HarryAlonzo wrote:I’m pretty sure that all of Boyd’s checkering is done by laser. Good luck with getting them to do something special.
I'm fine with their cookie cutter checkering.
I'd rather have Hogue's CNC fish scale checkring but I can deal with either Boyd's field grade diamonds or their lasered on scale checkering on the pistol grip of the stock. (I'm not certain I want the laser scales on the forearm and I haven't decided to mix and match YET but I might.)
What I want them to do 'special' is cut me a stock for the pre 1978 Browning BAR.
FOR the stock
This involves a slightly different trigger guard tang: 1/2" wide by a slight bit longer as opposed to 5/8" wide by shorter. (I'd even settle for simply making the channel 1/2" wide and cutting it longer myself.)
AND the Type I portion that fits inside the receiver outline extends all the way to the bottom of the wrist/receiver junction. The Type II portion that fits inside the receiver ends about a half inch from the bottom of the wrist/receiver junction.
OR cut me a stock that is drilled for the stock bolt but NOT inletted for the receiver and trigger guard.
Apparently there are also TWO forearms that Browning put on these guns. The shape of the forearm is the same but the distance to the sling swivel attachment grommet from the receiver has two possible measurements ~9" vs ~9&3/8". I suspect these measurements MAY be more connected to the cartridge length than the date of manufacture but I'll need to measure the gun to make sure of that. Boyd's doesn't mention the two different measurements.
There is a video on youtube of a guy slapping a Boyd's forearm on a 1971 BAR about a decade ago. He also 'fits' a stock on the same gun but he simply cuts a slight amount out of the trigger guard tang area with a dremel and slightly modifies the contour at the receiver interface. He fails to get full support the last half inch of the bottom of the receiver/stock wrist interface and makes no attempt to tighten up the extra 1/16" on each side of the trigger guard tang. I CAN do that AND build in additional support and bed the stock with fiberglass epoxy but I'd like to avoid the extra work. I don't trust the 300 Win Mag recoil in a Type I gun vs. the unsupported Type II inletting at the wrist. I suspect the reason this gun is cracked at the wrist involves either the stock bolt being less than tight or a poorly fitted stock in the first place.
I've seen at least one comment from someone online saying that Boyd's was interested in getting access to a Type I gun so they could get the dimensional differences to the Type II and could then offer the Type I stocks as well. I was sort of hopeful somebody had done that in the last 8-9 years so that Boyd's might be able to slap a blank on the mill and punch the Type I program for me.