Ordered a boyds thumbhole, anyone have one?
 

I orig put a bid in on a full size takeoff stock for my youth 700 before i realized a boyds might be a better alternaive. I had to wait to see if i would win the ebay auction, and was pretty sure i would bc the market for BDL takeoffs is pretty weak. To my surprise, i was outbid and it sold for $25 delivered. I would have been fine with it bc it was a brand new takeoff but wasnt disappointed bc i could now find a Boyd's. I was leaning toward the Prairie Hunter bc i liked it and at $98, a great value. Went to their site immediately after letting the ebay auction expire amd to my surprise, Boyds raised the prices on the prairie to $129 in the last few days. The timing was very disappointing but with other stocks being priced equally, i looked at a variety of styles and ordered the Thumbhole featherlight.

I dont know whether i will like it or not but have always been intrigued by the thumbhole style. The look is non traditional but the feel in the hand has always been good when i have held them. I dont think they are real popular but wondered if any of you have tried and liked, disliked them.

Btw, a shoutout to nomercy, he has been extremely helpful on a variety of topics both via threads and a few pm's. Many others have been very helpful too.

Have the thumbhole stock from bodys. And dealt like it. Thinking about getting one for rifle. I do not think you will be disaponted with body's stocks. The thumbhole really lets you steady and get in a good hold of the rifle.

Got a few Thumbers. 2 are from Boyds. Pretty much drop in with very little, if any, inletting needing to be done. Maybe a shave here, little sanding there, in the barrel channel. I have both epoxy and pillar bedded. The Boyds have a really nice grip angle and very comfortable in the hand. I think you will like that featherweight.

I had an '06 with a boyds thumbhole for a short while. Enjoyed shooting it. Never did hunt with it, bought it to re-sell. But it did have a good feel to it, and I think you'll like it. Also, I think they look really good. I might look into one for a ruger 10/22.
-Jake

I'll answer here in lieu of answering both here and our PM conversation.

I have a couple of the Boyd's Featherweight Thumbholes. As I've mentioned to you and in other threads, I have and have had a bunch of Boyds' stocks: thumbholes, "revolution" skeleton baracuda's, prairie Hunters, Pro-Varmint, classics, and Heritages.

The cheekpiece height on the thumbholes is JUST a little low for me with 40mm scopes sitting in medium rings, but that's probably my own problem, as almost all stocks don't have enough cheek rise for me. That probably won't be an issue for you. I do know that their cheek rise is taller than Ruger's standard, I have to add almost a full inch of cheek rise on Ruger stocks to use 44-50mm scopes!

The flat bottomed "flanged" forend on their Featherweight Thumbhole is my favorite profile for aesthetics and feel in my support hand.

Inlet fit for Boyd's stocks tends to be as good as anybody in the industry. All drop-in stocks have the same issues: 1) If they're generous to fit EVERY rifle, they'll be loose on certain smaller actioned rifles, or 2) if they're well fit to smaller action dimensions, they'll be too tight on larger spec actions. Boyd's designs their inlets on the tight side, so if you have a larger spec action, it'll need fitting. Anyone with a piece of sandpaper and two fingers can do that fitting, however, as it's not a highly demanding job. I've had stocks from Stocky's and Richard's Microfit as well, and any of these 3 will usually need SOME small amount of fitting.

In all fairness, if you ever pull your action out and use witness media on factory stocks, it's pretty common that they weren't perfectly fit either, and would require a similar degree of fitting.

You'll be happy with that stock from Boyd's - or rather, your Daughter will!

if there is any kind of recoil involved, make sure ya bed it, I installed one on a 338 winny took it to a so called smith told him to float the barrel, I assumed he would skim bed it to accomplish this, he did not, the stock cracked in 20 shots. Boyd's replaced it, and said it was cause it wasn't bedded.
RR

I put a Boyd classic on my Winchester Model 70. Had it glass bedded and added aluminum pillars. I really like the look and feel of the stock. Being laminated, it is a bit on the heavy side but I don't mind. I do wish I got the checkered as it would provide a little better grip.

Very happy to see so many good comments on this model, especially since i already ordered it. i didnt figure i could go wrong and the reviews i found online were good, so i grabbed it. It is being sent via ups and arrives tuesday so i will be anxious to see how well it fits

I meant to also let you know that you should get it bedded. Even though it's only a .243 so there isn't much recoil, when properly bedded and floated your accuracy improves. Lot's of videos and instructions online if you want to do it yourself. It's not hard to do at all really. Nor is it very expensive to do it yourself.

Received thumbhole stock and really love it. Absolutely beautiful. It is natural wood, brown so nothing too fancy but i like it and the color more than i expected. Makes the old black cheap syn stock look like junk, brings the whole gun to life

Thx for all the help, support. I might order another for a near future gun build