Anybody here get this one?

[Ed Blake]

Originally Posted by Brian Stucker

What are the upper limits of a stock bend? What could the drop be realistically reduced to before a re-stock is needed?

My preference is a 2.5" drop at the heel; a full inch is probably too much correction for a bend. Oh, and once bent, will it hold, or is there some 'relaxation' after a duck season in damp weather?

From what little I know about it, the amount of bend depends on the type of wood. American Black Walnut does not bend as much as English walnut. I know a guy who has a very nice British hammer gun (I forget the name) that had about 3.5" of drop. His stock man bent it up almost 2". He said when he put the heat on the wrist it was like a noodle and in his experience the English walnut bends nicely. This same stock man has bent a couple Parker stocks for me that were American black walnut. The most he could get out of one was about 7/8", but that did the trick.