Why swap the stocks on a shotgun? Two primary reasons stand out: to upgrade to stocks that better fit the shooter or to replace worn or cracked stocks. Many shotguns live a hard life, in and out of duck blinds, trucks, boats and exposed to bad weather. Boyds Hardwood Gunstocks offers a variety of replacements to rejuvenate battered guns!
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Shotguns?
While Ultimate Reloader is more rifle-focused, several of the team are very shotgun-oriented. Earl on our team is a competitive shotgunner and has many thousands of broken clays to his credit.
Although I enjoy big game hunting with my rifles and have talked about that at length on the channel, I spend far more time bird hunting with my dog and my shotguns.
About Boyds Stocks
Boyds laminated stocks are made by infusing resin adhesive into thin sheets of hardwood, then bonding the layers together under heat and pressure.
This forms a very stiff, strong and weather resistant stock. These hardwood sheets are colored completely through, leading to a variety of striking color combinations available for more than 255 firearms brands and over 1,200 individual models!
While some stocks are pre-built, customization is encouraged. Style and colors can be selected along with other options like checkering and various recoil pads.
For this project, we used Gavin’s old 12 gauge Mossberg 500. This gun is kept handy and ready for use at our mountain shop.
It’s a great general-purpose shotgun with a 28” barrel and modified choke. Gavin’s shotgun is in great condition and didn’t necessarily need new stocks, but the recoil pad had dried and cracked and needed replacement.
We selected a pepper color laminate with an attractive carved pattern on both the forend and buttstock. It also came with the well-respected Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad.
Removing and Replacing the Stocks
Removing and replacing the stocks was a simple procedure. (Most shotguns follow the same process.) The only tools I needed were a Phillips head screwdriver; long, flat-bladed screwdriver, and a brass punch.
I started by checking the shotgun to make sure it was empty, then removed the barrel which I achieved by unscrewing the takedown screw by hand.
After that I loosened the action slide tube nut with a brass punch, finished unscrewing it, and slid the fore end stock off of the magazine tube.
Removing the buttstock starts with removing the recoil pad. This pad is held on by two Phillips head screws.
Once the recoil pad is gone, use a long flat-bladed screwdriver to remove the stock bolt. At this point, the buttstock comes off easily.
The reverse procedure is used to install the new Boyds stocks. A word about fitment: we’ve installed a number of Boyds stocks on rifles and now on a shotgun.
Most of the stocks fit perfectly right out of the box. Some, however, required a bit of fitting. This can be due to firearms manufacturers changing a dimension on a specific model. Usually, we’ve been able to make the stock fit just fine with a few minutes work.
Shooting Impressions
I shot the Mossberg 500 with the original stocks and found it comfortable and fun to shoot. I had no problem hitting targets with it. After replacing the stocks we went up to the Ridgeline to shoot aerial targets!
For this we used a completely new device: the Caldwell ClayCopter launcher and accompanying 110mm biodegradable aerial targets. This was an absolute hoot!
Gavin and I had fun launching the targets then shooting them with the shotgun. This provided an excellent opportunity to test the new stocks.
The laminate stocks add a little weight to the shotgun, but that’s not a bad thing when shooting heavy 12 gauge loads. The forend stock fit my hand well and was more comfortable to use than the standard Mossberg forend had been.
The Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad is my favorite for hard-recoiling rifles and shotguns and was much appreciated on this fairly lightweight 12 gauge.
All in all, the new Boyds stocks resulted in a shotgun that is more comfortable to shoot.
Conclusion
Boyds Mossberg 500 stocks were an improvement in both look and feel as compared to the original stocks.
Changing the stocks on a pump-action shotgun is a simple task, requiring only basic hand tools. This makes for an easy and swift upgrade to aesthetic and functionality!
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Thanks,
Guy Miner
