Has anyone recently ordered a Boyds Pro Varmint stock in walnut? I'm asking because I'm not getting any information from Boyds about an order I placed on June 10 for a CZ 452 Pro Varmint stock in walnut. It had no other special features, with standard LOP, standard recoil pad, and standard or regular finish.

I know Boyds was closed for a period in early July. I have emailed Boyds several times and on July 8 I was told by email that it would ship at the end of that week (July 10). The order on the Boyds website shows the stock is "backordered" and it has not shipped. Since then I have emailed again and phoned and left a message (they were too busy I guess to take the call as it eventually went to their voicemail). I haven't had any response from Boyds.

Has anyone had recent experience with a delay at Boyds?

I had one custom built (laminate) Boyd that took over a month, almost two. Sometimes they are slow and the CS rep says they have had some issues with wood suppliers. I know this doesn't answer your question specific to the walnut stock, but I think their build time varies greatly. You may be in one of the slower timeframes. Could also be they are filling large orders for gun companies and us single order guys come at a different priority.

Moedum1 has a walnut stock from Boyds with the high gloss option. You may want to ask him for a pic if you haven't seen it yet. He may shed some light on the build time too.

 

I purchased one of their pro varmint stocks in walnut in April. If I remember correctly, it took just over 2 weeks from the day I ordered it to the day it arrived. My only correspondence from them was an e-mail saying they had received my order. I would be patient (to a point) as I'm sure they don't have walnut versions ready to ship like they do the laminate versions. I think it will be worth the wait. Besides walnut, my only other option was the gloss finish.

 

An update. After several emails and phone calls, Boyds responded. Two days ago they sent an email that said they were running behind and that since the order was delayed over 14 days I would not be charged shipping. Yesterday, Boyds called twice (probably once for each message I had left with them) and told me that my walnut Pro Varmint stock would ship next week, without shipping charges.

 

I have a walnut Rimfire Hunter that is going on two weeks. Looks like I will be waiting awhile.

 

Penage

I received mine last Fri. It took about three and a half weeks. I was told they were shut down from June 29 thru the 6th of July. I ordered and received a Pro Varmit for my 527 which was laminate and it was 2 weeks receiving it. I beleive the walnut is not as popular as the laminate and it takes longer.

Mine is very dark. I sent them an email, if stain had been applied before final finish and their reply was no.

Like mentioned earlier it is worth the wait. Mine fits like a glove ! Just hang in there you will be glad you did.:bthumb:

Best of luck

wonderdog1

 

Is anyone glass bedding their walnut stocks? If the stock's inlet is close tolerances, and the stock "fits like a glove", maybe the bedding is not such a big deal? Thinking ahead.

 

I haven't done anything extra at least yet, and when l ask Modem l don't think he had either.

I shot mine a few time yesterday, just to see how eveything worked and zero scope. I was very pleased at 25 yards, at 50 yards l need to focus a little more, not too happy with the results, but l'm sure it was just me.

wonderdog1

 

I only wished they offered various grades of walnut in the Pro Varmint to select from. The price of the Boyd's is attractive, so I guess that's the main draw. I have bought a $600 blank of wood before it was ever touched to begin the inletting. At least I got to see pretty much what I was going to end up with. My only thinking with the Boyd's walnut is the luck of the wood lottery. I bet you fellows held your breath when you opened the box with fingers crossed. But, as you can tell, I am debating this one over and over.

 

I ordered a rimfire hunter from Boyd's in walnut on May 27 of this year. The stock shipped June 12, and arrived on June 16. I know you are looking for the Varmi-cool so I only offer this as a data point. I assume that that when I placed my order, the stock had to be made from scratch and finished.

 

How do you rate the quality of the walnut you received in terms of figure, grain, etc?

 

The walnut was average, straight grained, but nicely finished. I think it looks great and feels great to shoot. It has a little more comb than the OEM stock.

 

I doubted that the walnut grade available would have much grain and figure at that price...how could it? I saw in person a stock built by Boyd's with the high gloss finish and was impressed at they job they did with that. I really think you get a good value for your dollar with Boyd's.

 

The walnut and inletting on Boyd's stocks is great. The shape of the stocks though is silly. They just don't seem to have the aesthetic to shape a nice traditional stock. It is a shame really.

 

I dont think the shape is bad, and its actually very practical. Just a little 'chunky'. I'm sure that this was Savages doing with the MKII TR, in which Boyds likely even provided the stocks to them.
The stock is identical to the Tacticool, and given the popularity and size, assume Boyds just added different action inlettings.

