Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Boyds Stocks?

Opinions on Boyd's stock please. Thinking about trying one of their walnut versions.

I got my first two recently. Was genuinely drop in but the inletting for the bottom metal will likely have some extra space. Up top isn't as bad, but you'd definitely want/need to glass bed. Wood is decent, basic walnut. Checkering is nicer than you'd expect from laser engraving. Their half inch recoil pad is sort of a joke, but I wasn't planning to use it anyway.

Added for transparency: I got mine NOS for $40/each. At that price they were a steal but even for the normal price I think they're a decent deal. (If you're planning to add a forend tip, know that the cavity under the forearm is mostly hollow so not tons of room to dowel.)

I bought one a couple of years ago for a tang Ruger. I had to remove a little bit of wood in the cut out where the bolt turns down. Other than that, it was a drop in fit and seems to be working well. Mine's a laminate in what they call nutmeg with the laser engraving. It's a bit heavy but not horrible.
With that stock and a Bushnell Elite 4200 scope with Rainguard, it's my go to rainy day deer rifle.

Dale

Bought a solid wood stock set for a Browning BAR Mk II. It was awful. Finish was painted on, and poorly done. Shipping damage too. Poorly packed. Not the fault of the post man. After two RMA's I gave up and took the loss.

I bought a sporter version for an 03 Springfield several years ago. The fit is very decent as a drop in, delivery took about a month. The wood is as plain as can be but I didn’t go for any upgrades. Ebony forend tip and grip cap, sling studs, and recoil pad are the only things added. I think studs are included. Now I just need to scrounge up the money to get a basic checkering pattern done.

I've done two so far. Both have been optimal

One was a AT-One type in forest camo for an Ruger American Predator in 223 REM. THis one came with a Pro-Bed 2000 bedding kit.


The other was for a TC Compass in 7mm-08. I got this one in their bottom-line walnut. I bought a Pro-Bed 2000 bedding kit for it.

I have purchased two of their laminate stocks in past 10 years. No issues with inletting or fitment. My only input is to spring for some form of checkering. First stock did not have checkering as an option when I purchased it. It was a bit slick. The stock with checkering had good grip. Based on my experience with their laminate stocks, I would not have any qualms with their walnut stocks.

I have a couple dozen Boyds stocks around, mostly laminated wood in the Heritage, Prairie Hunter, Rimfire Hunter, and Pro Varmint styles. I think that that Boyds does a good job in all aspects, with the inletting for commercial barreled actions generally better, closer tolerances, than for military barreled actions. The last Boyds stock that I bought was for one of our farmer's T-C Venture II in Coyote laminated color without checkering and was a tight drop-in fit. If it had been mine, I would have relieved the tight spots, but he didn't want me to do that or glass bed it, so I dropped it in and tightened the screws. He says it shoots well, but his definition of "shoots well" and mine are likely to be different.

The walnut stocks that I have are a little inconsistent in the grading of the wood, with the figure in the wood being less than I had expected for the higher 25% and 50% figure that they were sold as having.

Boyds customer service is okay, but if you have a problem with the stock that you receive, you will pay for the shipping back to and from Boyds. I received a stock with the barrel channel cut off-center and I paid for shipping 3x, the original shipment, the return shipment, and the replacement shipment. If the problem is due a manufacturers error, I think that the manufacturer should cover all of the shipping.

Like Orion2000, I also prefer to pay a little extra for laser-cut checkering and of the available options I like the fleur-de'lis skip-line pattern.

Have a laminate thump hole for a remington 700 in 7mm08 was dropped in fit. A evolution ss for a ruger 10/22 heavy barrel and 2 rimfire hunters for heavy barrel 10/22. All were nice quality stocks.

Ive owned several of their laminated stocks. They were a little generous in the inletting, especially around the bottom metal, but still a good value in a stock in my view.

Have bought two laminated stocks (nutmeg laminate) within the last few months, an SS Evolution for a 10/22 and a Rimfire Hunter for a Savage Mark II, and bought a Pro Varmint for a CZ457 Varmint about 18 months ago.

