Assuming exhibition grade walnut? Dunno about such things, but I am looking to buy the rifle. Thanks guys.

That is a up to the buyer deal. Expect to pay a couple large to make one, but a guy like myself would not pay much premium based on the style of the stock. Rarely is custom work able to recover cost.

I love the old school roll over MC stocks. Reminds me when a custom build meant re-stocking a Mauser or 1917 Enfield when I was growing up and lusting after rifles.

I wouldn't put that thing on my rifle if someone gave it to me.

Ouch.

sorry but never liked the Hollywood stocks .

Looks like a Richards Microfit stock. Exhibition Grade? Doubtfull. If it were, the figure would run into the forend.

I think a lot of people take a look at a custom stock and make comments based on current styles, without having ever seen the stock in person, let alone put it up to their shoulder and looked through the sites or scope.

If your thinking of buying the gun try the stock on yourself, and if it fits and the gun shoots well for you go ahead and buy it and don't worry what anyone else says because they are not the ones that are going to be shooting it.

Pay what the rifle is worth to you in terms of the enjoyment that you will receive from its ownership.

I'd put the wood at about $750, then add about 45 hrs of labor for fit and finish.

Seriously? I doubt that. They don't even offer checkering.

After looking at the pictures again, you're probably right, but not because of the checkering. Anyone can put a crappy checkering job on a stock (Richards, of course, does no fitting, finishing, or checkering). Actually, the heel on a Richards rollover is higher, so it could be an old Fajen or Bishop.

$750 sounds about right to build a stock like that one: $250-300 for the turned blank, $150-200 for the "embellishment", and the rest to fit and finish. Having said that, I wouldn't pay any more for this rifle than I'd pay for a nice old factory L-61 Sako. The custom stock isn't much (if any) of an upgrade over a factory Sako stock. The factory wood might not be as pretty, but the checkering is vastly superior.

I'd carry that Sako!

In my opinion This strongly looks to be
a Roberts stock of long ago.

Definately very good wood and as far as figure
in the forearm you don't want anything but
straight grain figure in the forearm.
Checkering looks very well done.
I have built rifles myself and I would surely buy it.
Pricewise though, a pretty stock is only worth
it to the buyer that first had it built.
It was his love affair.

So for you its worth what you want to spend for your
satisfaction.
Don

Having just had a custom stock duplicated to match a companion rifle, I'm guessing that it would cost around $1,100 to have that one done again and done right. Mine cost that much to finish and checker, and I already had the wood and had the stock carved. Add that to the value of the barreled action. As has been said, the value is what someone who wants it will pay

In my case, I wanted what I wanted and the end product is certainly worth it to me.

That's a Fajen Aristocrat stock. They probably did the complete job as the checking pattern is identical to one from their 1970s catalogue.

I tell you what, Let me go dig up my circa 1976 catalog and price list and we will plug in those prices into an Online "inflation calculator" and see where we are in 2011 dollars.

From any professional maker, you are looking at minimum $500 for the blank(bought directly from the mill) and about $1,500 for just the labor( milled, fitted, finished, and checkered).

I'll be back in a bit with some 1970s prices figured into 2011 dollars.

The checkering is not first rate, but the butt has some nice figure. There is certainly enough wood to take that rollover cheek piece off and thin down the flared pistol grip.

Provided there is enough wood overall, it could be taken down completely and still have a nice piece of wood to salvage and make a good looking stock.

If you like it as it is, it would be easy to buy it and go hunting with it, you may want to get a brown paper bag to put over your head just in case someone would see you.

Elitist!

Well, thanks my recent refiling of all my reference material, I was able to put my hands on that 1978 Fajen catalog pretty quick.

Unless there were some other stock shops doing exact replicas of Fajen Artistocrat stocks with the same deluxe carved checkering pattern, I believe they did the work.

Here is the catalog I used. The January 1978 updated price lists are inside-


The back cover says it all-


The middle stock is an Aristocrat with the same special order carved leaf checkering pattern in the description. An important thing to remember is that Fajen had a very strict policy as to specially selecting wood for exact figure type and/or no Sapwood etc. They charged an additional of 50% of the semi inlet price of a AAA fancy stock for a special selection blank. Both of the feather crotch stocks on the back cover(top and bottom stocks) are listed as special selection.

Sooo, going by the Jan 1978 price list here is what the OP's stock would have cost direct from Fajen back then-

$306.00- Base price, fully finished Aristocrat stock
$63 - 50% of semi finish price of AAA Fancy for special selection feather crotch wood
$12 - Contrasting tip and caps
$16.50 Pad fitted -
$50- Deluxe hand rubbed wood finish
$125 Carved Checkering pattern
-------------
$572.50 1978 dollars.

Adjusted for inflation in 2011 dollars $1,986.45

http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

Include shipping in that and my original "educated guess" of $2k is pretty much right on the money..

jim62, ding, ding, ding!!! We have a winner. thank you so much for your time and effort. More knowledge for us! I really appreciate it!

