Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Maple rifle stocks

I moved this because I think it was in the wrong place.


I've seen quite a few burl and tiger striped blonde maple stocks on bolt action rifles, and I love that look.

My question is, does anyone make drop-ins? And who makes and fits them at a reasonable price.

Come to think of it, I've seen some nice ones on trap guns too.

Try Accurate Innovations.

I can’t help you with your search…. Sorry

Years ago I stumbled across a medium length Mauser in .257 Robert’s that wore a very slender well figured maple stock in the classic form. Cheek piece, full checkering in a thoughtful pattern and tip and grip caps in what I thought were ebony.

The thing fit me like a glove and was gorgeous- even tho I much preferred dark wood. Had I had 2 cents to my name I would have brought it home with me….. such is life.

You should look for one of the Winchester Shot Show specials from a few years back… just sold a beautiful Model 70 Supergrade and I regret it already.

Hand fitted wooden rifle stock?
That and "reasonable" just dont fit in the same conversation.
Like "good" and "cheap" are counter intuitive.

I haven't "dabbled" in this area in years, so forgive me if my info may be (ahem!) dated.

Rinehart-Fajen, Warsaw, Missouri used to, I repeat "used to", be the "go to" for stock blanks, semi inletted and inletted stocks.
I think a lot of people get stocks from "Bishop"(?).
Never was brave enough to attempt a "semi-inlet" but did work up three "inletted" stocks.
For the uninitiated, walnut and maple are very dense, hard woods.
Without patience, even the inletted stocks can be frustrating.
With the inletted stock, you're still going to need some inletting tools and scrapers.
The "inlet" will still need some touch up and "finish" fitting to get everything to fit snug and properly.
Unless you are retired or have full time available, inletted ain't no afternoon, "bim bam, thanky ma'am" job.

As for "reasonable"? Depends on what "you" consider reasonable.
A couple hundred? Fifteen hundred?
To Donald Trump or Warren Buffet, $1500 "ain't no thang".
For me, fifteen hundred ain't "hap'nin'".

Also remember the more intricate the stock (Neidner palm swell, roll over cheek piece, checkering, beavertail foreend, grip cap, foreend cap, etc, etc.) the further you' move away from "reasonable".

Bishop and Fajen have been gone for a while. Outside of Warsaw there is Show-Me Gunstocks also another in town that I've not been to and a few miles north, in Lincoln, there's Wenig's.
Back when Bishop and Fajen were operating there were a lot of re-stocked guns around in the area with beautiful wood.
You could walk into either shop and pick out your stock blank and there were several women in town who would checker at home for $75.

After Bishop and Fajen were closed, Midway took over and built a large gunstock factory south of Lincoln. It closed after a few years and they sold everything in auction. I was there. Thousands of inletted stocks, pallets of stock blanks and the best of the best, the slabs in the "Long Room". There were slabs priced $500 to $700 that sold for $40 to $75... some for more and this was 20-25 years ago. Think what they would be priced today.

Try here, give them a call. https://manitoucustomguns.com/

Boyd's offers drop in stocks in maple with "50% figure", that adds a considerable amount to the stock but compared to any other finished stock that price isn't bad. I worked up a quote for a Model 700 just to see what they offered and their base Classic stock is $175, adding the maple brings the total to $347.

This is the example picture they have for that 50% figure so if you're looking for something really fancy the Boyd's probably won't make the cut.

Try Richards Micro-fit. Years ago their semi's were the best in the business and they always had great wood

BOYD'S!!!!
Told'ja! Ots been decades since I messed with fitting wood gun stocks.
Several guys on another website use those Boyd's stocks and most are quite pleased with them!

Thanks for the update there "teamprairiedog"!!!

I like them because they are different and look special. I have two Remington 7600's one in 35 Whelen and a 7mm/08. They both shoot great and catch a lot of attention. Got my biggest buck ever in 2012 with the 35. Craziest morning ever since my first morning as a 12 year old Pa. farm boy in 1966. It was the second day of buck in Pa. about 11 AM after an 8" early morning snow storm. I've never walked into a bigger bunch of deer than the one that the storm pushed together that morning. I still hunted until I saw a doe and just stood there for a while. They just kept coming up over a steep slope from the Susquehanna River. I counted 15 doe & 8 buck when Mr. Big showed up. Right place at the right time.

I did a AAA walnut stock from Richard's to fit a '57 BSA .338 mag. I was impressed by how closely the inletting fit. The stock turned out very nicely, and I learned to checker (that was most challenging). I feel like the Boyds look thick and clunky. Richard's has maple blanks of various grades.

If you want to see what a really fine maple stock looks like... there's an article you can google about finishing a burl maple stock with tannic acid and iron nitrate to darken the stock and make the grain pop. Stunning.

I bought one from Boyds last year.
Fit was great. QC man must have been away. It had slight runs in the satin finish on the butt stock end.
Had laser checkering done on the forend. One side wasn't centered, bottom of the forend, checkering was askew.
For $400 I expected better. I have 6 or 8 Boyds stocks, first one I have to live with. The rest fit and look great.

Bookmarked

Pitchers pls

Richards microfit stocks are really some beautiful stocks. They offer some incredibly well figured wood for what I thought was a very cheap price. They require a fair amount of work to get them to the finished stage but you can get a lot of stock for little money.

Check this guy's work out: https://reddesertrifles.com/

Blasphemous maybe, but Ive been thinking bout a Ruger #1 synth stock film dipped birdseye maple.

Wonder if they'd slim down a factory CZ 550 American stock and what they'd charge. I guess a phone call is in order.