How to turn a Sow's Ear into a Silk Purse-Savage Axis

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steveNChunter

New member
Just thought I'd share some pics of my Savage Axis .223 in it's new Boyd's stock. It's the Prairie hunter in Pepper with a stippling pattern and the stainless trigger guard upgrade. I couldn't be happier with it. The fit and finish is great, the barrel is floated evenly all the way down, it's flawless. Now I can't wait to get out and shoot it. The rifle was already shooting just over 1/2 MOA in it's first 20 rounds with factory ammo (haven't had time to load for it yet) and nothing but the $0 trigger mod done to it. I used to hate on the Axis but now that I have one and see how accurate it is and how good it looks in this Boyd's stock, I'm a believer in them. Even with the cosmetic extras I got with the stock, I only have $580 in this setup, scope and all. I may get nicer glass for it eventually and maybe even an aftermarket trigger. But for now I'm gonna work up a load for it the way it is and just have fun with this el-cheapo tack driver :D

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Anyone see a bit of a resemblance to this Sako 75 stainless laminate?
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Looks great I have the matte black in a nutmeg stock and had open sights installed. Looks fantastic. Of course as soon as I had it bedded, that rifle and my model 70 fell over and put cracks in the forearms of each other....
 
Oh no! :(

The nutmeg was my second favorite color option. I think the nutmeg looks best with the blued and the pepper best with stainless.

I may bed mine in the future, but for right now I'm just gonna see how she shoots as is. If it's 1/2 MOA or better I doubt I'll mess with it.
 
Nice!

Looks like I need to go check out Boyd's.. it would appear they have a few new options since I last looked.

Still not buying an Axis though! ;) I'll stick with my Stevens builds.
 
A stunning job of customizing. Now it makes me want to go out a buy an axis, and do the same.

And I'm not denigrating the sako 75, but I bet your axis will shoot as well as the sako.
 
You should be pleased!! You did a nice job with it. No doubt you have good taste when it came to restocking this rifle. My congratulations steveNChunter.

BTW: I do see the resemblance between yours and the Sako. But its only a Sako you compared your Boyd/Savage Axis too. I believe your rifle is a bit more UP SCALE looking myself._:)
 
Thanks for all the comments guys. I'm considering Boyd's stocks for a few more of my rifles now since this one turned out so good. There's a tired old tang-safety Ruger M77 6mm that might get a Stock just like this one only in nutmeg. I believe the nutmeg color is better suited to the blued finish rifles than the pepper.
 
I agree. The axis is definitely one of those guns. The trigger is probably the simplest of any new rifle, which makes it so easy to improve. Clip or replace a spring, polish a couple surfaces and you have a pretty decent trigger. Several guys have successfully made their own high-cap mags as well. I don't think I'll try it though. I really don't need it to hold more than 5
 
I don't know the exact weight of the stock, but it is noticeably heavier than the Tupperware stock it replaced. This is a good thing IMO, it would especially be an advantage with the harder recoiling cartridges like .30-06. A definite advantage in the design of the Boyd's stock is that it doesn't have the huge cutout peice for the trigger guard, which left a lot of empty space between there and the mag well on the factory stock. The Boyd's is a more traditional design, with only a cutout for the magazine. The "pistol grip" area of the factory stock was also very "flexy", but the Boyd's stock is beefed up a little in that area, and is naturally more rigid because it's laminated hardwood. The barrel is floated on both stocks, but the forearm is much more rigid on the Boyd's, preventing it from contacting the barrel when shooting off a bipod, rest, etc. so the Boyd's stock is not just a cosmetic upgrade, it's a functional upgrade in many ways. It really makes it feel like a whole new rifle.

PS: I have no affiliation whatsoever with Boyd's, but I feel like I should be getting commission for all the stocks that will be bought because of this thread :p
 
Steve,

Did your stock take so long to arrive because of the stippling? You ordered it a long time ago right? I was thinking of getting another Boyd's stock in Walnut for my M70 7remmag. I was going to get the 'fleur de lis' checkering this time, though.
 
It took the stock almost a month to get here. But I don't think the stippling pattern was the issue. It said on the site that lead times for the Axis stocks were 4 weeks. I read over on the Savage forum that they sold out of their first run of stocks very quickly and had to wait for some reason before they made another run of them. It also says on their site that any custom options will take up to 2 weeks to ship. So I was figuring worst-case scenario it would take 6 weeks to get here. But to my surprise it got here last Friday.
 
So you are up and running I see. Looking good.
I had mine out in the desert several times since I put the Boyds stock on it. Last weekend I went out with a friend and his family. There were alot of people there who saw me hit a 2 litre bottle off shoulder at 250 yards. I was shooting clays at 150 yards off shoulder for hours.
You're going to buy the Tomney trigger. I can smell it from here.
Frankly, this rifle/stock/ trigger combination shoots so well I put a Luepold VX2 3-9x40 on it just yesterday.
I've got $710 in it now but it is one of my best bolt guns now and is sexy as hell.
 
A thumbs up for the boyds stock, I put featherlite thumbhole on my ruger Hawkeye a few months ago, very pleased. I picked up a Tikka a month or so ago and I have to call and check Boyds to see if their stock for the T3 will also fit the T3 lite and if so I will get a thumbhole for that also. You have a great looking rifle, congrats.
 
You're going to buy the Timney trigger. I can smell it from here.
Click to expand...

It's possible, but for now I'm going to leave the "modified factory" trigger in there. It turned out better than I expected and breaks clean as glass, even if it is still a little heavier than I'd like for target shooting.
 
I have three Boyd Thumbhole Varmint stocks . The inletting was good but I glass bedded the action on my 17 Fireball, 221 Fireball, and 223 Rem bolt action rifles. Their laminated stocks are made in a verity of colors and styles for a number of different action rifles.
 
@ Mohave Tec-

What did you have to do to make the Timney trigger fit in the Boyd's stock?

I have heard there are slight fitment issues to overcome
 
I think that has been corrected but it was not an issue. The bolt release lever on the right just above the trigger may hit the stock before it is fully depressed. Use a small dremel bit and take the stock down just enough to clear the lever. On my Nutmeg stock I put a dab of vegitable oil on the tiny dremel cut and my work vanished. On your stock I'd let a felt marker sit in a drop of water to delute it then dab the solution on the little cut.
If the Timney hits on anything else, use a marker on outer edges of the trigger mechanism then set the action slowly and straight down on to the stock. Your markings will be rubbed on the trigger where it hit. There is plenty meat in the stock to take out what little might be hitting. Boyds tells you on their web page that you can expect to do this on many of their stocks just to get the finishing touches on it. It is not a frightening thing to do to your stock.
If you can't see the scrubbing very well, use a very thin but certainly covering dab of white caulk on suspect edges. Remember how the dab looked before you went in. The caulk dabs will tell if anything changed on them after you pull the action back out of the stock.

OK, you know you invited me to post a picture of my stock on your thread don't you? LOL. This is before the Leupold scope went on.

 
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