No problem SAKO..

That catalog is one I have had since 1978. I used to buy quite a few semi inlets from them and EC Bishop back then with my hard earned teenage $$.

Used to make trips up there in the Fall and prowl their stacks of blanks for my semi inlets. I never could afford their AAA special selection stuff, usually looked through their A and AA grade blanks and found a few "sleepers". Marty Fajen(Reinhart's Daughter in law) and Fred Wenig (the plant manager then) were wonderful and very tolerant hosts.

They treated this farm boy from OK like some Texas oil millionaire who flew in for a $2,000 stock fitting.. I was offered a "5 cent plant tour" each time and when I needed to look at blanks, Fred would take me to the blank warehouse and point the the pallets full of graded wood and say "Knock yourself out, kid.. Just put everything back the way you found it when you are done."

It was like a family funeral when I attended their liquidation sale in 1998. Larry Potterfield (the owner of Midway USA) managed to destroy in less than five years something it took Mr Fajen his whole lifetime to build- not to mention destroying the entire economy of Warsaw ,MO.
Damn shame.

IMHO, stocks like that one are American Classics in their own right, regardless of what some folks here might feel about the styling. I would remind them that 60 years ago, factory original deluxe Winchester High Wall Scheutzen rifles were restocked because the shooters of that time thought they could make something to make something "better" out of them. It was a tragedy that so many of those rifles were destroyed by such misguided customizing. It would also be a tragedy if something were done to alter that Fajen stock. For someone who likes a Monte Carlo stock with a close grip, it's just fine as it is.

Jim62,
thanks for the memories!!! I made up a number of rifles in the 70 and 80's I would have Fajen inlet them and do the rough exterior and I would finish them from there, with Mark X actions and Douglas barrels. I would page through the catalogs for weeks till I had the money saved for an order. How did Brownells do them in exactly? What happen to Bishop? Oh the days of long ago, fine wood and blued metal!!

B,

I think you misread what I posted. Brownells had absolutley NOTHING to due with Reighart Fajen doing bust as far as I know . Larry Potterfeild, the founder of Miday-USA did.

Bascially here is a rough timeline of EC Bishop and Fajen.

Early 1930s- EC Bishop founded in Warsaw
1945 Reinhart Fajen(a former Bishop employee) founds Reinhart Fajen,Inc on the other side of town.
By the 1960s Fajen is larger than Bishop.
Bishop goes into a steady decline until the mid 1980s, when it is bought out by Fajen.
1993- Larry Potterfeild of Midway USA buys out Fajen/Bishop.
1996- Potterfeild moves the ENITRE stockmaking enterprise to a new Concrete "factory" in Lincoln, MO 30 north of Warsaw.
1997- Long time Fajen manager Fred Wenig quits and starts his own firm, Wenig Gunstocks, in Lincoln. Takes most of the high end fitted stock customers with him..
Fall 1998 Fajen goes into recivership and liguidates.

THe above is a CLASSIC example of the "Peter Principle" at work. In buying Fajen, Larry Potterfield rose to the level of his own incompentance.

The ENTIRE IDEA of a custom wood gunstock is a HIGHER level of fit and finish than the machine made factory products. Potterefield thought he could "Automate" the whole process and eliminate the hand labor that went into building the stocks. Bascially make machine made stocks like the injection molded plastic crap he sells under his various house brands at Midway. He tried to change too much too fast and nver had enough key people with the tlant and knowlege to make it happen.

The company got to the point in 1998 where it could not even BUILD simple stocks they had formally shipped by the thousands just a few years ago. He bascially destroyed the economy of Warsaw, MO.

It took them about 15 years to do it, but Boyds gunstocks is actually doing right now what Fajen could have been able to do if Potterfeild had not had his head so far up his own arse.

Potterfield is a great guy!!

ive got a boyds on my 22-250,i have not one complaint its comfortable a little heavy for my hands but fits great

Yes, I agree that Fred Wenig is one of the nicest guys in the world. A few years ago, I visited for a day to have stocks fitted to a couple of Beretta over and unders and also had a Winchester Model 70 restocked. He and his main partner, Elbert (Can't remember last name right now -- could be Smith), could not have been more pleasant to me throughout my day there, including taking me to lunch. Your post has brought back pleasant memories of a fine day!

If Fajen was destined to become what Boyds is today.....they deserved to fail.

Used to love cruising the Fajen's catalog and "dream" about the fine walnut stocks I would someday own. Later when I opened a shop and began building rifles I bought many great stocks from Fajen.

Today, when I look at the offerings from Boyds, I almost cry remembering the day when truely great stock wood was available. Most of their "stocks" are made of PLYWOOD.....and the ones that aren't are so poor in quailty I think I could do better by cutting blanks from a fense post.

That takes me back to my late, late teens. I used to call and "order" the catalogs. I probably still have some of them, fun to look at and bring make many memories.

Always wanted a Bishop Model 10 rifle with all the doodads in the classic style. Never could swing it and have never laid eyes on one.