So, it’s been an awesome year, both personally, and for The Gun Rack. Having recently started importing Boyds gunstocks, it’s been great to bring Kiwis (and the occasional Aussie) a product they haven’t been able to have for a long time (certainly not at a decent price, anyway).
To celebrate the end of an awesome year, I’m giving away one free stock to one of you lucky buggers. If you buy a stock in our next order, you will have a 1 in 10 chance of having the full cost of your stock refunded to you, including the GST and shipping costs.
This is the last order for the year, and I already have 2 out of 10 spots filled (those 2 guys will qualify too). For the next 8 people who jump onto this order, simply:
Head on over to the Boyds website and find the stock and upgrade options you want
Place your order (this includes payment upfront, as usual)
Wait for your awesome stock to arrive, and hopefully for some cash to hit your bank account too!
If you want to read more about the ordering process, head over here, or email me. Unfortunately the stock won’t arrive before Christmas, as it takes a while to manufacture, ship, get through customs, courier, etc. However, if you are the lucky winner, you will get your money back as soon as the order is complete (which will hopefully be before Christmas!).
The winner will be chosen using a random draw method of some description. The decision will be random, and it will also be final (And no correspondence will be entered into, etc, etc,. Basically, I’m giving away something free, don’t be a douche if you don’t win).
Merry Christmas everyone, and thanks for being part of The Gun Rack community and our journey importing Boyds gunstocks into NZ (and AU). I’m hoping in the new year to be bringing in some other cool bits and pieces – will keep you updated on that.
When I started shooting, I had a penchant for buying budget guns and trying to improve them to compete with much more expensive guns. With some home tweaks, such as trigger jobs and recrowning, a certain level of success could be achieved. The two things I would spend money on would be a good scope, and a stock from Boyds.
While we have access to some great optics in New Zealand, it’s been almost impossible to get a Boyds rifle stock for a long time. With the US$100 export limit on certain firearm-related items, New Zealanders have had to try and buy the cheapest of the stocks on offer, with no upgrades or customisation, or wait for a run-out special that matched their firearm/stock combo. Unfortunately as prices have naturally risen, even the option of squeezing in under $100 has just about disappeared for most items.
Are there any NZ Boyds dealers?
There have also been various businesses in NZ that have had a Boyds dealership at one time or another – but they’ve always been bloody expensive. In many cases, the stocks would have cost more than people had spent on their rifles to begin with – and the options were limited too.
So – we’ve tried to fix this issue.
I’ve long been a fan of Boyds stocks, and you can read about stocks I have used over the years in the product review section of the website. In order to give everyone else access to the same stocks that I’ve really enjoyed using – and at a reasonable cost – we’ve established our own Boyds dealership in NZ.
This Swedish Mauser was my second ever Boyds project, in a Prairie Hunter stock.
The Gun Rack and Boyds Hardwood Gunstocks
Yup, you can get any Boyds stock you want, with any customisations. There’s no federal export limit, and you don’t have to pay a retail store half of the deposit of an Auckland 3-bedroom house either. In fact, we can get you a basic Boyds stock, delivered to your door, for around NZ$525. If you want to spend more and get an adjustable comb, custom colours, change the LOP, or whatever, you can do that too. We’re also able to sell the At-One stock, at around NZ$640, delivered.
So, how come we’re able to do this? Well, we can bring in the stocks because we have a federal export licence from the US government, specifically for Boyds stocks. And how do we do it so cheaply? Quite simple. We’re not greedy. We make a very small amount of money on each stock, and that money means I can buy ammo and other bits and pieces to keep this website going. I’m much more interested in bringing something cool to NZ shooters than I am in making a shed load of money.
Removing and disassembling the bolt of a Swedish Mauser is a pretty simple affair and may need to be undertaken for any number of reasons. Most commonly, you’ve picked up a rifle nearing a century in age, and there’s a lot of gunk and crap in there that needs to be cleaned out. The other scenario is that you could be modifying your bolt to cock on close, or reduce lock time with lighter materials and a stronger spring.
Hopefully if the latter is your reason for stripping a Mauser bolt, you’ve inherited or bought a sporter – there are fewer and fewer whole specimens left.
