Has anyone ordered a exhibition Bastogne stock from Richards recently? If so what did you think? Was it light or dark in color? I've been satisifed with their grading of black and english but never ordered or have seen their bastogne. Thanks, Rob.

Hi: I have never ordered a Bastogne Walnut stock from Richards...but have several rifles stocked in Bastogne & think it is the best Walnut for rifle stocks because of its strength...I place it above
Circassian...for that reason too. I have it in my finest rifles...
Best Regards, Tom

I've gotten a few pieces of Bastogne from them, one was very nice for the $ and the other not so nice for the $. The nice one had all the traditional bastogne feature - checked fiddleback, large grain flow, and excellent color. I'll send you a pic, if you're interested in seeing what it looked like.

A photo would be great, thanks.

PM your email address...

Thanks again. The pm feature still escapes me on the new board.

hey 9.3x62-
If you PM one to me, I can post it here for everyone to see.

Dempsey - pics sent.

LDO... thanks, but I just fired off 5 pics to dempsey - thanks for the offer.

Thankyou. Looks great. Sometimes I see light colored bastogne with fiddle. It looks good but not what I want. I like the darker wood with the different colors

Dempsey,
RMF ONLY sends light fiddleback for high grade.. that's how they think of it.

this is some of mine, if you like dark fiddle. you can email me for $$ if you like.. F is gone!


jeffe

Jeff, that is good stuff. I'm having a carpal tunnel release on both hands and and some other stuff done. Sort of a a rehab project. I'd hate to spend too much or screw up something real nice! SO I thought I'd do a old Savage I have that I dropped and cracked the stock, can't hang on to anything lately Thanks for the info on Richards, I've heard that before on their high grade bastogne. Might do English or Black. I'll see what kind of information I can get from them, it's not always easy depending on who answers the phone.

I've always been more than happy with Richard's for wood.
I am restocking a Winchester 94 in a piece of Claro Exhibition and it looks really pretty.
Don't ask if they still make it because this is an experimental stock he did about 15 or 20 years ago.

Needless to say, Richard's is a great place with good wood and good prices.

www.rifle-stocks.com

-Spencer

I actually have found RMF to be rather incompetant. I've gotten different lengths of pull (not by request), different drop at heel, different drop at toe, different drop at comb ALL from the same alledged "style" of stock.

Their phone help blows too. Try to request a "light weight" piece of wood - they don't care. Try to ask for a black pad - they don't care. Try to ask for a specific drop at heel - they don't care.

I've returned stocks a number of times, and they always gave me a hard time about it, which annoys me - if you have a "satisfaction guarantee" don't be asses when someone wants to use it.

GAG isn't much better...

quote:

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Originally posted by ShopCartRacing:
Needless to say, Richard's is a great place with good wood and good prices.

http://www.rifle-stocks.com

-Spencer

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You'll find the general feeling in this forum is the opposite...

I like gag's patterns about 100% more than I like RMF's... and neither one can seem to deliver square inletting or consistent wood above select plain.

RMF, here, is like a shaw barrel... riding a moped, or dating a very "padded" lady... they might be fun, but don'ttell your friend about it

jeffe

Dempsey,
sent you a PM.. I'll be happy to help
jeffe

quote:

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Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Dempsey,
RMF ONLY sends light fiddleback for high grade.. that's how they think of it.

this is some of mine, if you like dark fiddle. you can email me for $$ if you like..jeffe

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Nothing prettier than a beautiful piece on nice wood - like those shown above!

I've also had mixed results with Richards. I order their old classic and have gotten one with a varmint forearm when I ordered a round, a modern classic and various other mistakes. I have usually been satisfied with their wood grading, especially Black. English hasn't been bad for the price. I know it's a crap shoot but they fit for my intended use with this one. I'm going to try and make real sure they understand what I'm ordering and cross my fingers.

I like Jeffe's blanks. Here's a Sako L-57 I had made with a similar Bastogne blank from Rimrock Gunstocks in Marysville, CA.:

My experience has been that Richards gives good wood for the money. Just don't expect it to look like anything you expect unless you order a blank..........DJ

Forrest,

If i wasn't guilty of doing it to others, I would have to send you a bill for my drooled on keyboard!!!

jeffe

Fla3006, That is one nice looking stock! Love the wood. What caliber?

Terry

i've recently gotten 2 stocks from richars, one i ordered as a AAA claro factory "2nd" and it was full feather crotch figure in the butt. the other was sight unseen/ no pic on the web off their bargain/closeout list. $89. it was listed as AAA bastogne, the guy on the phone said was more like exhibition. was outstanding beyond my wildest dreams for $89 (had a short LOP - i wanted for a 300 win mag so got a pad anyway - and some tiny drying checks which i can happily live with). will see if i can figure out how to post pics on this site. if they can furnish wood like this on demand per grade you won't be disappointed.

that being said, i've done 2 bastogne stocks. this and one from fajens long ago which is just butt ugly and doesn't even look like the same type wood. i despise working the stuff. curly-cued grain, never know which way a chisel cut is going other than not the way you wanted. but it does hold checkering awfully well.

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TC1: Fla3006, That is one nice looking stock! Love the wood. What caliber?

