Does anybody have any experiance with them? They offer a semi finsihed that is supposed to be inletted-99%? The also offer a lot of upgrades.

I'm thinking of getting one of their stocks to replace a Winchester that is too straight for me.

Thanks!

There is alot of discussion about Great American Gunstocks on this forum... GAG is often how the company is refered to as here.

Sometimes you get a usable product other times you get a wasted blank of wood... The quality of the inletting is highly varied and not dependent on the amount of money you spend...

My recommendation is to get the pattern you like in utility walnut, glass bed your rifle into it, fit the stock to your liking and send it off to Biesens for duplication in a blank of your choice.

If there was ever such a thing as an economy based custom rifle GAG would fit the bill. They are nice stocks but not to be confused with "high end" stocks, this is more of a production type product. GAG offers rough turned blanks and will do extra work if you desire. My experience with them has been ok, I've bought 4 stocks from him and 3 were great and one should have been returned. On 1 of them I bought when the UPS truck brought it I dropped the barreled action in the stock and the inletting appeared so crocked the barrel missed the forend. I called Henry and told him about the problem and said the stock was ruined and I would need a refund. He kept insisting the stock was fine and just needed the inletting re-machined. I told him there was no way this could be fixed and he was wrong. He said just send the barreled action and the stock to him and he would show me. About 1 month later the stock was returned with the barreled action fitted and the stock shaped. I was amazed, I just knew there was no way you could fit that action in that stock and not have gaps in the inletting, but he did it.

I would suggest that if you use them, send them the barreled action and tell them you want it "fitted, shaped and sanded" you'll get a much nicer finished product. Also, anything you want done to it, make sure you tell them. Don't assume anything.

Like I said, these are very nice stocks, not top of the line but a lot better than most. A nice stocked custom rifle that you don't mind taking in the woods. The production line custom stock business is a tuff game. It's very hard to satisfy the type of clientel you get looking for this type of product. Most companies that have tried it in the past are gone. I'm glad they still do what they do.

Here are a couple of rifles he's done for me. Top one is a .375H&H on a Whitworth Mauser action. The bottom one is a .300H&H on a M-70 Winchester. GAG did the top one start to finish. The bottom one was done by several people (me included) and didn't turn out as nice.

Terry

Ok, thanks forthe tip on GAG. I turned up quite a bit.

The rifle in question is new M70 safari grade. The stock is way to straight for me for iron sights. I really like their Britsh classic express. It sounds like it is worth it to spend the money to have them fit it to their shop rifle.

TC1, those are outstanding rifles, I assumethe .300h7h is a p64?

quote:

TC1, those are outstanding rifles, I assumethe .300h7h is a p64?

Naw, just a Classic with a new tube screwed on.

Terry

quote:

The production line custom stock business is a tuff game. It's very hard to satisfy the type of clientel you get looking for this type of product. Most companies that have tried it in the past are gone.

That is a very good observation.

TC1,

Nice write-up. I appreciate the discussion of the good and bad points necessary to make an informed choice. Too often all we get as a response is "They're great," or "They suck," which helps absolutely not at all. Thanks.

Jaywalker

here's what I think, in my experience...

they have some great patterns...

their execution for a final stock leaves (from time to time) alot to be desired, and in fact can be junk.

but i've also seen some excellent work out of their shop...

inho
gag patterns are better than richard's microfit
RMF tends to deliver a more useful working stock, inletting wise

jeffe

I took my 1909 Arg. Mauser to their shop in Yuba City, CA. After Henry gave me a nice tour I picked out a stock and had them inlet it and install a butt plate and grip cap. I did the final sanding and finishing and it turned out just fine. It was worth the money.

I recently bought from Great American a very handsome rough-turned unfinished and partially-inletted walnut stock for a sporterized and converted VZ-24 Mauser. For an additional $329, not including tax and shipping, Great American shaped the stock to my instructions, fitted the stock to my barreled action, and installed a good recoil pad and an ebony grip cap. They did a very impressive job, and they did it pretty fast. The wood-to-metal fit of the stock is far better than on any factory rifle I have seen. I was highly satisfied.

I have heard very few, if any, complaints about the work they do in their shop when stocking your rifle for you. Where all of the complaints seem to come into play is when you just order a sem-inletted and shaped stock from them. I have personal experience in this, and if the posts I have read on this forum are true, those experiences have been shared by a whole bunch of other people.

Perhaps they should just stick to stocking rifles in their shop and stop selling semi-inletted blanks until they can provide better consistency in the quality of their product.

You have to keep in mind they are rough turned blanks.

Here is a picture of the top stock in my 1st post it's as rough as any that come out of his shop.


Terry

Has anyone used the British Express pattern? Wondered what it looked like finished.

The british express has a longer grip . I think its 4 3/8. Basicly there Classic patterns are all the same. Like Ive said before I dont like there High toe line cut they do on all their stocks . I told them to leave extra wood in the grip cap and behind it on the belly and they cut too much wood of anyway

quote:

Originally posted by 333_OKH:
Has anyone used the British Express pattern? Wondered what it looked like finished.

This one is a British Express Stalker with a dropbox added.


This is the one out of the 4 I've bought that's should have been sent back. It had a very small patch in the butt area of the stock. I tried to fix this instead of sending it back for a replacement. When I pulled the patch out I found a soft spot in the stock, after I finished digging it all out it was about as round as a golfball and half as deep.

Here is a picture of it with the barreled action.

