In front of the magwell. Weight in the forend would help! Not a 10-22 but I added a heavy ARCA rail

 

Thanks. I'll put some weight in the fore end and see how it feels.

 

In PRS and NRL they usually go 3 or 4 inches after the mag well. This is for when they put the rifle on a bag it is balanced, so you don't have to balance it.

 

As mentioned, many want the weight forward of the magwell. The farther forward the balance point is, the more stable the rifle will be and the less your movement will affect your point of aim. Of course, the farther forward you want to be, the more weight you have to add. Forward of the magwell is pretty much the best compromise between stability, comfort and weight. You also have to consider whether your gonna be shooting unsupported.

If shooting unsupported too, then the farther out you go, the more you're gonna feel it.

Personally, I'm small and have short arms. If I was running a rifle with a flush mag, I might consider having the balance point right at the mag. I'm running a CZ 457 now, so I have my balance point so that having the rifle on a bag doesn't interfere with mag changes.

When you go to balancing, do it without the bipod. You're not gonna want to be running a bipod when shooting a stage. It's just something else to get hung up when you're trying to stick the muzzle through some sort of opening.

If you decide to add weight to the stock, I've found that routing the fore end out and filling it with a sludge of epoxy and tungsten powder to work well.

 

Thanks for the insights. I added duct seal mixed with lead in the fore end but it didn't give me enough change in COG. And adding a rail is problematic due to the way the support ribs are placed in the fore end. I'm going to put a chassis on it that's more appropriate for this style of shooting.

 

What chassis are you thinking of going with out of curiosity? I have an Oryx which I really like, but it's still doesn't balance out as well as I'd like. If I'd thought about it more I'd probably have picked something with M-Lok slots to add weights out front. As it is I could attach some to the bottom of the rail, but I'd have to get a shorter Arca rail. I've been toying with the idea of getting some tungsten weights to slap in the barrel channel.

 

Be careful with a thumbhole stock if the course of fire in whatever precision series you are shooting might sometimes have you shooting non-dominant side. That cheekpiece and thumbhole do not look very lefty friendly.

 

What chassis are you thinking of going with out of curiosity? I have an Oryx which I really like, but it's still doesn't balance out as well as I'd like. If I'd thought about it more I'd probably have picked something with M-Lok slots to add weights out front. As it is I could attach some to the bottom of the rail, but I'd have to get a shorter Arca rail. I've been toying with the idea of getting some tungsten weights to slap in the barrel channel.

TBD. I'm leaning towards the KRG Bravo or the Oryx. The LOP on both is a concern that can be fixed by throwing money at them. Or I could go with a Victor Titan and buy more ammo.

If needed, I can put on an Area 419 Arca rail that has the capability to add a pound of tungsten weights. I'll have to see how the balance is for whatever I wind up with to see if I need more weight. The gun has a pretty heavy barrel, so if I can shed some weight on the butt with a new stock/chassis it might be good enough with just a rail.

Be careful with a thumbhole stock if the course of fire in whatever precision series you are shooting might sometimes have you shooting non-dominant side. That cheekpiece and thumbhole do not look very lefty friendly.

I hadn't thought of that, but the silo stock is pretty much not shootable from weak side. An even better reason to change. Also, if I went with the Victor Titan I was thinking of putting a Matthews adjustable cheek riser on it, but then I would have big knobs sticking in my face shooting weak side (and nobody wants big knobs in their face, trust me).

 

TBD. I'm leaning towards the KRG Bravo or the Oryx. The LOP on both is a concern that can be fixed by throwing money at them. Or I could go with a Victor Titan and buy more ammo.

If needed, I can put on an Area 419 Arca rail that has the capability to add a pound of tungsten weights. I'll have to see how the balance is for whatever I wind up with to see if I need more weight. The gun has a pretty heavy barrel, so if I can shed some weight on the butt with a new stock/chassis it might be good enough with just a rail.

So I just did a quick test on my Oryx (I have a 20 inch Kidd Bull Barrel that's decently heavy). Even after removing my rear bag rider the rifle needs another 2.3 lbs at the end of the chassis to balance right in front of the "barricade stop" (green arrow). My scope weights 30oz and everything else is pretty standard 10/22 stuff. Currently it balances at the red arrow. I have an Arca Bag/Barricade stop that mounts between the red and green arrows so I've been trying to get it to balance just in front of that. I do have the Area 419 weight tunable ARCA rail for the CZ so might try slapping it on the Oryx. The only issue might be the slope on the Oryx front end that requires the special MDT rail or bending a normal rail. While that's doable with a thin rail, the thick weight tunable one I doubt will bend to the contour. That could work in your favor though as it'll stick out like 6 inches lol.