Below are a series of pictures showing how to disassemble a Mauser bolt (small ring, not a K98). If your bolt looks different, don’t fret. This is from a commercial rifle, not a military conversion. It has a blued finish and a bent bolt handle, which thankfully clears my Weaver 44/40 scope, thanks to an EGW 20 MOA rail. If you’re wondering how the extra height affects consistent cheek weld and sight lines, a Boyds stock with adjustable cheek rest helps out there.
Step 1 – Get the firing pin out of the bolt body
After checking the rifle is unloaded, close the bolt fully.Lift the safety lever into the upright position and remove the bolt without lowering the safety. You may need to remove your scope if the safety won’t clear it.The bolt shroud should easily unscrew from the bolt body now. Note the cocking piece is held under spring tension by the safety lever.The firing pin separated from the bolt body. Again, note the spring and firing pin are locked back – if you don’t do the next step carefully, the spring, cocking piece, and firing pin could separate with a fair amount of speed and force.
Step 2 – Separate the firing pin from the bolt shroud
Find a hard surface you don’t mind denting. Or, if you have an original stock with brass disc, you can use the indent for this step. With the firing pin against your hard surface, force the bolt shroud downward. The safety lever provides a good amount of purchase.Twist the cocking piece 90 degrees. At this point make sure you have a firm grip on the bolt shroud and firing pin, and slowly release the spring tension to avoid sending pieces flying.Fold the safety lever all the way over and pull it back to separate it from the shroud.Shroud, cocking piece, spring, safety lever, and firing pin.
Step 3 – Remove the extractor from the bolt body
Note the extractor sits in a groove just before the bolt face.Rotate the extractor about 90 degrees so that it exits the notch.Apply downward pressure with your thumb, as you slide the extractor forward. Remember this sweet spot, as you’ll need to apply pressure in the same spot to get the extractor back on.Getting this collar off is easy, but you will stretch it as you do so. A flat screwdriver can be used to pry it open if needed. Getting it back on once it has been taken off is harder, and a vice of some sort will be handy, as you’ll need both hands to get the extractor back on.When reassembling the bolt, getting the extractor onto the collar is probably the hardest bit. If you have locking pliers or a small vice, it shouldn’t be hard to slide the slot on the underside of the extractor onto the collar. Remember where you applied downward pressure to remove the extractor – this is the same spot you need to apply pressure to as you slide it back on.
From here on, the rest of the reassembly is easy, and is simply the reverse of the above.
This particular rifle is a quiet bush monster. Monstrous in appearance, but suppressed and subsonic in its implementation. There’s a lot that’s gone into this particular rifle, so – fittingly – we’ll do an entire article covering the various bits and pieces, and the decisions that led to each of them.
One decision that was, unfortunately, made for us, is that I’m no longer going to have the rifle Cerakoted, as a dear and valued member of the NZ shooting community, Victor Alberts, passed away recently while on holiday overseas. Victor was the applicator and artist behind Cerakote NZ, so necessarily we’ll be looking to sort out some other means of protecting the metal on this bush gun.
The rifle that defended the free world – twice
The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) rifle was featured in both world wars and a host of conflicts all around the world. Its younger brother is only now being phased out of service with the Canadian Rangers, who will have a locally made, licensed version of a Sako product (T3 CTR). Other weapons have been trialled, but none compared to the reliability of the Rifle No 4 Mk 2 (since 1941 – not bad).
Even still, the old Lee-Enfield is a devastating tool in the hands of irregular forces around the world, who do not have access to more modern weaponry, or who perhaps have an abundance of old Commonwealth stock. With ballistics and firepower not too far off the .308 Win, it’s not hard to see why the rifle has kept pace.
Anyway, I digress. So, this stunning piece of history came to my possession in a sorry state. Which is okay, as I was keeping an eye out for an old beater that could be beautified without destroying a battlefield artifact.
My 1943 SMLE (above) was in a sad state when I bought it – compared to my 1942 (below) which will stay unchanged.
One of the problems with using a wartime rifle (1943), that was mass-produced with unique ‘improvements’ and variations across the world, is that you are bound to run into quality issues. In contrast, I do have a 1942 Lithgow rifle which is beautifully symmetrical and well-machined (even if it is left a bit rough in some areas). But this made-in-Britain wartime specimen is a product of its environment, and loose tolerances, rough surfaces, and poor bluing are to be expected.
