So I have a couple of 16’s that the stocks were cut pretty short. I bought a stock from a 20 gauge that was made in 1963. I had to remove just a little bit of wood from the tang area to get it to fit on my 1928. However the wood around the tang and receiver is proud. The knob is considerably larger than my other 16s. With that said the oldest 16 I have was built in 1949. Is the fit on the later guns not as nice? The wood from the 63 fits how the Japanese stocks fit. I may have to find a stock maker that can trim it down a bit and checker it. Also have another stock and forearm coming that I scored off eBay. Hopefully that one fits better.
I have pieced together various 12 gauge A5s with wood from donors. USUALLY the wood fits really good. Even at that, the worst match up I did required about 10 minutes with some carving tools and files. It ended up looking fine and dandy. I have not tried to fit Japanese wood to Belgian guns (I don't collect Japanese guns to begin with) but according to a video from Art's, it can be done with very little gnashing of the teeth. I have made a few A5 butt stocks from scratch, and even though they look intimidating at first, they are not bad at all. I am reading here and there the fit on Japanese guns was somewhat lacking compared to Belgian guns. When it comes to 16/20s---my ignorance is showing. Was it the top or bottom tang that gave you grief?
It looks okay. It didn’t take much to make it fit but it doesn’t look as nice as the early guns. The bottom tang is the one that doesn’t look right. I’ll do a side by side picture tonight
My experience with donors, it is better to stay with the same era and gauge (supposedly, 16 and 20 gauge are interchangeable). I was fortune with the help of my friend in France in Belgique to find very nice 12 gauge stock. From top to bottom, to two first one are from the 80’s the other two are pre-first world war.
1945 with original stock 1928 with 1963 stock 1949 with Japanese stock The three side by side Notice how far past the the wood is on the sides of the receiver. Also how the knob is bigger on the late stocks. In Arts video about fitting Japanese wood to a Belgium gun he shows that the early guns have a thinner tang. So he glued in a shim so the bottom tang is flush with the stock. I may have to mess with that a little. The fit and finish on the old guns amazes me the more I get into the A5 world.
Those pics are great, they really show the challenge ahead. I am amazed by the quality of the inlay of the stock of the very early Browning.
Bill, I started to make my own stock from walnut I imported from Europe and frankly it is very difficult. You must be very talented. I find the inleting very challenging.
I will probably have somebody do the work for me. I’m not sure I have the patience for that work. Also I’d never be able to do the checkering
Strange, as carving out a complete A5 butt stock doesn't intimidate me in the very least. Checkering however.........whole different thing to me. Scares me. Strange, huh?
I will once again try to figure out how to post pictures. As I have mentioned several times, posting pictures and me are not on speaking terms. And not on just this website. And as far as making one for someone else....I guess I never considered that. I'll have to ponder that idea.