The laminate wood finish was okay, it fully covered the wood and did it's job but it is sprayed on and still has a sort of turpentine smell when you pull it out of the box, but that goes away after a couple of days. The Pro Varmint was finished with black textured paint and did not smell.

Maybe I got lucky but inletting on all three of mine was perfect, definitely better than a lot of factory stocks I've seen over the last couple of decades. Barrels were centered in the channel and wood to metal fit was snug around the action - not overly tight or binding but no gaps at all.

The Pro Varmint and Evolution stocks were here 7-8 days after ordering them, the Rimfire Hunter took two weeks but that was because I ordered it on Monday of Thanksgiving week.

Based on a record of 3-0-0 in my experience I'd have no qualms getting another Boyd's stock, especially at their price point.


Speaking of checkering, I got stippling on the Hunter. It adds several bucks but is a nice alternative to checkering, provides a sure grip and looks good.

I purchased a AT-One laminated stock for a SA Remington 700. Was planning on using it as a drop-in and shooting it before any additional work. Inletting looked good but 5-10 inch/pounds on the action screws bound up the action. I had a gunsmith pillar and bed the action, now everything works as it should.
The Boyd’s stock fit my needs because it allows me to adjust fit to grandkids and wife. It is attractive and is a good change from the factory plastic stock. If it had been a main hunting gun for me, I could have shopped for a used McM or similar. You pays your money and takes your chances…

I put a laminate one on my son’s 77/357 when he was much smaller. I cut the stock down to size and kept the piece I cut off. Now that he’s grown, I used wood glue and screws to replace the piece I cut off and now he has a full length stock again. No fitting necessary. It dropped right in. If I was in the market for another laminate stock, I’d go to Boyd’s first.

Minor inletting, need to releave the bolt handle but it is a custom bbl and handle. (9.3-Argy)

I emailed Boyd and asked if they could leave the Sling Studs off of a thumbhole stock. Explained that I would install the studs myself, putting the studs on the bottom made the hand-grip dig into a person back when carried with a sling. 3 weeks later, answer; NO we can not do that, we don't offer that kind of custom work.. <LAF,, they have the WORST customer service I've ever come across.

Another time I asked by phone if they would leave the recoil pad off because I had two pads and would install the pad myself. Female told me the pad is the first thing to go on the stock in the production process.
I said: So a pad is mounted to a block of wood then all of the machining and spray finish is applied? YES , I asked to speak to her supervisor to get more detailed info., their phone ''dropped my call'' ??
Their stocks must be ok, they sure don't stay in business for other reasons.

You want custom work, pay custom prices.

My only experience…

Maybe 10,years ago i needed a stock for my LH savage 17hmr. 92s or whatever the model is.

Factory split long ways on the forearm.
Prolly a easy fix, but wanted a new one.


Order a Boyd’s. Still like $99 then.

No where on the west page did it mention that the factory trigger guard wouldn’t fit…

Came in the mail put in on…

Sure enough. Factory trigger guard didn’t fit.

No problem. I’ll order one.

Online @ Boyd’s it was only like $7-8 or so.

BUT shipping was gonna be something like $15.

Called em.

Talked to a lady. Politely explained the deal.

I need a guard, bit not paying $15 to ship something you can stick in a padded mailer.

She fixed the shipping.

If they would noted it where i purchased the stock, then no big deal. Would have ordered it then.

I have 2 Boyds laminate stocks. One on a Rem 700 and one on a Tikka T3x. No problems with either one, good stock for the money. I had the Rem 700 stock glass bedded. It shoots good. I have not bedded the Tikka stock yet, but the fit is good. No inlet work needed on either stock.

I purchased one a few years ago to put on a salt wood Browning Safari. I took a belt sander to it and lost about a pound. They are not bad stocks at all but they are heavy.

I have used these over the years with zero issues but you need to keep in mind these are for mainstream utility use and if you want custom wood and special options, there are much better alternatives. Good value for money, but nothing special. The last two 450 Bushmaster Mausers I recently did, one walnut and one laminated, were drop in fit with no inletting required. Glass Bedding is required to tighten up groups. These are just good ole useful stocks and do the job intended for them without bling and fanfare.