New Enfield stock musings...

L

Lord Grey Boots

New member
Like a few others, I have one of the Gibb's Quest Extreme rifles.
I like the concept and looks, and it shoots great, except...

The stock is too short for me. My trigger hand cramps up quickly. So, I am looking at replacement stocks, in particular the Ramline, and the Boyd Bros.

I have held some Enfields with the Ramline stock and it feels good. But, its plastic, and just doesn't look as good as the standard Gibb's rifle.

The other option is the Boyd Bros. I haven't seen a decent picture of that one yet, never mind held one. I'd do that if I could drill the end of the stock, and put the brass buttplate on it. Does anyone see why that couldn't be done? I have never dealt with replacement wood stocks, only plastic ones.

I guess I am looking for options, ideas, info and discussion, on replacement stocks.

(and like others, I am still waiting for pic's of agtman's rifle :-))
 
Real Enfield stocks are common, will fit, and cheaper. Just get the stock that has L on the top near the butt. L=Long, S=Short, B=Bantam or extra short for colonials. ;)
 
LGB:


Jeez, you mean you still haven't picked up the phone and called Boyd's? ((605) 996-5011) Wow, your shoulder must really LOVE all that pounding from the way too-short stock and metal butt plate. :D Ask Boyd's for their catalog - what you want is in there.

As far as pictures, I love it when the range-droolers get to salivatin' over my toys ("Where does he get all those wonderful toys?")

Here's the plan:

Dr. Rob previously indicated he'd like to see pics (which I do have) of my other Lee-Enfield, the one customized along the lines of a Jeffery Lee Sporter (See, e.g., Rifle Mags, 11/99-#186, and 3/00-#188 which shows a similar one by Rigby).

When I get the Gibbs back from my 'smith, I'll take somes pics. Thus, there will be a set of pics for the rifle AND for the Gibbs.

I'm not very "high tech" and don't have access to a scanner, so my thought was to send these photos to the good Doctor at a snail-mail address and he can post them here for the group's benefit. How's that? Right now, the 'smith is backed up with hunting rifle "emergencies," and between my schedule and the holidays coming in, we're probably looking at some time in January. Trust me, you'll like the way the Boyd's stocks look, but I'd recommend you go ahead and order them now.

On a related note, if you do go with a Boyd's sporter walnut buttstock, why on earth would you put the military steel plate back on? My 'smith fitted a 1 inch Kick-Ezz rubber recoil pad to it (after determining correct LOP for me - I'm 6'3). Along with the dampening effect of the muzzle brake, "felt recoil" is a nonissue.

Final note: 700 PSS Shooter is correct re the 3 lengths for the original military buttstock.

Long ago I picked up an "L" (Long) version and tried it out. Guess what? A bit better, but still not long enough for proper LOP for me. It made me wonder, just how short were those Brit guys of the WWII generation? They shoulda added growth hormones to those crumpets. ( :D No offense to any Brits here. I've known some very tough short guys).

Anyway, for me, going with the Boyd's was a better and more satisfying option. As always, YMMV. Happy holidays.
 
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The recoil doesn't bother me or my shoulder now. The short stock means I can't get a good grip with the trigger hand, and that causes a cramp in the hand. The shorter stock makes it a bit more difficult to keep the rifle on the shoulder when cycling the bolt. Frankly I like the looks of the brass butt plate, and the stock compartment is still handy for a simple cleaning kit, or even the dinky survival (ahem) kit that comes with the rifle.

Okay, so looks matters to me, is that bad? :-)

Yes, I will call Boyd's for their catalog, thats next in any case.

A longer LOP will help me, but I think I am really looking for more of a pistol grip like (whatever the term is) grip. The Ramline has it, and it looks so far like the Boyd's does as well.
 
LGB:


Yeah, I've seen the Ramline stocks. Light-weight synthetics have their place, but I really wanted to keep mine a wood & metal gun, and the Boyd's worked great. Even so, I'm sure the Ramline's more pronounced grip would cure your cramping problem, as well as improve the LOP.

Boyd's walnut buttstock comes with a pistol grip, though it's somewhat thick. You can certainly thin it out a bit, sanding and reshaping to get more contour. That's part of why I stuck with wood, because it can be taylored to fit YOU.

I guess we disagree on the brass buttplate.

You're right, though, about the storage compartment for cleaning or outdoor survival gear. Pretty neat, as was Gibb's idea even to include such a kit in the first place. To me it shows they were purpose-designing the carbine for a specific niche (including finishing it in eletrolus-nickel (sp?)): an outdoor, all-weather, go-anywhere, reasonably accurate & potent beater gun. (Now, as the kit itself goes, I do better with the one I built over the years, based on my needs, which goes in my buttpack when hunting. Still, for others, the "survival kit" Gibbs furnishes may be fine).

For what I paid for this .303 "eXtreme carbine," I'm real happy with it - how it looks and, especially, how it shoots.

When you get yours squared away with new stocks, you'll have something your shootin' buddies will be drooling over. The neat part about these little guns is, not everybody and their cousin has one. :)
 
I would like to see a full length original stock made of composite plastic material. I think it would look nice...

No one makes those though...

YMMV,
 
I remember ugly brown fiberglass stocks for the Enfields. I do not know if it was military surplus or aftermarket, but it resembled the ugly brown fiberglass stocks used on M1903A3 drill rifles for cadets in the 50's or 60's.

No offense to lovers of ugly brown fiberglass stocks... ;)
 
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