They work well, but I don't think they look good. But that's just personal opinion. Plenty of people use them. Good luck with the junior nights! I'm sure they love them.

 

[henschman]

Another problem with kydex rests is that they make the cheek piece wider than the stock. That sometimes pushes your face out to the side so that your eye isn't aligned with the sights. I like your setup... I might try something similar with my M1A.

How steady is it? Does it flop sideways any when you rest your head on it?

 

[Clayne_b]

Here are 2 that my neighbor and i came up with, I screwed mine to my stock, he made his tighter and uses a block of wood under it to get the desired position, abs sheet, put in oven, becomes flexible, cooled off it is super stiff and hard.

 

[helotaxi]

Gantry mount? Otherwise, I hope that huge block under the scope serves some fantastic purpose cause it creates some AMAZING ergonomic problems.

 

[MrSpiffy]

henschman, the mount is sturdy enough for my .22LR. But if I had something with substantially more recoil, I would want to add some kind of anti-slip mechanism between the pad and the stock. Maybe some mousepad or other rubber to give it some grip to resist sliding under recoil. I may add that type of thing eventually. But I'll try it out and see how it performs, first.

 

[Clayne_b]

helotaxi Yes

 

[snakeman]

y'all would have a lot better cheek weld if you just lowered the scope a bit

 

[Clayne_b]

Yeah MrSpiffy lower your scope....

 

[MrSpiffy]

Yeah MrSpiffy lower your scope....

Had to read that twice before I saw the blatant sarcasm...

Yeah, I don't think I can really lower my scope any more than I have. Snakeman, if you do a little searching, you'll find nearly everyone with one of these Savage rimfires has issues getting a cheek weld with a scope.

 

[Clayne_b]

I have had 4 savages with the same stock as you and i agree... and yes i was giving you a hard time. no worries

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Geeze I wish I had some photos of our M-21s & M-24s with field dressings plastered on the stocks with 100 mile an hour tape! There's your DIY check rest on an SF budget.

 

[snakeman]

oh sorry i wasn't talking to you mrspiffy I was talking to the ones with 3" between their scope and barrel

 

[Clayne_b]

Hey now 3" makes a lot of difference...

 

[Bobson]

Looks great, and functional. IMO, sewing is an invaluable skill to learn, and comes in handy pretty often in regards to "outdoorsman" uses. I'm glad I learned how to sew properly years ago. Quality and longevity between a properly sewn item and a slipshod job is extreme. Doing it by hand takes longer, but IMO, is well worth the time investment.

Adding the rear strap as mentioned by madcratebuilder is a great idea.

 

[MrSpiffy]

Thanks, Bobson! I have to agree about the sewing skills. While most men regard it as "unmanly" and want nothing to do with it, sewing seems to be something I may just use periodically to make some accessories/tools for my shooting outings. I'm happy I gave it a shot! And I learned a bunch in the process, too.

snakeman, no worries.

Clayne_b, since snakeman pointed it out, why'd you decide to go with scopes mounted so high above the barrels on those rifles? It looks like you had enough room on the scopes to mount them fine without raising it up like that. I would imagine they have something a bit lower. Or you could've used taller rings. Is the idea more for adjusting the scope to fit your eye relief?

 

[Clayne_b]

the base is adjustable... up to 110 moa, 5 set points. just in the base. we use them for shooting longer ranges with the .22lr. If i was just shooting 25-150 yards the scope would be mounted as low as possible

 

[MrSpiffy]

That makes sense. Probably similar to what someone would use for long-range target shooting.

 

[Elkins45]

A 1" wide piece of nylon webbing strap could be used to make a good anchor to attach to the sling stud. Melt a hole in the middle with a hot nail and slip it over the stud then reattach the sling swivel. You can then attach the ends to your cheek piece however you want. The sling stud will give you side to side stability.

 

[MrSpiffy]

That's a great idea! Thanks!