Much of the VBS’ adjustability owes itself to the tube and tube clamp system in the buttstock. Our original tube clamp system utilized a very simple design allowing for a ton of adjustment with very few parts and requiring minimal user input: simply loosen one screw or QR lever and you can quickly adjust the buttstock length and cast (butt stock offset). Loosen another and you can position the cheek piece at any point up, down, left and right. This original design was built on a custom aluminum extrusion we designed and had made for us. It allowed us to provide a highly level of functional adjustability while being economical to manufacture, given our capabilities at the time.
Over time we realized that this design had some flaws… really, it was too adjustable! With both buttstock and cheek rest having multiple degrees of adjustment that ran off a single screw, it was very hard to make precise and repeatable adjustments. For example, it was nearly impossible to lengthen the buttstock without also changing the cast, and likewise with the cheek rest height and position.
On top of these issues with usability, the manufacturing of these parts posed an issue for us as well: Using the extrusion tied us to one design that was hard (expensive) to make changes to, required us to place large orders with long lead times, and left us sitting on lots of inventory.
Along the way we have made huge advances in our in-house machining capabilities, and revisiting these parts we found it was actually more economical and practical to machine these parts in house from solid aluminum bar stock, skipping the extrusion all together. Not only does this reduce our reliance on external supply chains, but it also allows us to manufacture these parts as we need them, and easily make small improvements as needed.
With design and manufacturing freedom provided by our in house capabilities, we redesigned the tube clamps with separate fasteners and clamping geometry for each tube, isolating each degree of adjustment to it’s own screw. Along the way we also addressed two other weak points in our buttstock design: The butt plate and it’s attachment, as well as the harness bungee attachment.
Our new butt plate is attached via it’s own tube clamp. This is makes for a much more robust connection that is also serviceable. In addition, the new clamp-on connection for the butt plate will allow for the use of tubes (or rods) made of alternate materials- something that could be used to offer different shot/recoil feel and balance to the stock (stay tuned for more on that in the future!) The Butt plate it’s self features more universal compatibility with other butt hooks, and has slots with countersunk locking features to provide an easy yet robust way to adjust the butt plate up and down.
Our new Double tube clamp features two separate clamping fasteners for each tube. This allows the length and cast to be set separately from each other. One or both fasteners could be QR levers, which allows for quick and easy length adjustment without fiddling with cast and butt plate angle. In addition, the double clamp features a new integrated clamping system for your harness bungees that makes for easy harness adjustment and removal for travel.
Our new Cheek Piece Clamp is very similar to our old system, but incorporates two separate fasteners to isolate height adjustment from side to side adjustment. Loosen the outside screw, and easily make precise height adjustments. Loosen the inside screw and easily rotate the cheek piece away from or towards you without changing your height setting.
The best part is that all these new components are 100% compatible with all older VBS generations, and make an easy upgrade! We are offering each individually, as well as in our VBS Buttstock 2.0 Upgrade Kit.
Great job guys! The butt hook upgrade looks really solid, and the independent clamping was definitely a step up. I had just seen someone innovate that capability on his stock, but that guy has skills, better left to the pro’s. I have had luck with CF tube segments on stocks (think re-purposed ski pole sections), light and tough, and shrink wrapped with conduit binding, is up to the job. Ever see someone use two of the old clamps on the rear tubes? I always thought that would be a step up for someone dialed into a set-up.