In hindsight, I really wish I’d done this build off a Rifle No. 4 instead of an SMLE No.1 Mk iii, as the action lends itself to being rebarrelled to higher-power cartridges, but that may have taken this build in another direction altogether.
If you’re considering a build on a No. 4 or even No. 5 action, Boyds thankfully caters to those, too.
Taking apart the two-piece stock
The Lee-Enfield is everything a modern precision rifle is not. It’s not free floated, the stock is not a single piece and and the ergonomics are all wrong. However it was well-suited to winter clothing and putting a lot of lead downrange, so we can’t really judge the designers for that.
The two piece stock is easily taken apart with some screwdrivers, and potentially a socket driver if you don’t have a really long flat head screwdriver. Check out the easy tutorial here (with lots of pictures!).
Not many rifles will have the trigger come out with the floor metal.
Fitting the Boyds Field Stock Design
Final fitting will be needed.
One thing I love about Boyds stocks is seeing the precision lines in the inletting. Now. Take a look at your naked Lee-Enfield. There is not a single square section on that thing. Because the action has so much inconsistency in shape and finish, I spent a fair bit of time sanding and filing around the top of the action and inside and around the sear and trigger slot.
The area around the mag well also needed some relieving of material to get the floor plate sitting properly again, which allowed the barrel channel to move into the appropriate position.
I found it really useful to mark the action with engineer’s blue (a permanent marker will do), to find the high spots on your action that necessitate removing some more wood.
Please be careful removing material, as it’s a lot easier to take off than it is to put on! While I say I spent a lot of time on this, that doesn’t mean I shaved off a lot of the laminate. Rather, I spent a lot of time making sure I didn’t take off too much, so I could still have a snug fit.
When fitting the butt stock, shaving off a small bit of wood off the top of the donut-shaped insert allowed the laminate stock to snug up nicely when I tightened the bolt. However, on the forend side I found there was a bit of a gap between the wood and the characteristic steel band which forms the rear of the receiver and separates the forend and butt stock. I had a shooting buddy of mine machine up a shim to bridge the gap. He put in some counter sunk holes so that I could screw it into the stock once I had all of the metalwork (including the shim) coated, however it’s so far been held in place by friction and is doing just fine.
The shim held in place by friction fills a small gap between action and stock. Once coated with the rest of the metal work it will blend in well.
The gap between the forend and steel band I’ll put down to variance between manufacturers of rifles over time. I measured this strip of metal on my two SMLE rifles (one year apart, but one from Australia and one from the UK), and found a 1 mm – 2 mm difference in broadness.
You will definitely need to take out some wood where the rear ring of the receiver interrupts the line of the stock, and also where the safety lever goes in the forward position.
A radius and a square cut will make room for the safety lever and the rear action ring.
Positives of the Boyds Field Stock Design
If you’re looking to improve your Lee-Enfield Rifle or SMLE, you have three options:
Restore the wood with new old stock or modern replicas (on a No 4 this is feasible, on a No 3, near impossible)
Put it in a plastic stock, which will reduce weight, but will deliver more recoil, and increase your noise in the bush with its hollow construction
Choose a hardwood/laminate solution
I’m assuming you landed on option 3, which is why you’re here. The hardwood solution is not only inline with the character of the gun, but also just feels right. I have a couple battle rifles in modern plastic stocks, and I’m too embarrassed to take them to the range, and too put off by the handling and feel to really enjoy them.
The Boyds Field Stock Design (and any of their stocks, really) is a re-imagining of the stock design based around the action and the shooter, not simply a replacement of the existing furniture. This means you can expect an increase in accuracy, stemming from various feature improvements, such as a better inletting, length of pull, cheek weld, positive grip characteristics and also added rigidity when compared to plastic aftermarket (or even original manufacture) stocks.
Line of sight
I found that the Boyds stock in particular raised the eye-line perfectly for the old rifle. With the original stock, if you try and get a positive cheek weld, you’ll be looking at the top of the action. You have to raise your head a bit and compromise your repeatable position on the rifle in order to see the iron sights.
