Custom high end wood furniture for your rifles/shotguns

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Has anyone here spent the money on high end woods and custom furniture for your rifle &/or shot gun? If so...

1. Who did you use... and are you pleased with their workmanship

2. What wood did you use?

3. What gun(s) did you put this custom furniture on?

4. Do you regret getting custom made furniture and if so why?

5. If you could please post pictures

If you had any of the following weapons and the cash to do so... which if any of these would you get custom furniture put on them? What wood would you use?

Rossi M92 454 16” barrel stainless
Marlin 1895SBL 45-70 (the one that as the gray laminate furniture)
Henry Mares Leg 45 colt
Henry Mares Leg 22wmr
Remington 878 semi auto 12 gauge. My grandfather owned this and we went hunting when I was 13 many times. So it’s a heirloom, sentimental piece. But the furniture is severally scuffed and cracked, beyond easy repair. Although the gun works perfectly
In addition while the furniture on this gun is in need of fixing or replacing it is inter sting to note that the metal parts of the gun are in almost perfect new like condition. No rust whatsoever.
 
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I wouldn't spend money putting expensive wood on any of those rifles. Those are all working guns, not expensive show pieces. A decent stick of wood is $1000+ not counting the expensive of fitting and finishing by a gunsmith. Most people don't spend that kind of money unless they have a gun worth 5 figures or more. If the wood is beyond repair ( I doubt it is) then I might replace the wood on the old shotgun with something functional, but not expensive. It can most likely be refinished though.
 
I tend to agree with JMR.
If you really, REALLY, like one of those rifles than yes I could see having the whole gun gone over by someone really well versed in making those awesome, and THEN putting really nice wood on it.

Personally, I've gotten to the point I'm ready to wait till I can afford something pretty fantastic before I buy another rifle specifically for the traditional aesthetics.
I want something that makes me reach across everything else for it. Something that makes me go "do I really want to risk carrying this today?"
And I do it anyway cause it gives me that much enjoyment to carry and look at. But that is again personal preference.....and way more money than I have right now.
 
If you really want to, go ahead. Sorry I can't make suggestions who to buy it from. They'd look great with it.
Good enough to spend more than the guns several times over, though? IMO, those guns don't ask for the top-shelf wood. They want something nice but functional. And if the wood on it is bad enough to refinish, or you want to buy new replacements, you can make it both functional and ranging from 'pretty nice' to 'amazing' with some elbow grease. A polish with sandpaper and some coats of oil have brought many a gun to look great but not enough to fear taking it out of the safe.

Custom furniture can cost as much as a used car. Replacement furniture can be had pretty cheap, and last I looked (admittedly a decade ago) could often be found bare. This could be fitted acceptable and brought up nicely by anyone familiar with woodworking. Or you, if you're a DIY type like myself.
 
I own some firearms with some exceptional wood; they were higher-end to begin with and I paid an up charge for the exceptional wood - very pleasing to the eye and well worth the additional cost in my mind.
Adding nice wood after the fact increases the total cost as you have already paid for the original format. But as stated, adding nice wood to your noted firearms is certainly up to you - however, not an option that I would choose. One great thing about today’s firearm configurations, so many choices.
 
I don't have much need for the expensive wood. It certainly can be a work of art and craftsmanship. I hate to take my nice stocked rifles out now, I could imagine the heart felt fear of taking a $1k stocked rifle into the field. On the other side, I would never complain about someone who did get some expensive wood. Well, only if they wouldn't show it to me. Then I would complain to anyone foolish enough to listen. I guess the answer depends on our perspectives.
 
Fancy French Walnut on an AK47?
No worth the cash in my mind, as already said working guns get stocked with the gun equivalent of jeans, those on your list are workers.
 
I do have some nice pieces of wood on rifles that I purchased second hand, like the tiger strip Maple on this pre 64

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But I have never, and won't spend extra for fancy wood that I am just going to scratch. If given a choice between pretty and expensive, and functional and cheap, I will go with functional and cheap, such as this Marlin 336

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I still feel bad when I scratch the thing, but less so than a fancy piece of wood. I think the trend towards tupperware stocks is just great. Tupper ware stock on a M70. Grippy, water resistant, who cares about the scratches?.

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I installed this piece of laminated wood on this M700 and bedded the action. I liked the color and the look. And I liked the price.

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Laminated wood is great stuff. It is very strong, water does not warp the stuff, and it is relatively cheap.

