The Striker stock modified by Dan to fit his hand.

When scope shopping a few months back I encountered a Striker chambered for 22-250 Remington. It was a baseline model, synthetic stock and 14" barrel without that annoying AMB. Though the chambering would not have been my first choice, it would do for the time being. The best part was that it had the scope I was looking for attached and the price was just right.

Because the scope was needed for a Contender barrel it was hastily removed when I got the handgun home. Soon after that the Striker's barreled action was removed from the stock. Key areas that material needed removed were quickly identified and I went to work. Before I got too carried away with carving away superfluous material I reinstalled the barreled action and headed to the shooting range; the only way to tell how the gun would really feel with the reworked stock would be to shoot it. As a replacement scope, I installed a Burris 3-12x32 Ballstic Plex Handgun Scope.

The range trip revealed marked improvement in the feel and handling over my previous Striker. Along with me I took the rasp and files to remove additional material as needed. While there I also removed the large lip that runs around the base of the grip. I don't have huge, thick hands but that part of the grip did get a little uncomfortable after a long shooting session. Removal of this area did not affect the steadiness of the gun on the shooting bags but did significantly increase comfort. Sometimes I get strange looks at the range when shooting "magnum" Contenders. But the stares I got when filing away on a pistol stock while sitting at the bench had to top them all!

The bulk of my work was concentrated on the grip and trigger guard areas. I can only conclude that Savage formed this grip for the hand of the Incredible Hulk. It is very thick on all sides. As you'll be able to see in the pictures, the sides of the grip were recontoured. This did a lot to make the Striker more pleasant to carry. Reworking the surfaces on the front and rear of the grip improved the feel when preparing to shoot and engaging the trigger.

The forearm of the Striker is slightly rounded on the bottom and tapers (top to bottom) toward the muzzle end. Using a long, flat file I flattened the bottom of the forearm to remove some of the roundness but left the taper remain. Being flat on the bottom makes it set better and lessens rotational torque when shooting from the bags. The taper was untouched because it can be helpful when adjusting elevation on target just by sliding the gun forward or backward.

After several range trips and finishing the final touches, I sanded smooth the stray marks from filing and molding marks from the manufacturing process. The only thing to be aware of are thin areas in the grip and action area, but these are easily identified. If you have a Striker that needs some care, this is a pretty easy fix to make a perceptible improvement in the Strikers looks and feel.

Good shooting,
Dan