Lining the two up by the rear of the bolt, the difference in drop is quite evident, as is the angle of the butt pad – both changing the handling characteristics of the gun.
With the Boyds stock, the decreased drop on the comb means you are looking straight at the iron sights. If you had a low mounted scope, you could use this quite easily with little compromise in cheek weld. I have a Vortex Razor HD red dot sight mounted on mine, which, unfortunately, means added height to the optic. However, this doesn’t bother me because, with its unlimited eye relief, I can have my head just about anywhere on the stock and still have an accurate sight picture.
Solid construction
The Boyds stock is not only solidly made with highly advanced resins, but it feels more substantial when you’re shouldering or handling the rifle. The forend fits an adult male hand well, unlike many skinny stocks, where your fingers will wrap around onto the barrel if you’re not careful. It’s also beefier at the butt end. This is in contrast to the original skinny grip that would have been perfect for gloved hands in the trenches, but not user friendly for acquiring a positive grip in the hot bush and forest we often hunt in.
The slight increases in length, width and girth, add up to a much better length of pull and trigger/bolt manipulation characteristics, without increasing the overall length by much at all.
Choice
If you’re pulling apart an old rifle like this to do something special, why not make it truly one-of-a-kind? From the standard colours offered by Boyds, the Pepper laminate is a sexy rendition. Black and charcoal – it modernises any firearm, while still retaining the warmth of wood. There is also a straight walnut stock if that’s your preference.
The ‘Scale’ laser engraved chequering adds aesthetic appeal, visual depth, and enhanced grip characteristics.
I chose a Zombie Hunter custom colour for an extra US$16.50, and my rifle stands out like no other. It’s an attention grabber at the range, and it just looks freaking cool. It’s one of those guns you want to take out and shoot, regardless of whether you’re actually working on a load or hunting or just plinking. I might burn through a lot more ammo just because she looks ‘cool’, but that’s okay. Not to mention, everyone else wants a go at it, too!
I also asked for some chequering on the stock, specifically the ‘Scale’ pattern. It’s laser engraved, and absolutely perfect. It adds some extra grip (of course), but also adds depth to the appearance of the rifle. There are a couple other options to choose from as well.
While you’re at it, you could also look at a custom finish, or a different butt pad option to tame your heavy-hitting wildcat magnums.
Negatives
Hey, nothing’s perfect, and there always have to be some negatives.
My only regret on this build (regarding the stock) is not having sling swivel studs, as a sling will be essential for crashing through some of our heavy NZ bush. However, I’m sure Boyds would have included some had I actually thought to ask. Not to worry, I do have some spare, but that’s definitely something I’ll think about next time. More a mistake on my part than a negative with the stock.
There is one negative, and again, it’s not actually a fault of the Boyds Field Design Stock: It’s the rifle. There is no way on God’s green earth that you will have a perfect fit. Unless you own the Boyds’ house action that they model their stocks off.
There is so much variation in fit, quality and manufacturing tolerances between these old war time rifles, that I can almost guarantee some work for you with sandpaper and a file or two, no matter what brand of gun stock you choose. However, if you’re restoring or upgrading any milsurp rifle, this should be something you expect along the way, so don’t let this put you off.
If hard work is not your cup of tea, there are plenty of modern actions that are very uniform and require little-to-no work to customise. Thankfully, Boyds makes stocks for those rifles, too!
Conclusion
At the end of the day, I’ve found (once again) that the Boyds product is a substantial improvement on the original stock that came on the gun. Not only this, but dollar for dollar, I can’t imagine another aftermarket stock coming close.
The customisation options offered by Boyds are a real bonus for anyone looking to increase the appeal of their old shooter, and the standard options are plenty for those who don’t like drawing too much attention to themselves or those who are watching their budget.
Would I buy it again? Yes. And I guess that’s the highest recommendation someone can give after thoroughly testing a product.
We truly live in the golden age of civilian firearm innovation. As various shooting sports gain popularity around the world for their challenging formats and supportive communities, manufacturers have been given the feedback and audience required to push their product lines ever-further.
