Have a 96 6.5 Mauser that I want to change to stock on. Boyds or Richards Microfit ?????

Apples and oranges. Used many of both.
Richards are not drop in, and require fitting, sanding, finishing, etc. But you get a better fit as you fit as closely as you can.
Have lots of wood too.
Boyds is drop in, one size fits all, and are finished if you want it, for not much more. Faster and cheaper.
So, it depends on what you are looking for.
Consider here; Ramrod has a nice 96 pattern should you want to go whole hog yourself.

What dpcd said. Boyds is good for a drop in and go stock. But if you dont mind waiting and putting in some work then you can get a better quality stock with some figure and color from Richards. But naturally, you'll pay for the best ones. Boyds Walnut is all very pedestrian. I have one Richards stock and several Boyds. I like the Richards stock quiet a bit, but the wait time can be abysmal.

Have some fun and rework the military stock. Build a pocket and inlet a check piece. Get the correct LOP and put on a recoil pad. Sand to a really smooth finish than use steel wool and hand rub in boiled linseed oil.May take some time, but well worth the effort.Much of the Swede wood was quite nice.

Try it! You'll like it!
roger

i had a couple of richards stocks once - once - never again. like dpcd suggests give paul (ramrod)a call - his duplication is really excellent, much much better than you'll find out of richards. You can pick out a nice blank and have paul duplicate it with his pattern for not much more than the others and really have something when you are done

I have a sporter stock that I got from Numrich on my 7X57 that costed less than a Boyds and I like it better than any Boyds stock I have. The thing about those stocks though (if they still have them) is it is a crap shoot. You never know what it is going to look like until you have it.

Bartsche,
Have already modified original stock, cheek piece, grip, thinned stock down. Unfortunately after a couple of years, it is warping so I thought I would just buy a decent drop in.
thanks for the reply.

Oooh I have the answer, if you haven't already ordered: Boyds.

I say that because recently ordered a walnut stock from them for a M96/38 myself. They must of had one in stock because it shipped fairly quickly and I got it in about a week from placing the order. The fit on the receiver and barrel are excellent. Took a little wood work to get the bottom metal to drop in to place but it was minor. All told, if I had wanted too, I could of had the rifle in shooting condition in a couple of hours or less. So far very happy with the stock, doing a little more work on it to make it the look I want.

If you want picture I can post them.

Yes, a pic would be great. Thanks

M96 stock album if this link doesn't work let me know.

That would be the Boyds stock, I added the dark end cap and grip cap. It came with the rubber butt plate and swivel screws. Second attempt at checkering a rifle stock. The only fitting that was required was on the front of the base metal.


Edit: removed a couple of direct links to pictures because they were huge and awkward.

Nice wood. See you have a scout scope setup. Well, looks like I will be ordering a boyds in walnut. DSH, thanks for the pics.

Yeah I've been wanting to try out the scout rifle concept for a while. This was an easy way to try it out.

check with member Chris at www.walnutgrovegunstocks.com. They have a tremendous selection of blanks, from $100 to over a thousand dollars.

Update: I have yet to order stock, had to have knee scoped, then cataract removed, so I am waiting for spring (hard to tell its winter 78 degrees) but I will add a pic for bartsche. I reworked the military stock several years ago. Should have used beach but had some wild cherry (dark) so I used it. Did not like the look so I camo'd the stock and the action. See pic
http://www.myhostedpics.com/images/Lostoki/6_1.jpg

Now that's the way a HUNTING rifle should look. Nice job. roger