doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Restocking a Holland and Holland Royal

Doug Mann does really good work.and is a really nice guy

I believe the name you are thinking of is Paul Hodgins. Former stocker for Holland & Holland.

If you have an English Best, Paul Hodgins is who I would work with. Kirk Merrington amongst others recommends Mr. Hodgins.

ph. = 435-753-2796

Paul Hodgins made a stock for my Holland 20b. Perfection is the only appropriate word to describe the quality. Perfection, however, does not come cheap.

It all comes down to time and money. Good stockers are going to have work lined up for the Fall so it will be next year before you get the gun completed. All the right people to do the job will charge basically the same. Never trust the stories of a cheap, fast and expert stocker someone has hidden away. All crap as far as I can tell. Talent gets paid and there is enough work needed to keep the best stockers busy and prices high.

The question you did not ask, that most people ask first, is how much will it cost. Simple answer is a lot but not as much as many think for what you need and are getting. I would have a fitting with the stocker, with a try gun if possible or have him alter your new gun's stock to make either a pattern for duplication or a working stock for trial. You might even be able to get that done fairly quickly and shoot the gun this Fall to confirm it meets your needs. then send it to the stocker and have him make your new stock to match your custom altered original.

If you intend to make this your default, go to gun, for the next ten year then do the project. When you consider spreading the investment over a decade it makes sense to do it. If you are going to trade the gun off next year understand that you are going to loose most, if not all, of the cost of the new stock.

Mr. Hodgins' work us as fine as anyone on the planet. I fear a full restock from him may cost as much or more than the initial price of the gun. Sending it to Italy, while a bit of a hassle, would be the least expensive and fastest way to get excellent work done. Perugini & Visini, Piotti and others can do this quite well.
Regards,
Jeff

Paul Hodgins did the stock job on my 450/400 Jeffery that is shown on his site. The quality was first rate and was done in the correct style which is very important. This was the second stock job he had done for me and I would use him again if the gun warrants that kind of $$$ investment.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of having my Paradox stocked by a gunmaker known to many of you and it was a disaster. I saved half the cost of Paul's work but someday will end up paying Paul to do it right.

In stocking a fine gun you get what you pay for.

http://www.hodginsgunstocks.com/tour2.html

I had a conversation with Paul Hodgins a short while ago about re-stocking my Holland sidelock and the quote was 9K + wood.
I agree with everyone saying you get what you pay for. A less expensive option may be to send it to the UK and have the work done there by a well known stocker to the trade. The main reason that it's cheaper to have it done there is due to the greater number of high end stockers available. This will probably be the route that I take at some point.

A bit cheaper than $9k when he made mine, but still rather expensive. I wonder how much it will cost you to get your gun to England?? I'd be surprised if you could get it shipped there and back (& they will need the entire gun) for much less than $1000.00. And it's not much fun dealing with Customs.

I spoke with Paul last spring based on several recommendations and his quote for new stock and FE was in that price range, plus blank (and it will be an expensive blank if you are going to pay that much for the work!). I did not question the value proposition but it was a mismatch for the gun in question. I would agree that sending a gun back to the England would be very expensive - but if that is done through H&H's NY gunroom would those costs/hassles be reduced?

The other consideration is the impact of restocking on value. Presumably restocking by the maker would have less negative effect on value than a restocking by an independent craftsmen. Hard to quantify, no doubt.

Sending it to the UK and getting it back will cost you $2000+. You may be able to bundle it with some other guns going over and save on costs, but you'll still have to get it to the stocker -- and know which stocker to pick.

Mr Hodgins may cost a lot up front, but his work is worth it down the line.

A second rate restock will kill the H&H's value....and make it look like sh!t....

OWD