AR-15 Cheek Riser on Savage 116 Weather Warrior

[ivanjunge]

I ended up putting a Leupold 4.5x14x50 scope on my new Savage Weather Warrior 116. I used Leupold Medium Tactical Rings for mounting the scope. This was plenty of clearance, perhaps even too much. I ended up with 1/8" of clearance between the bottom of the 50mm objective lens and the barrel.

I needed a cheek riser. Yeah, a tactical stock would be cool... and expensive. And I didn't want to drill any holes in my new stock. I pulled the 1" cheek riser attachment off my AR-15 stock and set it on top of the Savage stock. It fit pretty well and the rise was close to what I needed but too much. I did some testing with paper towels and found out that I wanted my cheek to be lifted 3/4".

I jumped online and got a Magpul CTR Cheek Riser 3/4" Size 3 - Black. I like to buy local (for me). The fit was pretty good. But the inner cavity of this one was hollow. I decided to give the Devcon plastic epoxy a try and form it to fit the stock. I'm really happy with the result.

stock riser

stock riser

stock riser

I ground off the tabs that were on the back of the stock with a Dremel because they were pinching the stock too much. The front ones actually held the riser centered on the stock

ground off tab

clogged up my metal grinding stone with plastic gunk

loaded up a 1/8" bit in the Dremel

I didn't plan on covering the entire cavity so I drilled out some holes in the cavities I was planning on using so the epoxy could grab onto them.

Scuffed up the plastic for the adhesive to grab it better.

Wrapped the stock in plastic wrap to keep it from glueing the riser to the stock. I want this to be removable.

Fully wrapped stock - taped in place.

Got my Devcon epoxy. I only ended up needing two of these.

Cleaned up the plastic with some rubbing alcohol

The unmixed epoxy

The mixed epoxy

1.25 packs of epoxy filled up most of the cavity

1.75 packs of epoxy filled up the rest of the cavity

Fit the cheek riser on the stock. My hands were covered in epoxy. A rag and some rubbing alcohol took off the mess.

Strapped it tight with a belt.

Decided to wrap it tightly with some packing tape instead.

After 24hrs. I removed the riser.

Scuffed up the epoxy with some fine sandpaper.

I opted for U Glu as my semi-permant adhesive. I got it off eBay. I think automotive double-sided foam tape would have been another good choice.

Peeled the backing off the U Glu.

Lined up the riser and pressed it firmly into place. I did a test pull. It's on there really good. It doesn't budge.

You can see that the width of the tape lifted up the whole riser some. I anticipated this and am OK with it. I think it will be helpful if I need to pry it off at some point.

Back view.

Side view. It works perfectly! I like to cram my cheek into the stock pretty firmly. This lines my eye up in the exact position.

Ready to go.

Success.

 

[ivanjunge]

UPDATE:

I realized that I didn't have enough clearance to remove the bolt. I decided to move it back some and add some extra Devcon. I'm having fun with this stuff. It came off pretty well with a hard, steady pull.

I removed some of the weight by putting some holes in the epoxy.

Since most of the pressure from my cheek will be at the front of this piece now I added some epoxy under the front. I also added some under the plastic tabs so it took out all the left-right play. I scored the epoxy many times with an exacto knife to hopefully add some more surface area for the adhesive tape. I don't know if it will help or not. I also colored the epoxy black with a Sharpie marker. It's not perfect but it works.

All finished