I was looking for a light 20 gauge sxs to use for turkey hunting 6 years ago and came across what I thought was a bargain in a Fausti that had been imported by Traditions. It had the features I was looking for, except it had a straight stock instead of the pistol grip I wanted. I figured I could get used to it, but disliked it enough that I seldom used the gun.
I have been watching for a pistol grip stock since I bought it, but have never seen one for sale. A couple weeks back I found a guy with 2 stocks for a Winchester 23 that he was almost giving away, so I bought them. I got him to measure the ends and decided I could fit one to my gun. One of them had 2" cut off and I thought it would be good to practice on before trying to install the decent one.
I found out quickly that stock makers earn whatever they charge. I've enjoyed working with it, but it's harder than I expected. Here is my question - is the recoil supposed to be primarily on the wood behind the stock bolt block? That looks to me like the only part of the Fausti stock that is substantial enough to handle recoil, and it's even more so with the Winchester stock adapted to it. The other places that the stock touches the action has such thin wood that I'm afraid it could crack if it absorbs any recoil.
The wood on the Fausti stock was left proud to the action; I had planned to try to fit it, but it's so thin that I think I should leave it proud on the new stock.
I am thinking I should glass bed it, taking care to do a good job with the wood behind the stock bolt block. If this is what is supposed to bear most of the recoil then the thin wood in other places shouldn't matter. I have bedded several rifles, but never thought of doing a sxs shotgun.
This is a cheap gun and certainly not worth paying someone to restock. I obviously have no experience in stock building, so thanks for any help.
Last edited by coosa; 02/06/19 09:35 PM.
