Here's what the Fireball looks like with the new stock.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/NewStock2.jpg

The complete description is a Remington 700 Light Varmint Stainless Fluted (LVSF) in 221 Fireball topped with a Zeiss Conquest 4.5 - 14 X 44mm scope and a Boyd's Pepper Laminate Thumbhole Varmint/Target stock.

I'll see how it shoots this weekend.

I guess I broke out of my blue steel and walnut rut.

Wow that gun looks good :)

Wow, that does look good. Please do keep us posted on how it shoots. I am going to put a Boyd's on my Rem 700 .30-06 after this coming hunting season.

Wow, that does look good. Please do keep us posted on how it shoots. I am going to put a Boyd's on my Rem 700 .30-06 after this coming hunting season.


Will do on the shooting report. Be careful when you order your stock. I bought mine from Stockey's in FL (they had it in stock at a reasonable price but not a good deal by a long shot) but they don't do too well on the description part, regardless of how descript you are in relating exactly what you need. I was shipped the wrong stock the first go-round.

My gun has a blind box magazine, which, by default, rules out a BDL stock even though the Remington website refers to it tas a BDL model. The BDL model Boyd's stock is for a removable magazine. My new stock is an ADL fitted version that came fully finished. The metal is a tight fit to the wood and everything aligned as it should. It came with the proper barrel contour fitted channel. Don't know if I will have to bed it or not given it was such a tight fit, if yes I will have to relieve the wood a small amount to accept the bedding material.

The vents in the forearm are well placed and provide air flow on the underside of the barrel but It doesn't show up well in the photo. The thumbhole grip is excellent and fits my hand really well. The stock added about 3/4 inch to the length of trigger pull. but was not a concern for me. What's not evident in the photo is the butt stock is slightly offset to the barrel channel to allow the raised cheek piece to be in perfect alignment with the barrel. The forearm is 2.5 inches wide and has more stability than the factory stock. Boyd's put a lot of thought into the design of this stock and I'm sure it was an itterative process to end up with what they have in today's products. Workmanship is superb.

So far I am very satisfied with the change.

The thumbhole grip is excellent and fits my hand really well.
How large are your hands? I`ve tried several thumbhole stocks and some seem to cramp the first knuckle on my thumb, some don`t. I like the looks of your new stock and I`m tempted to get one for a model 77 mkII but that one factor of fit through the thumbhole concerns me.

I am not a fan of a thumb-hole stock but it does look effective for a varmint/target rifle. It would be a poor choice for a light sporter.

Frank

Flash I've never had a thumbhole stock, but have considered one of the dual grip thumbholds that Richards Micro-fit sells for my 8mm Rem mag. I understand that this stock helps with the recoil. I'm considering getting it re-chambered to 8mm Ultra-mag and if I do that I'll get a brake put on it, but a new stock would just top off th package. I do like the fact that this 8 has the Classic stock on it though.

Boyds make dandy stocks. Did you glassbed the recoil lug in? You may find that to reach top accuracy you may have to glass that recoil lug in and a piller bed kit from Brownell's seems to always seem to add a few percentage points of accuracy.

I still want to see what the wood looks like under that full stock 243. My CZ 527 has a beautiful finish, though the checkering could use some pointing up.

Just from my limted experience, I would not recommend a thumbhole stock for a hard recoilng rifle. I have a Boyd's thumbhole for my Ruger 264 mag rifle. Although it looks good, feels good and shoots well, the recoil of just the 264 tends to twist the stock in my hand to the extent that I get the web between my thumb and index finger pinched in that thumbhole - and after several shots it hurts. Maybe its just the shape of my hand or maybe the lack of checkering.

Just thought I'd share my experience.



Flash I've never had a thumbhole stock, but have considered one of the dual grip thumbholds that Richards Micro-fit sells for my 8mm Rem mag. I understand that this stock helps with the recoil. I'm considering getting it re-chambered to 8mm Ultra-mag and if I do that I'll get a brake put on it, but a new stock would just top off th package. I do like the fact that this 8 has the Classic stock on it though.

Boyds make dandy stocks. Did you glassbed the recoil lug in? You may find that to reach top accuracy you may have to glass that recoil lug in and a piller bed kit from Brownell's seems to always seem to add a few percentage points of accuracy.

I still want to see what the wood looks like under that full stock 243. My CZ 527 has a beautiful finish, though the checkering could use some pointing up.

How large are your hands? I`ve tried several thumbhole stocks and some seem to cramp the first knuckle on my thumb, some don`t. I like the looks of your new stock and I`m tempted to get one for a model 77 mkII but that one factor of fit through the thumbhole concerns me.

I have large hands but am not "ham-handed" if you know what I mean. Large gloves are a snug fit. Years ago (many years) I broke the thumb on my right hand playing football, second joint away from the nail. When it healed it extended/enlarged the joint and my right hand is larger than my left hand. Still, I have plenty of room in the Boyds stock and nothing is pinched. I can see where this stock style might not be a good choice for a hard kicking rifle. Some part of the hand would absorb recoil.

Flash I've never had a thumbhole stock, but have considered one of the dual grip thumbholds that Richards Micro-fit sells for my 8mm Rem mag. I understand that this stock helps with the recoil. I'm considering getting it re-chambered to 8mm Ultra-mag and if I do that I'll get a brake put on it, but a new stock would just top off th package. I do like the fact that this 8 has the Classic stock on it though.

Boyds make dandy stocks. Did you glassbed the recoil lug in? You may find that to reach top accuracy you may have to glass that recoil lug in and a piller bed kit from Brownell's seems to always seem to add a few percentage points of accuracy.

I still want to see what the wood looks like under that full stock 243. My CZ 527 has a beautiful finish, though the checkering could use some pointing up.

Looked at the Richards stuff, nice products, but everyone that had comments said they had orders placed for months and no product. Must be nice to be that busy.

I have not glassed the recoil lug. The inlet supplied by Boyds is a very tight fit to the metal. Snugging up the screws actually pulled the action into the stock body and everything is very solid. The barrel has a mildly stepped contour and is free floated over the front-most part but hits at the step. I may have to sand this part of the barrel channel a little but I'm going to see how it shoots before I do anything more. The Fireball has very little recoil and this stock is significantly heavier than the composite that came with the gun so I expect the felt recoil to be even less.

I would have to say that the main reason I have thumbhole stocks on my rifles is due to the fact that they do make recoil more tolerable. They are usually a little heavier than factory stocks, but not too much. Mine cut the recoil on my savage 308 down to about 25% less than what is was with the factory stock. The actual recoil is the same, but the grip pulls it straight into your shoulder.

My thinking was the back of the thumb might get smacked if it's too tight a fit. I have no experience with it, just speculating. Certainly the heavier the rig the less felt recoil.

Have a B&C thumbhole stock with full bedding frame on a Ruger M77 customized to 7mm Dakota. Love the fit and sight picture through the scope when mounting it to the shoulder. Straight line recoil isn't all that much different from the standard M77 Ruger 7 RM.