Any body who has any experience of Boyd�s laminated stocks?
I�ve just ordered a JRS Classic in Pepper laminate for my 700 BDL.
Is it a good stock?. Fully finished, both in and out? Is a pad included? (I forgot to ask them about that)
The stock is bought as a "FINISHED" one.
Does it need to be bedded? ...and so on.
Please tell me something about them, both positive and negative.
Thank in advance.

I don't have one (or two) yet but after evaluating various options for my ordered M1999 actions from MRC, Boyd's are on my very short, short list.

I bought the same stock for a 700 ADL and it did not come close to lining up properly. It fit the metal, but the screw holes were off by about 1/8". I sent it back and the new one is being delivered today, I'll let you know how it works, if its the same it's going back and I'm done with them. Their answer on the first one was that there is some variation in the remington actions, come on guys, there is less than 1/8" variation in 2 pairs of shoes.

I made the mistake of buying a couple for Remingtons, and one for a Winchester. They were all crap. The Winchester is inletted off so far that you could never make a good fitting stock out of it. They claim that their inletting is done by way of CNC, but I have a hard time being convinced of it after seeing the work. The only thing that I will say that was good about them was the fact that they did finish the outside of the stock very well for a semi-inlet, or semi-finished stock. Actually, it was better than any other that I'd seen. The only problem is, no matter how well finished the outside of the stock is, it's irrelevant if the inletting doesn't match the receiver.

WOW!

Well my replacement stock came today and it's better than the first one. It is still not drop in by any means, needs the bedding screw holes opened up to get things to line up and then a bedding job to snug it all together. Nice looking setup though.

I only own one Boyd's, a nutmeg laminate JRS. It fit the Santa Barbara Mauser barreled action near perfect. My trouble came when I didn't install a cross bolt on my 375 WhnAI (something I debated, but didn't do originally). Under recoil the action was forced back to the point where it broke a small portion of wood back, digging iself into the web of my hand. The recoil lug area also broke loose.
I epoxied both broken pieces of wood, and re-bedded it, with a cross bolt, and it works fine.
I do intend to buy another. Lessons learned will be put into usage next time.
I remember many years ago, some companies (I can't remember who) that made laminated stocks advertised that the wood was impregnated fully within the fibers. Well, my Boyd's isn't. The laminations were merely glued together, with no absorbtion of glue into the fibers. I assume this is why mine broke under recoil. ~~~Suluuq

I have finished a couple of Boyds laminates for my own guns and two for my buddies. They were the Warner varminter stock for the 700s and one for an original M77. I had one minor problem with the rear screw hole lining up but it was easliy taken care of. Finishing the outside was easier than expected for a rookie . I did bed everything in with steel bed and put pillars in the M77. All of the projects shot well and I plan on ordering one more a spare for my Model 7.

I did one for a Ruger 77 and had to do some work to get top & bottom lined up. But I'm happy with the final result and can't complain about the price.

Rather than re-write my whole experience I'll direct you to a previous discussion here.

I just did a Boyds walnut JRC for a swede and the walnut was slab sawn. Had to hog out the screw holes to get the top and bottom lined up. I glassed in the screw holes to get them right, then glassed the rear tang and front . It turned out ok after bedding. Dont like the slab saw though . Ill porbably get a nicer stock wood later.

Just saw one (Boyds laminate) the other day that was wittled on by Ralph Martini (could have been Hagn as I didn't ask specifically). In a word wow. the only thing Boyds about it was the lumber. He did extensive work to it including the bedding (he told me it had lots of glass in there but from the outside I could not see it even when pointed out because he matched it color wise to the laminate so very well). So anyway, I now know that they can be made to look very stockish instead of clubish.

Chuck

I must be lucky the one I have has been just fine..I have had to open up the barrel channel to fit my profile and cut a slot for the bolt..It's a sporterized VZ-24 with a #3 barrel..I'll post some pics on a seperate thread..

Mike

I have recently purchase two Boyd's stocks and one was sweet and the other. . . not so sweet. The sweet one was a walnut, G.I. 3-piece, walnut stained, oil finished, inletted for the M1 rifle. The inletting was so perfect it was a press fit to insert the metal action into the stock. All metal parts fit perfectly with no alteration. The wood was very atractive straight-grained walnut with no figure and no flaws. The outside wood was slightly oversized, but not noticable to the average shooter. I cleaned off the excess oil and finished it with a satin urethane. The end result was a beautiful, well bedded, accurate rifle. The "not so sweet" stock was an unfinished JRS stock, pepper laminate, for a Remington ADL. The screw holes did not line up so I had to do a little adjusting by opening up the screw holes, which made them too big. I solved the problem by pillar bedding and glass bedding the action. The outside required very little sanding prior to a a nice satin urethane finish of about 7 coats. The wood in the laminates must be birch as they were too soft for what I consider a good solid stock. The end result was a nice very lightweight stock that looks pretty good for an economical barrelled action.

As a follow-up to the problems I had with my Ruger 77 stock -- I mentioned it to the Boyd's rep at the NRA Annual Meeting show and he said they had a bad run in the time frame when I bought it.

If I got another one I'd check action & bottom inletting first & not hesitate to send back.

BTW if anyone was thinking about doing a big bore, they do recommend crossbolts behind the recoil lug and magazine.

I have two Boyd JRS laminated stocks, one for a M 70 Win and the other for a mauser. The M 70 stock split at the trigger webbing and now the stock has to be cross bolted there. Since the stock is only about a year old I called them and asked them if they would repair it and they said to repair it myself. Not very responsive. The stock itself is just OK with the finish not being acceptable because it is slick to hold and when wet it becomes very difficult to hold. Both stocks need a different finish applied, or checkered, which I won't do. The mauser stock has yet to be used but based on what I now know I'll crossbolt the stock before using. You will have to do some fitting work for sure but I don't find that to be much of a problem. What does concern me though is the splitting. I think I've purchased my last Boyd.

I put a JRS pepper coloured onto my 338 Ruger a couple of years ago. The inletting was fine and the stock was easy to finish. Can't really complain about it from a manufacturing point of view, however, from a design view I don't like it and wouldn't buy another. The grip was obviously made for someone with very large and fleshy hands which I don't have. It is very long and somewhat thin. I find it so different from my other rifles in the grip area that I find it hard to use the trigger well on this rifle. Also the proportions of the stock are fairly large making for a heavy stock. Apparently they weigh about 44 oz finished compared to 32 oz for a MacMillan or 28 oz for a High Tech. When I stocked the next rifle I used an Elkridge "Old Classic" laminate and I am very pleased with this stock. Check it out first before buying. Steve

I've got a Pepper Laminate on my 700 ADL. The barrel channel is off to one side by a considerable amount, I glass bedded it and it shoots ok but I'm not impressed. My friend also has one of their stocks for a Savage and the action sat offset in that stock also.
I personally wish I would have spent the money on a HS Precision stock. Would I buy another, only as a last resort.
Jeff