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Terry, it's a 308. Thought you might like the forend tip too:

OK, so if you buy a blank, what is the final cost of turning it into a finished stock, ie. sending it to someone and saying "make it fit this rifle". I have always wanted to do this, but never had the guts.
Peter.

quote:

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Originally posted by Peter:
OK, so if you buy a blank, what is the final cost of turning it into a finished stock, ie. sending it to someone and saying "make it fit this rifle". I have always wanted to do this, but never had the guts.
Peter.

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Price varies. Usually somewhere between $1500.00-$4000.00 for a complete ready to go stock from a blank.

Terry

Fla3006, stunning!

dempsey,

Oddly enough, I'm doing a new stock for my Savage as well. I ordered my stock for Gatewood Stockyard (http://www.claudegatewood.com) and I should have the stock in a week of so. Claude is a nice guy and very helpful and honest. He shoots Savages so he makes nice stocks for Savages. I went with AAA Claro Walnut stock blank for $200, and he charges $80 to inlet.

Good luck,
Kory

Hold it guys. there is a big difference between $80 and $1500. Kory, perhaps yours is semi inletted already? I must confess that $80 sounds low and $1500 sounds high, but then, I don't know!
Peter.

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Originally posted by Peter:
Hold it guys. there is a big difference between $80 and $1500. Kory, perhaps yours is semi inletted already? I must confess that $80 sounds low and $1500 sounds high, but then, I don't know!
Peter.

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Here ya go peter, Low end gun stock About $1350.00 and the high end about $3750.00 the way I would spec it out. The high end link is defiantly not the most expensive I've seen. Look at both sites at the finished rifles and you'll see the quality difference is apparent.

Terry

quote:

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Originally posted by Peter:
Hold it guys. there is a big difference between $80 and $1500. Kory, perhaps yours is semi inletted already? I must confess that $80 sounds low and $1500 sounds high, but then, I don't know!
Peter.

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Yes, it is semi-inletted. I apologize for not making that clear. It will probably take me a weekend to finish the inletting and sanding. I sand the outside up to about 600 grit sand paper, then switch to Wood Worker's Steel Wool (no oil). Then I will apply several coats of Arm-R-Seal every couple of days, depending on temprature and humidity. I have a Bridgeport mill that I use to remove the bulk of the material in the barrel channel, and then use the Gunline and Fisher (I think that is what they are called) tools for final shaping and scraping.

A good stock maker can probably to the intelling (for a Gatewood finished stock) using Fordhan like tools in a couple of hours instead a weekend, but I'm rather new to this and just take my time and go slowly. I'm not doing any checkering myself as I think I'll really screw it up. I may send my stocks out for that. Right now, I'm happy with out it.

If I'm going to pay someone $1500 to $3000 for inletting & finishing work, all I expect to do would be to drop in the rifle and tightent the bolts.

Kory

Kory,

Typically when you hire a stockmaker to build you a custom stock you dont even have to drop the metal into the wood. The ones I do go out completely assembled. Most other stockmakers do the same. You need the metal with the wood to get that perfect fit.

Peter, like many things there can be no end in sight when asking what the price of a stock is. In this instance you can get a semi-inletted stock for a price between about a hundred bucks to five hundred. I've done this and it is a fun project even if it doesn't pass the snob test. I'm also having a stock done that I expect to cost around $2500 not including the price of the wood. Obviously there is a reason for the price difference, that being quality in terms of workmanship. If you have a itch to try one yourself by all means do it. Get a couple good books and go slow and have fun. Everybody starts somewhere and it doesn't have to break the bank.

quote:

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Originally posted by Bill Soverns:
Kory,

Typically when you hire a stockmaker to build you a custom stock you dont even have to drop the metal into the wood. The ones I do go out completely assembled. Most other stockmakers do the same. You need the metal with the wood to get that perfect fit.

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Hi Bill,

I was being sarcastic. I wanted Pete to realize that for $280, I not in any way getting any close to what Mr. Chic Worthington does for a couple grand more. His stuff is a work of art. I'm getting a rough, semi-inletting stock and even after spending 20 hours on, won't be remotely camparable to Chic'c work.

Kory

Kory, did you use one of his patterns or one of your own?

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Originally posted by dempsey:
Kory, did you use one of his patterns or one of your own?

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Rob, it was one of Claude's patterns. I have been looking for a Benchrest stock in Claro Walnut and he is the only one that had exactly what I was looking for. Richard's Microfit has some that are pretty close, but not exact. This is going to be a 6PPC rifle so I wanted the wide fore arm with the flat bottom to ride the bags well.

The style that I like is very much like the McMillan, but I hate fiberglass. I can actually feel the vibration and reverbration in the stock and have always felt that wood aborbs the vibration better. Come to find out that I was correct and wood is making a comeback in the Benchrest world.

If you send me a PM with your e-mail address, I will send you a picture of his stock in Laminate.

I also have two other stocks coming from Richard's Microfit for a Remmy 700 ADL Short Action. One is a Modern Classic with a Varminter fore arm and the other is the Marksman. Both are AAA Claro Walnut. I've been told that these stocks are 99% inletted and will require very little work to fit the action. However, I will have to open the barrel channel up and even the action area to leave some space for the glass bedding material. I've also been told my others that the outside is pretty rough with a lot of machine marks so it will require a lot of TLC.

Kory