Boyds Heritage Stock for Bergara Carbon Ridge Wilderness

My Bergara Carbon Ridge Wilderness was a good, dependable, accurate, and reasonably lightweight rifle from the start, but I wanted something more. The factory synthetic stock is useful and compact, but I desired a higher comb and more traditional-looking rifle stock. Boyds’ Heritage fit the bill!

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About Boyds Gunstocks

Boyds Gunstocks is well known for their high-quality replacement stocks at a reasonable price.

They’re available in 13 color combinations, 19 stock shapes, and in six different woods for 255 firearms brands!

Boyds’ laminate stocks, wood impregnated with resins under heat and pressure, have tremendous strength—50% stronger than standard wood.

This process and finish also makes them essentially weatherproof. We’ve shown a number of different Boyds stocks on the channel, including the At-One, Spike Camp, Featherweight Thumbhole, and more.

About the Rifle and Ammunition

This Bergara Ridge Carbon Wilderness in 6.5 Creedmoor has rapidly become one of my favorite rifles. It had been previously upgraded with a very nice Boyds At-One laminate stock and a Leupold VX-5HD 3-15 x 44 mounted in Hawkins Precision long range hybrid rings.

It’s easy to shoot, feels great in my hands, and fits me well. I had previously zeroed this rifle with my 140 grain handloads, so I grabbed a box of Berger ammunition featuring the 140 grain Berger Hybrid Target bullet.

This ammunition is of excellent quality. There’s very little felt recoil and I can count on my groups remaining at or under one MOA with a variety of factory ammunition or my handloads.

About the Boyds Heritage

The Boyds Heritage stock has a traditional sporter shape coupled with “nutmeg laminate,” one of my favorite laminate color combinations.

I also selected the Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad and black forend and grip cap.

Installation of the stock was straightforward, requiring only a 5/32” Allen key to remove and replace two action screws.

The action screws should be torqued to 35 inch-lbs.

Our stock came with sharp inletting and with aluminum pillars already installed.

This made additional bedding unnecessary, but it could still be done if desired. This setup also allows for stock swaps without zero changes. The barrel channel easily accommodated the varmint contour carbon-wrapped barrel.

While swapping stocks, I decided to take the opportunity to compare the Boyds Heritage to the Bergara synthetic stock.

At 2 lbs. 5.4 ounces, the laminate weighs more than the 1 lb. 12.2 ounce factory stock. This isn’t unusual, but something to consider before making a change.

Shooting and Field Experience

Before going into the field, I always practice with my rifle.

I shot at D-M targets steel rock chucks from a variety of positions, using Leupold BX-4 Range HD TBR/W 10x42mm Range-Finder Binoculars to determine target distances.

I’ve hunted mule deer and black bear, but haven’t had an opportunity to shoot either of those species while carrying this rifle yet.

Even so, between range time and miles of hiking I’ve come to appreciate Boyds Heritage stock. It’s rugged, weatherproof, comfortable to carry, and comes to shoulder well.

I paired this with a Montana sling, partly for aesthetics and partly to eliminate the extra weight of a bipod.

Conclusion

The Boyds Heritage is a comfortable stock that fits me better than the factory synthetic stock, making it easier to make the shot.

The laminate construction and factory finish renders it nearly impervious to weather and Boyds offers a number of customization options for you to make it your own. Most Boyds laminate stocks start at under $200 — I think this is a great value for an upgrade!