I have seen some wood stocks on competition rifles that are museum grade. OK, the wood is eye popping, the owner is proud, has pride of ownership, but pretty wood won't put the bullet in the middle. How these guys keep the scratches and dents off is beyond me, but, it is obvious they are much more careful about how they handle their works or art than I am.
 
My hunting rifles and shotguns get used in the woods, in any conditions. I don't want to worry about getting scratches or other blemishes on a nice piece of wood, getting it wet, etc. I will replace cheap plastic stocks on rifles like the 700 below, in 243 (I agree with slamfire on the laminated stocks).
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My shotguns (used primarily for turkey, doves, and the occasional duck hunt) generally get plastic camo furniture on them, like the 870 and Moss 930 below.. Functional for the task, but ugly as heck, and likely to make a traditional wingshooter puke. My ithaca 37 still has wood.
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I've restocked my family's heirloom A.H. Fox 20GA SxS with fancy wood, done by Doug Turnbull as part of an overall upgrade. I went to a custom stock maker utilizing a "try stock" to obtain the measurements and sent them to Turnbull. Time to completion was a little under a year and cost was $3700 about 15 years ago. This was fancy black walnut. Not the best pics, but you get the idea:

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I've also ordered guns from the ground up, built with Exhibition grade wood; Two 1885 HW repros and an 1885 LW repro from Ballard Rifle & Cartridge:

1885 HW .40-70 stocked in English "Exhibition grade, hand rubbed finish & checkering:

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1885LW .22LR with Black Walnut:

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When it came to the ordered rifles average cost to upgrade was around $600.

While I appreciate fine wood, anything I hunt with wears a composite stock.
 
The wood on my grandfathers shotgun is cracked severely so needs replacement. I found a company that ca are the laminate wood replacements for it, for $250

Henry sells a set of upgraded wood walnut for the Mares leg 45 colt, but it would covert it to a SBR and runs $250 so $450 total after tax stamp. But would also be an SBR then too
 
The exception is that "working" guns should have a stock that fits. I see the point that it's generally not advisable to put fancy figuring or exotic woods on a box-stock Rossi, Marlin, Henry or Remington, but if a gun sees regular use, it could be well worth making it fit. Sometimes fit can be accomplished by modifying existing furniture, but other times it's better to replace it. The replacement does not necessarily need to be "custom" to fit, but it can depend on the specific model and who it is being fit to. 100% machine-inlet stocks can be found for a lot of popular guns and they can often be configured within a range of dimensions. Boyds Gunstocks are a good example. Altamont Company is also getting into this business and currently offers 10/22 stocks. I know there are others. These are totally machine-made, semi-custom stocks. For rifles that are not so common or where a highly unusual dimension is needed, then some custom handcrafting is probably the only available route. Sometimes you can find something that is 80% machine-inlet and then have a custom stock maker finish the job. It should be a lot fewer hours and money than starting with a difficult exotic wood blank and doing everything by hand. With shotguns, getting adjustable or custom cast, drop, and length of pull can be well worth it for the improved fit. But again, if it's a popular model, you may be able to order adjustability or the right fit on a machine-inlet stock, and it could just be on an easy-to-machine laminated blank rather than exotic, highly-figured, exhibition grade wood.
 
I have seen some wood stocks on competition rifles that are museum grade. OK, the wood is eye popping, the owner is proud, has pride of ownership, but pretty wood won't put the bullet in the middle. How these guys keep the scratches and dents off is beyond me, but, it is obvious they are much more careful about how they handle their works or art than I am.

You know the old saying, ..'Beware of the man with one gun as his rifle stock probably costs more than your car or something like that.'

BTW, beautiful tiger striping on the stock.
 
A few thoughts about custom stocks. You will find two piece semi-custom stocks at a fairly decent price for common firearms. Personally, I would start with the sentimental family piece and perhaps the Rossi 92. The 878 if that is what you have is an uncommon model. Even putting a prettier original stock or an adapted Model 58/870 stock might be a pretty easy job that you could diy for a little money.

Here is one example from fleabay, https://www.ebay.com/itm/Remington-...230213?hash=item287649a705:g:0b4AAOSw9YdcXK9u The stock in the image has some pretty graining and was a 878 takeoff. Gunbroker has stocks from time to time as well.
 
A shooting bud of mine, Quinn, had a saying "Do you want to shoot your rifle or make love to it?". Quinn was civilian service rifle champion, and his M1a's looked like angry beavers had gotten hold of the things.

This is another bud's rifle. If you shot an M1a in competition you learned just how critical position was, and maintaining position, because the rifle would knock you out of position. M1a shooters used a lot of spray on glue to keep the rifle in place. Appearance was irrelevant, only 10's and X's mattered. I saw shooters with so much glue on their rifle and themselves, that their mat would stick to them when they stood up from prone!

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A shooting bud of mine, Quinn, had a saying "Do you want to shoot your rifle or make love to it?". Quinn was civilian service rifle champion, and his M1a's looked like angry beavers had gotten hold of the things.

This is another bud's rifle. If you shot an M1a in competition you learned just how critical position was, and maintaining position, because the rifle would knock you out of position, if everything was not perfect and stiff. M1a shooters used a lot of spray on glue to keep the rifle in place. Appearance was irrelevant, only 10's and X's mattered

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Nice patina!!!!
 
I hate to take my nice stocked rifles out now, I could imagine the heart felt fear of taking a $1k stocked rifle into the field. On the other side, I would never complain about someone who did get some expensive wood. Well, only if they wouldn't show it to me. Then I would complain to anyone foolish enough to listen. I guess the answer depends on our perspectives.

I do often wonder how many of you guys wrap your vehicles in bubble wrap when driven anywhere?
 
Everyone makes a good point there.

I have seen some replacement stocks that are quite nice for under $500. But everyone is correct if you spend a ton of money making it an overtly expensive gun you wont want to use it for what i originally intended for fear of scratching denting or other damage to the gun or furniture. I have seen $30,000, $90,000 shotguns and have commented to myself that i would never fo hunting with those. I might do some clay shooting and if i were a billionaire! Lol

Most not all fancy show guns start off as basic guns then engraved inlaid and coated with various precious metals and precious exotic woods.

So for the remington shotgun of my grandfathers i may go with the laminate stocks for $300.

For my mares leg 45 colt i will probably go with the henry walnut for $250 and make a SBR out of it.
 
IME with the friends I know who have had higher end custom stocks made for their high end shotguns, the costs typically ran about $5K - that included not only picking out the wood, but also a custom fitting - that takes a lot of time to get it right. One gent had his K-80 stock coated with 35 coats of Tru-oil, hand finished in between each coat - that added about 2 months to the project, but it looks 3D and the grain is amazing.
 
I do often wonder how many of you guys wrap your vehicles in bubble wrap when driven anywhere?

Depends on the car!
I wouldn't buy an Aston Martin or matching $140k fowling arm, take it out (to show off, obviously) and expect to bump a couple trees, scuff around in the sand, and take it home and park it without giving it a quick polish.
Conversely, I wouldn't take the 1988 Mercury Cougar I owned (In 2014. It began brown.) or fourth-owner 870 Express without expecting a few dings when I toss it in the back with a couple 2x4s, hit that pothole (and feel worse about spilling my coffee) and maybe tip it over climbing over a log.

Maybe I would even touch up the scuffs after. Or maybe I'd only fix things like when someone backed into my fuel door and it wouldn't open. Depends how bored I am that weekend.
 
$1000 and up can get you an incredible stock blank. It really is not very hard to carve one yourself. Just have to take your time. I don't see what the value of the gun that you put on has to do with anything.
 
EC70FCFC-E912-4610-86DE-6B147F6D21D6.jpeg 03568F03-8441-4ECC-81DD-FFD8D0F6D88B.jpeg D3AA4204-78E4-4D70-97F5-B72056AEA725.jpeg I’m not into show pieces. My guns are tools on the farm. I believe the most beautiful pieces of wood/tools are the ones that have earned their character over time creating memories. Start with a good tool, and let time make it beautiful. I still use this Model 94 30-30 that dates to 1901 to put food on the table. I don’t think any amount of money could get you a better looking piece of wood than it has.
 
View attachment 852983 View attachment 852984 View attachment 852985 I’m not into show pieces. My guns are tools on the farm. I believe the most beautiful pieces of wood/tools are the ones that have earned their character over time creating memories. Start with a good tool, and let time make it beautiful. I still use this Model 94 30-30 that dates to 1901 to put food on the table. I don’t think any amount of money could get you a better looking piece of wood than it has.

That’s back in the days when you held a good piece of wood in your hands!
 
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