While shooting sports and hunting have always benefited from advances in military tech, we’ve now reached (and well passed) the tipping point where armed forces personnel look to the likes of PRS and 3Gun competitions to evaluate equipment they would not otherwise have come across. In this recent interview with Kerry from The Gearlocker, the 6.5 guys describe how the lack of gear restrictions in PRS-style shoots becomes a wealth of knowledge for military and LE types.
Here are 3 very recent new product announcements from some of my favourite manufacturers.
Vortex “Huey”
Vortex Optics has recently announced the UH-1, which they’ve affectionately nicknamed the Huey. It’s a holographic optic in its own class. The release in their VIP newsletter describes the UH-11 as having fewer moving parts than your average holo sight, increasing reliability, as well as a near elimination of forward signature of the illuminated reticle – a first for this type of sight.
Loving that camo look? One of the Vortex staffers performed a spray can overhaul on this optic. Image credit: Vortex Optics.
The reticle itself is the new EBR-CQB. The term CQB and the feature of being near invisible to anyone/anything forward of the shooter hints that this sight is more suited to military and LE applications. This is one of those situations where battlefield considerations lead to the development of an optic that many civvy shooters would love to own for multigun style competitions, or even just for fun.
I also love the fact that it can use rechargeable batteries and has an onboard charger port. These are the kinds of user-focused features that most manufacturers would put in the ‘too hard basket’.
If you want to read more about this product, or any new announcements from Vortex, make sure to subscribe to their newsletter.
Boyds stocks for the Howa 1500 Mini
Earlier this year Howa released a ‘mini’ action, for shorter-than-short-action calibres. While this is limiting for some who might want to rebarrel down the line, it’s a boon for those who want to save weight, decrease bolt throw and action length, and increase reliability for their smaller cartridges in a dedicated platform. To those who think a rebarrel may be in the cards – get yourself a standard short action or long action!
Which would you pick? The Varmint Thumbhole in Pepper laminate would be my choice. Image credit: Boyds Gunstocks
The problem with introducing a brand new, and very unique, action length and profile, is that even though shooters may be familiar with the 1500 platform, aftermarket manufacturers have nothing to support the product any longer.
Thankfully, Boyds Gunstocks is forever expanding their range of stocks to upgrade your favourite hunting or competition rifle. The latest announcement concerns the Howa 1500 Mini;
“The Howa 1500 Mini was released in March 2016. Boyds now makes gunstocks for this hot little beauty in all three of its barrel configurations: The Lightweight barrel, which is a #1 contour; the Heavy barrel, which is a #6 contour; both at 20 inches; and the Standard barrel, which is a #2 hunting contour at 22 inches in length.”
Boyds has made sure that all of our favourite stock designs are available; Classic, Featherweight Thumbhole, Heritage, Platinum, Prairie Hunter, Pro Varmint, and Varmint Thumbhole designs. And for those of you that always get left behind with new product development (yes, I’m talking about left-handed shooters), don’t worry, Boyds has you covered too with many LH options as well.
If you’re reading this, wishing Boyds made something for your obscure rifle, check out their website, it’s all there. And if you can’t find it, use the product request form to ask them to consider your action for their next product development.
To keep up-to-date with the latest happenings from Boyds, make sure to subscribe to their mailing list using the form on their website, or hop onto their Facebook page.
Lapua brass for 6.5 Creedmoor
Last, but not least, the 6.5 Creedmoor has gained enough ground swell for Lapua to consider it as a worthy cartridge for their premium brass.
Small primers and flash holes FTW. Image credit: Nammo Lapua
This doesn’t just mean high quality brass for those riding the Creemoor train, but also brass with precision shooting in mind. Lapua has developed its Creedmoor brass in line with its other target brass, including their popular .308 Win. Palma brass, in that it has a small rifle primer and a non-standard smaller flash hole of 1.5mm as opposed to the standard 2mm. Lapua claims this aids in consistent ignition of powder and more accurate down-range performance.
All you 6.5 Creed fans can expect to get your mitts on some shiny new Lapua brass early in 2017. You can read more about this latest Lapua product release here.
In late June I had a question from Ken in Gisborne about whether or not you could fit a BRNO Model 2E in a JW-15 plastic after market stock. Immediately you probably have two questions.
