Stock project

[J A XSP]

Every now and then when I'm messing with Contenders, I think "I have wood. I have tools. I know how to do stuff...Why am I not making my own dang Contender stocks?!?"

I'm always a little stymied by the odd geometry involved in the otherwise simple milling and inletting for a Contender frame. Or rather I should say I'm always a little too lazy to reverse engineer to the point of making a couple of jigs. Over the last couple of days I got a little obsessed and dug further than I have in the past. I was able to get a close enough measurement on some of the angles to lay out a couple of simple jigs for running the blank over the table saw and holding on the drill press. and was able to get far enough to actually hang a hunk of wood on a frame. I used a piece of scrap as a crash test dummy but it went right in place. :) It's still early in the process but with a few tweaks and a little work refining the profile, I'll be ready to prep a piece decent wood and make something usable. :)

I have an old factory stock that has a nice palm grip area and nice general profile but I wanted to get the cheek rise a little closer to the High Plains Pegasus shape. That's the most comfortable and stock I've shot.

We'll see how this one shapes up but the initial geometry seems to get a nice cheek weld and put me right on a good scope picture. That forend is one that I threw together last week out of a mahogany scrap I had laying around.

[Bobby Tomek]

Looking good! I can't wait to see the fully-finished set.

This reminds me: Anyone who is thinking of buying a Contender stock through Haus Of Arms should call first. Virtually all of the laminates from HOA in the past have been Revolution stocks. So naturally, that's what one expects when ordering. But now, other than the walnut, you'll wind up getting a Boyd's instead of a Revolution. I like the Boyd's OK but like the Revolution much better due to the height of the comb. Back on the old SP board, I had even posted a photo showing the difference between the two.

[J A XSP]

Are the HOA stocks not the ones pictured? I didn't think they looked like Boyd's stocks.
I've been waiting for my funds to catch up so I can order a stock set from Marty.
The catching up has been slow with frames finally being available and those Van Horn barrels calling my name. :)

[Bobby Tomek]

When I ordered, the photo on the website still depicted the Revolution stock. But that is not what I received. I'm keeping it but was not thrilled. Had I known it was a Boyd's, I would not have ordered. The coloration doesn't even match my existing Revolution forend.

In fact, I wasn't even offered the option of a return when I inquired.

Here's Marty's response to my question as to whether all of their stocks are now Boyd's: "RH and LH walnut are revolution, we are in the process of shifting
more rifle sets back to Revolution."

[Bobby Tomek]

Here's the Boyd's buttstock with the Revolution forend.

[J A XSP]

You must have gotten the last of those Camo lam stocks...I'd been wanting to order that color but now he's out. I don't mind the Java lam color, though. I'm curious about the comb height. Off the frame, the stock looks pretty high-combed but in your pic it seems to droop a little. I'll give you a call next week and we can catch up and talk stocks. :)