Boyd’s Stock

[JimTom]

Any of you fellas running a Boyd’s stock, in particular in a Tikka T3X Lite?
For those who have Boyd’s, what do you reckon is the best profile and finish, ie classic laminate, heritage walnut etc.

[Ziege]

I have two boyds, one on a Remington and one on a Howa, I rate them, great value for money. Mine are both laminate and relatively unfinished as far as checkering and other options.

[JimTom]

Thanks mate, yes I was just going to go the classic laminate, just plain, a bit like me. It is after all only a hunting rifle. Would prefer practicality and function to appearance.

[Ziege]

mate mine was all about the cash side of it, if I bought a stock for $1k instead of $290 then I would be $710 shorter on ammo budget, the flasher stocks dont do anything these ones don't, its a bit of wood so you can aim the rifle.

[BigKev74]

I have one for my Howa1500. Just buy them from boyds in the US. Even with shipping & currency conversion its still cheaper than buying them from here. Plus you get to choose all the fancy bits.

I have a spike camp in walnut. Looks okay, shoots fine, hard to ask for anything more at the price.

[scoot]

I put a featherweight thumbhole on my tikka lite. Price is very attractive and they're not bad. I did have to bed the mag floor plate to use it. When trying to torque the action screws at all the plate distorted and wouldn't fit the mag. I'm not talking guerilla torque and the bottom metal is plastic, but it wasn't the drop in fit you assume. Easily rectified but after using it a few times I'm going to look for something else. The reach to the trigger with your hand in the grip is tooooo long. Maybe an "at one" would have been a better choice if anyone had sporter profile barrel channel ones.
P.S. I'm not trying to poo poo them, they are good value, I just chose the wrong style .(hard to test when No one local has any)

[JimTom]

Thanks for the replies gents. Much appreciated. Have ordered a classic laminate. Can’t be any worse than the Tupperware on it at present.

[Ziege]

I have one for my Howa1500. Just buy them from boyds in the US. Even with shipping & currency conversion its still cheaper than buying them from here. Plus you get to choose all the fancy bits.

I have a spike camp in walnut. Looks okay, shoots fine, hard to ask for anything more at the price.

last time I checked boyds won't send them here, they had to go through someone with the export license from the states side. what changed?

[Ziege]

Thanks for the replies gents. Much appreciated. Have ordered a classic laminate. Can’t be any worse than the Tupperware on it at present.

Was going to say I held a few different ones first and found the praire hunter to be the nicest sporter style stock they made, and yes the At0ne was available then too. it was the closest one to a winchester model 70 stock like my old mans.

[bigrich]

resurrecting a old topic rather than starting a new one . questions the same , first hand opinions on boyd stock profiles, in particular for a 308 t3 lite . i'm 6'4" , big hands , big hairy square head . looking at getting a boyds, but not being able to handle the different stock types makes it hard to work out the best fit for me .
classic rem 700 timber stocks from the 70's fit me well as a reference . cheers

[JimTom]

Mate I did end up with the classic laminate Boyd’s on my Tikka T3. Like you, I am a big unit too, and find the stock suits me fine.

[bigrich]

Mate I did end up with the classic laminate Boyd’s on my Tikka T3. Like you, I am a big unit too, and find the stock suits me fine.

thanks for your reply JT . i'm trying to decide which stock profile is best for me . the classic and platinum are straight stocks , the heritage and prairie hunter have raised cheek piece and drop at heel for a more natural offhand shooting stance . i have a B&C on a tikka now , but my rem 700 stock feels better . model 70 xtr stocks fit me well also . how is the weight of your classic stock mate ? i find my B&C to be about the same weight as a tikka synthetic , i don't mind something a little heavier as i shoot better offhand . cheers

[JimTom]

Mate the Boyd’s would be slightly heavier than the plastic that was on it I would say, in saying that I don’t notice any considerable difference though.

[JimTom]

It has been a few years since I changed it over though.

[TuskerOrd]

Featherlight Varmint thumbhole would be my first choice.

Boyds stocks are pretty awesome. I've got either a Featherlight or a Pro Varmint on almost all of my rifles.

[bigrich]

Featherlight Varmint thumbhole would be my first choice.

Boyds stocks are pretty awesome. I've got either a Featherlight or a Pro Varmint on almost all of my rifles.

thanks for your opinion on boyds mate . i'm looking for a more traditional stock profile for stalking/walking scenario . thumbholes don't appeal to me as rapid shots on mobs of pigs are a common occurrence . thumbholes seem like something to settle into for controlled ,precise single shots/varmiting situation

[bigrich]

Mate the Boyd’s would be slightly heavier than the plastic that was on it I would say, in saying that I don’t notice any considerable difference though.

thanks mate . i'm gunna spend my morning shouldering my various rifles trying to work out what profile i think is best . leaning towards the heritage though . if i'm gunna get one , i'll do it once , do it right . order ir with extra's, skip line fleur de'lis checkering , grip cap, pachmayer pad and whatever else floats my boat . if i go through with this it'll be pillar bedded with a lumley t3 floorplate . i'm over custom builds with smith's and this'll be my last .

at least that's what i'm telling myself

[JimTom]

It has been a few years since I changed it over though.

[Jorlcrin]

Mate I did end up with the classic laminate Boyd’s on my Tikka T3. Like you, I am a big unit too, and find the stock suits me fine.

thanks for your reply JT . i'm trying to decide which stock profile is best for me . the classic and platinum are straight stocks , the heritage and prairie hunter have raised cheek piece and drop at heel for a more natural offhand shooting stance . i have a B&C on a tikka now , but my rem 700 stock feels better . model 70 xtr stocks fit me well also . how is the weight of your classic stock mate ? i find my B&C to be about the same weight as a tikka synthetic , i don't mind something a little heavier as i shoot better offhand . cheers

[My experience ; Yours will no doubt vary..]
In 2014, I bought a T3 Hunter Stainless Fluted 7-08, and found the factory stock getting damaged with very little effort.
We started to wonder if Tikka had opted for Balsa wood; it was that ding-prone.