Why am I only answering this question now; and,
Why would you put a beautiful European-crafted rifle in a cheap, ugly stock?
So, I’ll quickly answer those:
I replied to his email, so don’t you worry!
Ken is unable to obtain an original stock – and I imagine his beautiful rifle is pretty hard to shoot without a stock!
Comparing the JW-15 and BRNO Model 2, you’ll see a lot of similarities, but even more differences.
Easy way to find out stock dimensions
If you ever come up against a similar issue yourself, you may need a quick work around to see if you can do something similar. The other question you often get is “Can you put a CZ 452 in a JW-15 stock?” Usually this comes from people who want a light, farm-ready 22LR, without having to ruin their wood stock or buy a new rifle. FYI, the CZ 452 and BRNO Mod 2E are practically identical. Here’s a nice little write up that someone has done on the BRNO, which saves me repeating a lot of the same points.
Essentially, as with many European brands, there was sharing of parts and designs, and eventually a merger. The rifle was largely unchanged. And the difference between the 2E and the 2 is that the 2E is the luxe version. Nicer stock, etc.
Anyway, I digress. A quick, easy way to confirm barrel and action dimensions for stocks? Head on over to the Boyds’ Gunstocks website. They give you the barrel dimensions and centre to centre measurements between action screws for all their house actions (that they base their aftermarket and OEM stocks on). While you’re there, you may be tempted to buy a whole new Boyds stock, and why not? They’re awesome quality, solid wood and modern designs!
So, using my little cheat, this is what the Boyds website reveals:
Boyds barrel measurements. Image from Boyds’ website.
Barrel Dimensions: Point A = 59/64″ and Point B = 43/64″
Center to Center of Action Screws: 3 25/32″
Over All Length of Part: 31 1/2″
Comes with Boyds’ 1/2″ Rubber Recoil Pad
Other differences
The biggest barrier is the difference in action size.
While my quick cheat above provides a very useful starting point for stock comparison, there are other things to consider as well. When considering a rifle like the JW-15, which is essentially the cost-saving, poor cousin of the BRNO/CZ, you’ll usually get differences in dimensions where changes have been made in the manufacturing process to reduce costs. Often you’ll find this in stamped instead of milled parts, simpler contours, thinner barrels, etc.
Below are some of the basic differences that unfortunately make this stock swap a no-go.
Action shape
The BRNO/CZ action is longer, thicker and circumference and a little bit different where inletting is concerned (this last isn’t the biggest concern in stock swapping, as you can alter inletting). Somehow the Mauser-action origins seem more apparent in the lines of the BRNO, even though the JW-15 has a similar, but simplified, shape.
Barrel contour
The Chinese rifle has a much simpler barrel contour, while the Czech rifle follows traditional lines. The thickness of the barrel is a fair bit different, but where it meets the larger action is the biggest difference, as the BRNO barrel swells up to meet the threads.
The BRNO barrel is close to what we’d consider a bull barrel in a modern rifle, and the contour differs significantly to the JW-15.
Action screws
Another clever simplification in the Norinco is reducing the amount of screws and metal work by merging the forward action screw with the recoil lug. Looking at the image below you’ll see three screws on the JW-15 and four on the BRNO. The rear screw on both is a wood screw, which secures the trigger guard to the stock.
The next screw forward on both rifles is a simple action screw. In front of the trigger is the last action screw. In the JW-15, this screws up into a recoil lug dovetailed into the action. The BRNO has another screw, independent and forward of the floor metal. This screws up through a steel collar into a recoil lug that forms the hidden part of the rear sight assembly.
Differences in inletting and dimensions are indicated by the presence of fewer screws in the Norinco. Also notice the softer metal the screws are made of.
Bits and pieces
There are various other bits and pieces that differ, such as the mag well and the trigger unit. The trigger in the Model 2E is a fine example of a single stage trigger, with adjustable over-travel, and a clean break around 3 lb. This is streets ahead of the simple, but practical, trigger in the JW-15. These can be toyed with to produce more acceptable results, as detailed in this previous article on JW-15 trigger improvement.
Verdict
If you are considering swapping things up with either of these rifles, an aftermarket stock specific for the JW-15 or BRNO would be far better than trying to adapt one to the other.
