Modifications to factory stocks.

[big honkin jeep]

I've been hanging around this site for quite a while and learned a good bit about Savage rifles and tinkering over the years.
One of my primary interests has always been tinkering and tuning factory parts to perform their best as well as to improve their looks. I've seen some pretty slick as well as some ingenious upgrades come from members here.

Here's a project on a factory Birch stock from a lefty model 11 I did about 10 years ago.
I decided I was going to do a budget classic rifle themed stock on an old model 11 lefty and this is what I came up with.

First I did the obligatory action bedding to the stock using JB weld epoxy. (My bedding of choice because it's cheap, it works, it's tough, it lasts, and it's what I'm familiar with.) Then I refinished it using minwax golden oak stain, added a faux ebony fore end using minwax ebony stain by placing the can in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and then placing the forearm into the stain and letting the stock rest against the side of the bucket at an angle. That used gravity to keep the line even and straight and give it time to soak in good and dark. There was a little bleed from the stain in the wood grain which was easily covered by using a white automotive pinstripe and gave the appearance of a white line spacer between the ebony tip and the rest of the stock. The whole thing is sealed with an entire can of minwax spray poly satin. this also helped smooth the little transistion between the wood and the pinstripe. Then I made white line spacers for the grip cap and recoil pad by using a sheetrock mud bucket. I cut a couple of pieces of the white plastic from the bucket into shape and then filed and sanded them and sandwiched them between the grip cap and sandwiched another piece under the recoil pad. I think it made a pretty good improvement to the overall look of the project at the time.

I would love to see some of the things you guys have done to improve performance and aesthetics of your factory stocks.
old past projects are okay as well as current stuff. So lets see em.