We were also having troubles getting the groups tight enough to be respectable, which took some stuffing around to resolve.

I opted to get a Boyds Thumbhole stock; they were pretty cheap from Cleaver at the time(~$279).
[Closest I can see on Cleavers website now is the Featherweight Thumbhole, but dont seem to be available for the T3/T3x.]

I have to say, the Boyds Thumbhole stock didnt do it for me.
Never found the thumbhole seemed to be in the right spot for my hand.
I have 2 other rifles that have AR-style grips, and I love them, but I didnt warm to the Boyds stock.
We also had issues with it, which seemed to centre around the front action screw binding if torqued down properly.
It does have metal sleeves on both bolts, but there was some issue we couldnt really resolve - pretty sure we tested a washer under that front screw, but had mixed results.

Dont think I ended up exploring/resolving the issues with the Boyds stock; mate had bought a MacMillan stock for his T3, and so he gave me his synthetic varmint stock(basic - no adjustable comb), which has been on that rifle ever since.
Boyds stock now stands alongside the original factory stock, in my lineup of spare rifle stocks.

Messing around with loads, we got the groupings down around 3/4" @100 yards, and decided that was plenty good for hunting.
I did nail a crow(Dead centre of 'Caw!') at 340 metres from a rest, so kinda thought it was good enough for my needs.

I didnt find anything overly wrong with the Boyds Thumbhole(pretty sure we'd eventually figure out the action screw issue if I was still using it..), but that stock profile just doesnt seem to work for me.
I note the Boyds 'At-One' stock's thumbhole is much larger; maybe that would be a better fit for my hand.
(If I was chasing that style of stock).
Havent looked back from the varmint synthetic stock; an adjustable comb would be nice, but hasnt held me back.

[bigrich]

Mate I did end up with the classic laminate Boyd’s on my Tikka T3. Like you, I am a big unit too, and find the stock suits me fine.

thanks for your reply JT . i'm trying to decide which stock profile is best for me . the classic and platinum are straight stocks , the heritage and prairie hunter have raised cheek piece and drop at heel for a more natural offhand shooting stance . i have a B&C on a tikka now , but my rem 700 stock feels better . model 70 xtr stocks fit me well also . how is the weight of your classic stock mate ? i find my B&C to be about the same weight as a tikka synthetic , i don't mind something a little heavier as i shoot better offhand . cheers

[My experience ; Yours will no doubt vary..]
In 2014, I bought a T3 Hunter Stainless Fluted 7-08, and found the factory stock getting damaged with very little effort.
We started to wonder if Tikka had opted for Balsa wood; it was that ding-prone.

We were also having troubles getting the groups tight enough to be respectable, which took some stuffing around to resolve.

I opted to get a Boyds Thumbhole stock; they were pretty cheap from Cleaver at the time(~$279).
[Closest I can see on Cleavers website now is the Featherweight Thumbhole, but dont seem to be available for the T3/T3x.]

I have to say, the Boyds Thumbhole stock didnt do it for me.
Never found the thumbhole seemed to be in the right spot for my hand.
I have 2 other rifles that have AR-style grips, and I love them, but I didnt warm to the Boyds stock.
We also had issues with it, which seemed to centre around the front action screw binding if torqued down properly.
It does have metal sleeves on both bolts, but there was some issue we couldnt really resolve - pretty sure we tested a washer under that front screw, but had mixed results.

Dont think I ended up exploring/resolving the issues with the Boyds stock; mate had bought a MacMillan stock for his T3, and so he gave me his synthetic varmint stock(basic - no adjustable comb), which has been on that rifle ever since.
Boyds stock now stands alongside the original factory stock, in my lineup of spare rifle stocks.

Messing around with loads, we got the groupings down around 3/4" @100 yards, and decided that was plenty good for hunting.
I did nail a crow(Dead centre of 'Caw!') at 340 metres from a rest, so kinda thought it was good enough for my needs.

I didnt find anything overly wrong with the Boyds Thumbhole(pretty sure we'd eventually figure out the action screw issue if I was still using it..), but that stock profile just doesnt seem to work for me.
I note the Boyds 'At-One' stock's thumbhole is much larger; maybe that would be a better fit for my hand.
(If I was chasing that style of stock).
Havent looked back from the varmint synthetic stock; an adjustable comb would be nice, but hasnt held me back.

thanks for your feedback mate . i bought a tikka 7-08 st/lam new about 5 years ago . fantastically accurate rifle with loads it liked . mild 150bt 2209 loads at 2625fps were amazing .BUT inside the inletting of the stock the laminate was as soft as balsa wood . i could put a big dent in it with my thumbnail for no effort at all . from what i've read if i get a boyds it'll be getting pillar bedded . i do that anyway on most of my rifles

[Fester]

When I started shooting and felt a Boyds Thumbhole at my first Sydney SSAA show, I just had to have one.
$220 from the factory and at my door within about 2 weeks.
My tack driver .223 S2 Weatherby just wouldn't shoot in it but unless you are lucky, Boyds stocks need a bedding job and it came out of the closet and shot lights out in another rifle when bedded, no pillars needed and someone said they can crack with pillars so who knows.

They are a great stiff stock and just a bit heavier than a plastic.

A shop is now doing Boyd's stocks and has a basic hunter type lamanate on sale for around $320 sent.
From memory, it was a Tikka and I can't even remember what shop, sorry