The KRG Bravo does have the extra side M-Lok slots at the front, but I believe the forend is a bit shorter. However it is a couple lbs lighter so it might balance out more easily.

 

Great info. I was trying to talk myself into the Oryx because it looks more "PRS" but I think the MLOK slots and flat fore end on the Bravo might be better for adding weight, especially since I generally run about 14.5" LOP. Interestingly, the Bravo has a LOP spacer kit for $41 or a tool-less LOP extender kit for $51. That looks like $10 well spent. Weight for the extender is 4.2 ounces, so weight is probably similar to adding 5 or 6 spacers.

Adding the LOP tool-less extension kit and the KRG arca rail brings the total to the same as the Oryx with no LOP extensions or rail.

 

Great info. I was trying to talk myself into the Oryx because it looks more "PRS" but I think the MLOK slots and flat fore end on the Bravo might be better for adding weight, especially since I generally run about 14.5" LOP. Interestingly, the Bravo has a LOP spacer kit for $41 or a tool-less LOP extender kit for $51. That looks like $10 well spent. Weight for the extender is 4.2 ounces, so weight is probably similar to adding 5 or 6 spacers.

Adding the LOP tool-less extension kit and the KRG arca rail brings the total to the same as the Oryx with no LOP extensions or rail.

I totally feel you there. I got the Oryx because I like MDT and I thought it looked cool. I am happy with it, I just wish it had a few more features that would allow it to balance out. I was trying to figure out a way to balance it out more, but in needing almost 2 lbs up front I don't know if that'll be possible. Maybe by creating a spigot to extend the forend more it might work, but not sure how I'd go about doing that without some customization that's past my abilities with the tools I have.

Speaking of Spigots, the KRG Bravo also has the available spigot that adds 4.8oz to the front for the standard and 11oz for the XL. That's some nice weight where you might end up not needing much more on the M-Lok slots. Overall it sounds like the KRG is the better option for what you're trying to do. If I'd known that when I started my build I might have gone that direction. Maybe I'll change it up at one point but we'll see.

 

Yeah, I was eyeballing the spigot. The small spigot with the heavy KRG Arca rail is 1.5 pounds. I think adding 1.5 pounds to a light stock would be more impactful than adding similar weight to the heavier Oryx. But since I don't own either one, I'm talking a little bit out of my behind. But that might be a good reason for going with a lighter stock, you can add the weight where you want it.

 

I would say your assumptions are fair. I'm sure between the weighted Arac rail and Spigot you'd have a very nice balancing rifle. I didn't balance weigh the bare chassis on my Oryx, but I do remember is was a bit butt heavy. Also, needing 2+ lbs to balance mine out tells me you're pretty spot on. You still have things like an NV bridge you could add before even looking at weights. So either way, I think you have a solid plan at this point.

 

I have an ORYX that balances very well with an 18" KIDD heavy barrel. I made molds for the ORYX fore end channels and then poured lead to fill. The weights are held in place with screws through MLok slot and original front sling stud hole. Added well over 2 lbs, then made mold for fore end side weights. Rifle weighs 15 lbs. Added side weights to get same balance without bipod as was with just internal weights.

 

I bet it's pretty stable. I would have to make some lifestyle choices to compete with a 15 pound gun.

 

I'm pushing 73 yrs old.

15 lbs not that much, most of the custom bolt guns weigh 20-23 lbs.

When I shot service rifle my AR weighed 23 lbs, and my M1A 22 lbs. It's more about balance than weight.

But an advantage to t the heavier 10/22 that was noticed is that shooting it with less than perfect holds on barricades, the weight helps with functioning. Holds the rifle solid for the action to function perfectly. I can set the rifle on a bench with bipod, and with no other contact than the trigger, run full mags without any malfunctions just as fast as you can pull the trigger.

I may jinx myself with this next statement, but since weighting I haven't had any malfunctions of any type shooting this rifle, not that I had many before. Most I had previous was due to hitting the mag release on bags on certain props, dropping the mag. To me the added weight is a worthwhile benefit.