 

From my experience, they tend to work a little on the slow side. I assume it is because they are swamped with orders and lead time on machining likely makes it hard to predict hard dates.

If they have an item in stock, it can ship pretty fast. I got a Pro Varmint from them that showed up in 7 days after placing the order. If I did a custom color set or engravings, it would have been several months of waiting. I know several people who had to wait about 2 months on items that were not in stock and had some customizations.

It is worth it tho...I was really surprised to find that their Pro Varmint fits my 455-V better than the factory 455 stock.

 

SORRY,

I deleted my photos here are some new ones.



As you can tell from the last one, there is some fairly nice grain hiding there.

I was putting a Yo Dave trigger kit in it today. It had some extra creep and a heavier trigger than l liked. The barrel wasn't floated to my liking either. Boyds puts a nice finish on their stocks, but there was some extra in the barrel channel. I sanded it down slightly and put TO on the bare wood.

Boyds told me there was no stain applied before the gloss top coat. Well l beleive some one didn't follow protocol, because where l sanded and applied the TO, it is considerably lighter and you actually see grain, not just brown.

I would strongly suggest if someone is considering ordering one of these stocks, to just get the standard finish and then for winter project, strip it and put a TO finish on it, l know l will. I don't know if they would sell a stock without some sort of finish or not.

Just wanted to share and sorry about the earlier pics.

wonderdog1

 

I think you can order any of their stocks unfinished for an extra charge. If I was going to go this route, I would pony up and put my own finish onit. Midway used to sell the Tacticool in unfinished laminate, but had none in stock the last time I was trying to solve this problem.

 

I just wish they would make the same stock only inletted for the 452 ultra lux with the factory 28 inch barrel contour. The only thing they offer now is the bull barrel contour. I have been bugging them about it for months now.
I also wish they would allow me to purchase (for any gun) a provarmint style in maple. They keep telling me that they don't offer it, which sounds strangely like theirs not a button on their computer to allow it. I don't see what the big deal is. If you can throw a chunk of walnut into a duplicating machine to make a stock, I don't see the difference in throwing a chunk of maple in there instead. They just won't do it.

 

Part of the reason may be the wood. Working with Walnut is different than working with Maple. Walnut is easier to machine and finish out.

 

You could be right, but I wish they would just tell me that. Instead all they say is that's not available. The same goes when I'd like to order a stock in the all-natural ultralight laminate. They just tell me sorry can't do it, they never will give me a reason why. I'll just have to keep on them until they do.

 

That sounds like my momma........don't need a reason, it's the way it is just because "I said so".

 

A further update, if it can be called an "update". Last week, on July 24, someone from Boyds called and said the stock was shipping that day. Yesterday someone from Boyds left me a message that was hard to follow and understand. I played it back a couple times and what I got out of it was that the stock might ship this week or it might ship next week.

I called Boyds yesterday and could only leave them a message asking for clarification. I emailed Boyds as well. I haven't heard back from them.

 

Sounds like a Mom&Pop shop that does excellent work, so they're being forced by market demand to do more, and are struggling to keep up.

I've an order in, for over a week now. No word yet. If they'd continue to do excellent work, we should continue to support them. Their work is unique in the marketplace, as far as I can tell.

 

I ordered a Rimfire Hunter in walnut on 7-10-15. I called this past Monday and they said it would ship on 8-12-15. I was getting free shipping because of the delay.

 

I ordered a Pro Varmint for my CZ 455 in walnut last week also. Online my order reads "In Progress" I think RimfireCentral is very beneficial for Boyds. Thanks to Penage Guy, Moedum1 and others, I felt I had to have one. I have a laminated Pro Varmint and love the feel and looks of it.
I will patiently wait for a package from them.

 

I just ordered up a few pro varmints in the zombie Hunter laminate! They finally got these blanks again after about 6-8 months!

 

I've been thinking about the same stock setup for a 93r17 and a 702 plinkster that I intend to do a barrel swap on. Would like to see them on a finished rifle before I pull the trigger on 2 of them.

 

I'd like the Prairie Hunter stock profile like I have on my Savage 11 in 7-08. (It has a monte carlo cheek piece)

 

How many of you guys have ever worked in manufacturing?

Boyd's sells for a price. If you make changes...even changes that eliminate steps...those are steps that...

cost time. In their world they don't have time. They have thousands of jobs.

The customer, at a price point, is occasionally not right.

[where's the beats himself in the head with a hammer because no one cares smiley?]