Terry

i've used the english express and stalker...

if you expect to get a pattern for 120 bucks, it's a pretty fair deal...

if you want a better one, then either pay a bunch or have gag do it...

like I said, they've got some pretty cool patterns

jeffe

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
You have to keep in mind they are rough turned blanks.

Here is a picture of the top stock in my 1st post it's as rough as any that come out of his shop.


Terry

“Roughness“ in the finish was never a problem for me. Crooked/twisted stocks, sloppy-loose inletting, out of square action screw holes, receiver inletting out of square with the stock, toe-out in the wrong direction, and gouges in the wood that were so deep it was impossible to fix without filling them up with putty...those were the problems.

Perhaps I’m just being too “picky?â€

quote:

Originally posted by Rick 0311:


Perhaps I’m just being too “picky?â€

Probably

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
You have to keep in mind they are rough turned blanks.

Here is a picture of the top stock in my 1st post it's as rough as any that come out of his shop.


Terry

What grade of stock blank was this one??

I don't know, It came out of the bargin bin. Henry said somebody had returned it as un-useable.

Terry

My above post about the longer grip was wrong . I was thinking the british stalker. It has the longer grib, not sure of the express grip.

I've used 4 or 5 of their stocks and liked them all. They are far from being drop ins and they also required a lot of work on the outside, but I expected that.

Boyd's sells their VIP (virtually inlet part) models. How close are they to being "drop in" and how much finish is required on the outside? I've never used one so I don't know. Anybody?

I bought a boyds once for a M-70. The inletting was very clean but over sized, they drop right in. The outside was very clean, If you are happy with the shape it'll only need final sanding. The problem with the boyds is they look no different than the factory stock the rifle came with. Just plian looking IMO.

Terry

Well..I seem to have stepped into something here. Is it better to go with a one of Richards micro fits? I have zero inletting experiance?

You'll hear tells of praise and disgust from Richards customers too. One thing I do like about GAG over Richards is if you get in over your head there will be someone there to bail you out (for a price .) Also GAG is a little more flexable as to what stage of completion you can order the stock, grip caps butt plates,etc. Ultimately you'll have to decide and roll the dice for yourself.

Of course there is always the easy way out out. Just hire a stock maker

Terry

TC what kind of wood is that. I dearly love that carmel with the black streaks over the feather and fiddleback. IMO not as dramatic but very very classy.

I've had Henry Pohl at GAG completely restock 4 rifles for me over the years, all with full length Mannlicher-Style forends (2 were original M-S rifles.

As stated by others, his finished product is far better than his semi-inlets. He also does an outstanding job of bedding, and his checkerers can compete with any factory job.

If you need a rifle completely restocked, I can recommend them. I don't trust any production company's semi-inlets, including theirs. Also, keep in mind that the stocks advertised in their Bargain Gallery are there for a reason.

There is also a very good reason why a professional stock costs $3K, and one from GAG will cost about $1K. Henry tends to use bedding compound in place of precise hand inletting. The price of this labor is what makes up the difference.

quote:

Originally posted by fireman:
Well..I seem to have stepped into something here. Is it better to go with a one of Richards micro fits? I have zero inletting experiance?

“Semi-Inletted“ stocks are just that...you have to finish up the inletting yourself, or in far too many cases you have to get out the bedding material to fill in the gaps. That would include Richard’s “micro-fit†stocks. One size fits all works fine for some things but normally doesn’t apply well to rifle stocks.

quote:

Originally posted by Blueprinted:
TC what kind of wood is that. I dearly love that carmel with the black streaks over the feather and fiddleback. IMO not as dramatic but very very classy.

It's English walnut.

Terry

well, i just received a (mis) order again...

ordered a british express, pancake cheek, with drop... (for a pattern)

got express, american cheek, no drop...

<sigh>

jeffe

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
well, i just received a (mis) order again...

ordered a british express, pancake cheek, with drop... (for a pattern)

got express, american cheek, no drop...

<sigh>

jeffe

Damn Jeffe, gotta love'm

Terry

Can anyone that has posted a photo on this thread tell me the grade of stock that is pictured??

quote:

Can anyone that has posted a photo on this thread tell me the grade of stock that is pictured??

I'm not sure what what TC1 paid for it. There are a couple on their site with similar grain for a Winchester in the $400-550 range. http://www.gunstocks.com/highwin.html

This one is from the bargain list and was $100-150 less.



Fireman:
Don't know what action you have. The GAG prefit MKX Daly is about 99%. You can push the metal in. If you have a factory action and barrel for $75 GAG will inlet for you.

Ramrod, I have 2 Winchester M70's both are new Safari grades. A .375H&H and a .458 Win. mag. Would I a send barreled action to them or do they use an in house rifle?

Sorry I can't answer that. I don't know what factory barreled actions he has in stock. The $75 is using their barreled action. Using your would cost a little more I think. I suggest you give Henry Pohl a call at GAG and ask him.

Sorry, getting too tired. I meant to aks if they have some in house. I will call to see what they have.

just spent a couple hours thinning the forearm of a gag stock...

billy's right... too much wood to take off...

nearly 3/8 in 8.6" all the way ('cept the top) around

jeffe

Easier to draw plane than to glue stuff on?

Do any of the GAG stocks have cast off and toe out? For me anyway, that helps the rifle come up to my shoulder like a shotgun. Much faster to get things into action.

thanks,
lawndart

TC1,you dazzled me with those pics,good work.What a collection,very nice.