If were to get a decent walnut blank from wherever and have someone finish it with a wood fore-end cap, grip cap,checkering and pad what it cost me?...lots of synthetic and stainless rifles in my house...gotta have one classic rifle..... :lol:
stockwork$$$?
- Thread starter Rembo
- Start date
beretta boy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Orillia, Ontario
I've seen "decent" blanks go for $ 1,500 and up. Stockmaking and checkering
is as much - and often more. $ 2,500 - $ 3,000 isn't out of line for nice wood, done in a classic style, oil finish, with a liberal amount of good 24 line or finer checkering.
is as much - and often more. $ 2,500 - $ 3,000 isn't out of line for nice wood, done in a classic style, oil finish, with a liberal amount of good 24 line or finer checkering.
For beretta boys prices, you can get a decent name gunsmith in the states to do a stock for you, and it will depreciate less than a stock made buy a no name stocker.$1500 for a blank is stupid unless you are getting a very big name stocker to do the work.
Rick, you can get a very decent exhibition grade stock blank for $500-600.
Here's one that cost $600 before the work started.
The figure carries through the stock from one side to the other, and the grain flow through the grip is almost perfect.
beretta boy, where did you see these decent blanks that went for $1500 and up?
Ted
Here's one that cost $600 before the work started.
The figure carries through the stock from one side to the other, and the grain flow through the grip is almost perfect.
beretta boy said:
beretta boy, where did you see these decent blanks that went for $1500 and up?
Ted
Ted
That's abeatiful stock. You got your moneys worth
The blank for the stock below cost me US$75.00 plus shipping. It's quarter-sawn Black walnut that's was drying for about 30 years.
Here's a couple of sites that may interest some folks.
Goby Walnut Products apparently has a good product.
http://www.gobywalnut.com/
Dressel's have a wide range of product price range
http://www.dressels.com/
That's abeatiful stock. You got your moneys worth
The blank for the stock below cost me US$75.00 plus shipping. It's quarter-sawn Black walnut that's was drying for about 30 years.
Here's a couple of sites that may interest some folks.
Goby Walnut Products apparently has a good product.
http://www.gobywalnut.com/
Dressel's have a wide range of product price range
http://www.dressels.com/
Not all wood is equal. Stock blank prices vary depending on the type or wood, it's origins, grain pattern, stability, density, dryness and quality. A premium piece of exhibition grade circassion walnut from Turkey that is suitable for a gun stock can easily reach well past $2,000USD. American black walnut or Califonia walnut is often a bargain in comparison.
Quality stock wood is also getting rarer and more expensive. A blank that cost $600 five years ago will more expensive today. I'm also seeing a lot more poorly laid out gun stocks. What matters more than the figure and contrast is the stock grain in the wrist.
Wood grading varies among types of woods and is often a mug's game. What is "exhibition" to one person isn't to another.
Quality stock wood is also getting rarer and more expensive. A blank that cost $600 five years ago will more expensive today. I'm also seeing a lot more poorly laid out gun stocks. What matters more than the figure and contrast is the stock grain in the wrist.
Wood grading varies among types of woods and is often a mug's game. What is "exhibition" to one person isn't to another.
Stock work, well done, can be relatively expensive as the cost is a reflection of the time and skill invested by the person doing the work. This is as it should be.
If I start with a blank, it takes me a solid week of work to inlet and shape the stock and get it ready for finishing. Now, if I spend that much time in the machine shop doing industrial related work, I can probably charge on the order of two thousand dollars or a little better. Whether or not my stock making efforts are worth this much is open to question but the efforts of the really good stockmakers probably are.
Working from semi-inletted, shaped stocks is a somewhat different matter of course since much of the drudgery of shaping and inletting is taken care of. The resultant stock can be just as nice but is likely to be a little less individual or unique. Of course, it is not uncommon for a stockmaker to have stocks duplicated to their own pattern to save themselves some of this drudgery. Since the resultant stock is essentially what the maker would have produced in any case, there is really no difference in the two products. The methods employed will simply either reduce the cost to the customer or increase the earnings of the maker, or both.
In many cases a particular stockmaker might produce stocks which are strictly of a certain design and will be quite inflexible as to styling changes. Others show greater flexibility and like to produce stocks more to the clients requirements. This providing that the client's stock design requirements are not too distasteful to the maker of course!
So, many makers stocks may become readily indentifiable due to styling cues. If a particular maker's style is too your liking, well, your choice is easy. If not, look elsewhere. I think it would be unrealistic to expect Martin Hagn, for instance, to produce a Biesen-style stock.
I have seen a lot of good, sound, blanks with reasonable figure, selling for the 250 to 300 dollar range. Expect a good stock maker to charge anywhere from800.00 to 2000.00 to produce a stock from this.
There are a number of what I would term semi-pro stockmakers who produce superb work at surprisingly reasonable prices. It seems that, for some, the opportunity to do the job is part of the reward. This means the customer may get a stock which is undervalued as far as cost is concerned. By the way, I think most of the work produced by Sam Elliott falls into this category. His customers got considerably more than they paid for. I had numerous of these customers say they would happily have paid more but I doubt that any ever said this to Mr Elliott!
My advice to those looking for fine stockwork is to go to gunshows and look at examples of custom rifles and find out who did the stockwork then go from there. Regards, Bill.
If I start with a blank, it takes me a solid week of work to inlet and shape the stock and get it ready for finishing. Now, if I spend that much time in the machine shop doing industrial related work, I can probably charge on the order of two thousand dollars or a little better. Whether or not my stock making efforts are worth this much is open to question but the efforts of the really good stockmakers probably are.
Working from semi-inletted, shaped stocks is a somewhat different matter of course since much of the drudgery of shaping and inletting is taken care of. The resultant stock can be just as nice but is likely to be a little less individual or unique. Of course, it is not uncommon for a stockmaker to have stocks duplicated to their own pattern to save themselves some of this drudgery. Since the resultant stock is essentially what the maker would have produced in any case, there is really no difference in the two products. The methods employed will simply either reduce the cost to the customer or increase the earnings of the maker, or both.
In many cases a particular stockmaker might produce stocks which are strictly of a certain design and will be quite inflexible as to styling changes. Others show greater flexibility and like to produce stocks more to the clients requirements. This providing that the client's stock design requirements are not too distasteful to the maker of course!
So, many makers stocks may become readily indentifiable due to styling cues. If a particular maker's style is too your liking, well, your choice is easy. If not, look elsewhere. I think it would be unrealistic to expect Martin Hagn, for instance, to produce a Biesen-style stock.
I have seen a lot of good, sound, blanks with reasonable figure, selling for the 250 to 300 dollar range. Expect a good stock maker to charge anywhere from800.00 to 2000.00 to produce a stock from this.
There are a number of what I would term semi-pro stockmakers who produce superb work at surprisingly reasonable prices. It seems that, for some, the opportunity to do the job is part of the reward. This means the customer may get a stock which is undervalued as far as cost is concerned. By the way, I think most of the work produced by Sam Elliott falls into this category. His customers got considerably more than they paid for. I had numerous of these customers say they would happily have paid more but I doubt that any ever said this to Mr Elliott!
My advice to those looking for fine stockwork is to go to gunshows and look at examples of custom rifles and find out who did the stockwork then go from there. Regards, Bill.
