triseven
Senior Member
Well, I was fortunate to finally find a new stock for my ‘86 Browning Abolt in .243. It’s a Hunter model, but it had the Medallion stock. We bought it at Franklins in Athens in 1988. I think the guy told my dad it was some sort of special order they got from Browning. This was the first rifle of my very own and it’s shot a bunch over the years.
Well, being a dumb kid I managed to break the original in two at the grip when I was thirteen being careless in the woods. We didn’t have the money to replace it so my dad just screwed it back together and fiberglassed it. I painted it “camo” with my mom’s acrylic art paints. It’s probably had half a dozen coats of rattle can paint over the years.
Been looking for a new original OEM stock for probably 10+ years but since Browning stopped manufacturing them the prices have been as much as a new gun. I finally found one on eBay recently and couldn’t be more pleased to have her back to her original beauty.
So, with all that being said, this new stock isn’t bedded or free floated like the original was from the factory. Looking for recommendations on a good gunsmith within an hour or so of Smyrna, GA that can do this job the right way for a reasonable fee. The last time I took a rifle to get this work done at a gunsmith here in Smyrna, let’s just say it looked like a six year old was given a jar of epoxy and set to work on it. It shot fine, but was not a very clean job and I recall it costing an arm and a leg (not sure what the actual number was).
Also, I’d like to get the bluing touched up in some places. Had that previous gunsmith do it a couple of years ago and it’s already worn off. I haven’t shot it but maybe a dozen times since then and it hasn’t been in the woods in over 10 years or more, so not sure why it’s already faded.
Before and after photos:
Well, being a dumb kid I managed to break the original in two at the grip when I was thirteen being careless in the woods. We didn’t have the money to replace it so my dad just screwed it back together and fiberglassed it. I painted it “camo” with my mom’s acrylic art paints. It’s probably had half a dozen coats of rattle can paint over the years.
Been looking for a new original OEM stock for probably 10+ years but since Browning stopped manufacturing them the prices have been as much as a new gun. I finally found one on eBay recently and couldn’t be more pleased to have her back to her original beauty.
So, with all that being said, this new stock isn’t bedded or free floated like the original was from the factory. Looking for recommendations on a good gunsmith within an hour or so of Smyrna, GA that can do this job the right way for a reasonable fee. The last time I took a rifle to get this work done at a gunsmith here in Smyrna, let’s just say it looked like a six year old was given a jar of epoxy and set to work on it. It shot fine, but was not a very clean job and I recall it costing an arm and a leg (not sure what the actual number was).
Also, I’d like to get the bluing touched up in some places. Had that previous gunsmith do it a couple of years ago and it’s already worn off. I haven’t shot it but maybe a dozen times since then and it hasn’t been in the woods in over 10 years or more, so not sure why it’s already faded.
Before and after photos:
