Looking for gunsmith who does very high quality fit and finish on synthetic stocks. Great bedding alone not enough. Fit around edges and paint must be just as good.

I haven't had much custom work done myself but I did just evaluate a GA Precision rifle we bought at work and the bedding + fit was absolutely first rate. I don't believe their rates are any higher than anyone else and quality of work was absolutely impressive!

Nick

Here's an old thread addressing the question:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3228749/1

Thanks but bedding into a stock is not enough. I am looking for someone who can do finely detailed work on the exterior as well.

Chad Dixon of LRI does amazing stock work. Are you starting with a flat top stock?

Kevin Weaver did a good job on the couple of Legends he put on my rifles.

nathan chesney at hillbilly custom rifles

The last 3 above (LRI, Weaver, and Nathan) were the ones that came to mind for me.

Eddie Fosbaugh, eddief here on the Fire.

In no particular order, any of these guys do excellent work:

Nathan Chesney @ Hillbilly Custom Rifles
Eddie Fosnaugh @ Fosnaugh Customs
Alex Sitman @ Masteclass Stocks

Or Karl Feldkamp @ Kampfeld Customs if you can get him to do it if he isn't busy with other work.

I can go along with this.

Jon Addis at Area 419.

Chad Dixon at LRI comes to mind as first hand experience and I am sure there are many many others.
.

Tag.

You can get great bedding, fit, finish, paint, from a number of talented types out there,
but that doesnt mean they all go into the modding/extra details like you see for eg. on
say a Mark Penrod M70 tang...

these are from old 24CF threads;

http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/pathfinder76/media/IMG_6436_zps9i7jqvn4.jpg.html

http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/pathfinder76/media/IMG_6437_zpsid0prsg7.jpg.html


http://oi91.photobucket.com/albums/k306/Deacondoggie/2-4.jpg

http://s331.photobucket.com/albums/l463/Huntr7X57/Penrod.jpg

PM returned

Those are danged nice rifles. I'll try to get some closer pictures of my Weaver Mashburn and my P64 338. I think Kevin did a great job, but no doubt Mark Penrod does excellent work as well.

Mark Gordon @ Short Action Customs does kick ass fit/finish work....I have a couple of his builds.

Robert Gradous @ Gradous Rifles!!!!!!!!

Weaver does a good stocking job with the regular unmodded M70 tang.

http://weaverrifles.com/Rifles/Synthetic/300WSM_2/300WSM_2.htm

http://weaverrifles.com/Rifles/Synthetic/Pre64wsm/Pre64wsm.htm

but what I've noticed with a number of gunmakers (including Weaver, McWhorter, etc) when using McMllans,
is that despite the receiver and barrel channel fit being very good, there is(often enough) an unsightly gap
around the bolt handle. This is usually the case with stocks that have the BH cut-out performed by McMllan.
Some smiths would never let a rifle leave the shop with such a gap, but I don't know which maker rinB will
ultimately decide on.

People have raved about McWhorter over the yrs , personally I wouldn't accept a custom straight BH Borden
stocked with cut-out to suit a factory dog-leg 700 BH.

http://assets4.lionseek.com/item/guns/medium_453726-2-mcwhorter-custom-rifle-for-sale-243-win.jpg

https://s3.amazonaws.com/mgm-conten...3101_01_mcwhorter_custom_7mm_stw_640.jpg

This is what a Borden in a McMllan looks like when done to what I consider true custom standard:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k50/snapbox2/2a7af6a0-bf3f-4683-a636-6fdba59d7f23_zpsimcnbxzv.jpg

Echols McMllan stocks do not have the cut-out, allowing a smith to create a very close uniform fit around the
BH of choice. I am presuming RinB wants the best fit in every respect when stocking a McMllan, so its some-
thing one needs to keep in mind and mention to ones choice of gunmaker when commissioning the job.

Best fit/finish in the buisness is Tim Cronin @ Elkhorn Precision...unfortunately Tim has closed his shop to pursue his career in law enforcement. Next best gunsmith with exceptional fit/finish work in my opinion is Mark Gordon @ Short Action Customs.

Have had rifles from pretty much every gunsmith mentioned on this forum......Tim and Mark are best two for accurate rifles with attention to fit/finish work.

Jon Addis @ Area 419 does a good job also.

Go over to Chad Dixon's website and see what he does. longriflesinc.com

Or check out his facebook page. His stock fitment is perfection.

Tim Cronin did some work for me and set the bar pretty high. Really sorry he changed careers.

Rick,

Bob had his Mashburn done by Gene Simillion IIRC.

Gene has done some work for me as well and he is top notch.

Tag.

Nathan Chesney. And if you liked the Borden Rimrock stock ergo's, he's for sure the guy. His stocks are labor intensive and a bit pricey, but truly beautiful to hold. At least for me, I haven't found another stock that fits as well

This thread has been resurrected.

I have had two "best quality" synthetic stocked rifled. They were an Echols Legend M70 and a Joe Smithson small ring Mauser. Both were as perfectly finished as one their wood stocked rifles. Both had complete metal jobs by the maker. Both were very expensive and worth it. Both have stocks designed by the makers.

Sadly, for me, I want a M700 with that level of fit and finish. Tim Cronin did one and his work was first rate. There are lots of guys who can do a perfect bedding job but few that do the same level of fit and finish on the exterior.

Gradous can build a very accurate rifle but the exterior is pretty much McM out of the mold. Same with the McWhorter rifles I have seen. I want Rolls Royce quality inside and outside. That includes good old fashioned rust bluing and CM steel. Heck, I may get a small amount of engraving on the screw heads.

John Bolliger Jr. is doing some synthetic stocks and I am going to check those out. I suspect they are very nice.

I would suggest contacting D'Arcy Echols to see who he might reccommend.
He has some Shrike '700 footprint' stocked rifles on his blog, some with a Borden some with a M700.

If you also want high precision proprietary fixed custom scope mounts like Echols installs,
I dont anyone but Echols who does that sort of thing.

tag

Mark Penrod