stickhunter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Victoria, B.C.
A while back I bought a Danish Garand (Beretta) that came with the original beech stock and black plastic (yuk!) handguards. The stock had been sanded (rifle serial # stamp worn down) and messily glass bedded, so I decided to replace the whole shebang.
The Boyds site showed 3-piece unfinished Garand sets in stock for $97US, so I ordered one on April 1. On April 2 my CC was charged $130.98CDN (shipping was $26US). On April 9 I received the stocks at my door --- lucked out and avoided additional Customs charges.
I examined the new stocks last night and was very impressed. The inletting appears precise and clean. The walnut was plain (as expected) with nice straight grain and a 1cm streak of sapwood along one of the top edges of the forearm. To my surprise, the Garand action dropped in and fit snuggly without any interference. I wasn't able to fully-close the trigger guard, but it was enough that the action sat flush with the top of the stock. All other inletting and relief cuts for the action lined up within 0.3mm of the actual metalwork -- very impressive!
As you're probably aware, Boyds stocks are "fatter" than GI profile, but they're actually a pretty close match to the 1950's profile that came with my Garand. I noted that the Boyds stock had more palm swell, was thicker at the wrist, and did not taper as quickly to the foreend.
I plan to work the stock down to a profile a little less than the original Danish issue stock, but in reality the stock would probably work fine as-is with a small amount of final fitting, sanding, and finishing.
Overall, I'm extremely happy with what I received. You can't beat that for time and cost!
The Boyds site showed 3-piece unfinished Garand sets in stock for $97US, so I ordered one on April 1. On April 2 my CC was charged $130.98CDN (shipping was $26US). On April 9 I received the stocks at my door --- lucked out and avoided additional Customs charges.
I examined the new stocks last night and was very impressed. The inletting appears precise and clean. The walnut was plain (as expected) with nice straight grain and a 1cm streak of sapwood along one of the top edges of the forearm. To my surprise, the Garand action dropped in and fit snuggly without any interference. I wasn't able to fully-close the trigger guard, but it was enough that the action sat flush with the top of the stock. All other inletting and relief cuts for the action lined up within 0.3mm of the actual metalwork -- very impressive!
As you're probably aware, Boyds stocks are "fatter" than GI profile, but they're actually a pretty close match to the 1950's profile that came with my Garand. I noted that the Boyds stock had more palm swell, was thicker at the wrist, and did not taper as quickly to the foreend.
I plan to work the stock down to a profile a little less than the original Danish issue stock, but in reality the stock would probably work fine as-is with a small amount of final fitting, sanding, and finishing.
Overall, I'm extremely happy with what I received. You can't beat that for time and cost!
