DIY Cheek Piece

w0rks2much · August 10, 2014

Hi folks,

I would just like to share with you a great DIY result I’ve had today.

A long time ago I bought a Karsten Cheek Piece and its brilliant; still use it to this day.

So when I bought another rifle that was in need of a cheek piece, I thought I would have a go at making one.

Five minutes on Amazon and I’d bought a 3mm kydex A4 sheet and two bolts with square ends under the bolt head and plastic enclosed nuts.

I made a paper template just to get the shape right, it had to fit the line of the stock but also not interfere with my trigger hand and have a cut away to allow removal of the bolt.

Once the template was done I transferred the outline onto the kydex sheet with a marker pen. I used a jigsaw to cut the rough shape out of the sheet (I should get two per sheet).

I covered the stock with masking tape to protect it a little then placed the flat kydex sheet in place on the stock. Unfortunately the hair dryer wasn’t man enough to soften the sheet so off I went to the garage in search of the heat gun. After a few minutes of moderate heat at approx 4” (keep the gun moving), the sheet softened and formed around the stock.

In to the fridge for a few minutes to harden and the cheek piece was taking shape.

Unfortunately the profile wasn’t quite in line and parallel, luckily I’d cut the rough shape approx 2mm oversize so I gently worked the profile (both sides together) over the belt sander until each side was parallel. A light hand sanding to ease the edges was also needed.

Next step was to mark out the holes for drilling, simply place the CP on the stock and try it out for positioning and eye relief, once satisfied I marked the top holes with a marker pen. I estimated the length of the adjustment channel as 3cm and marked it.

Time to drill the bolt holes......I fitted the cheek piece over a strip of wood that I had laying around and drilled the first hole, I must have checked the alignment at least 5 times before I took the plunge and drilled the first holes straight through both sides.

After this worked it was simple to drill the other holes down the marked 3cm line towards the bottom of the CP.

Out came the army of files and sand paper to clean out the adjustment channel, about an hour later this part was done and looking good. It’s best to drill the holes slightly smaller that the square under the bolt head and then file the channel until the square section of the bolt fits into place.

I placed the CP on the stock and marked the upper position of the CP on the stock with a marker pen, this would be the down position of the CP. This next step was scary, drilling the stock! Check the alignment above and to the side of the stock again and again and again because there is no going back after this point.

Using a drill bit the same size as the bolt I drilled through the stock, move the rotating bit back and forth a few times (in and out) this will open the hole up ever so slightly and allow the bolt to push through a little better.

A little cleaning out of the holes and it was time for the test fit, almost there.

As it happens the far side of the stock (as a thumbhole) is slightly concave so there was a gap between the stock and the cheek piece so I cut a spacer out of some plastic small bore rigid plastic pipe that I had lying around.

I had to notch out the top of the CP to allow the bolt to be removed without lowering the CP, the jigsaw and file worked a treat.

Please see the photo links of the finished cheek piece. It fits and works very well. All in this cost around £10 but I can get two CP out of one A4 sheet of Kydex.

Now having a beer to celebrate, happy days!

Thanks for looking.

http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/W0rks2much/slideshow/Cheek%20piece