[RonS]

They have some unique stocks, including some real retro styles, has anyone had any experience with them? I want to re-re-stock the Springfield '03A2 that I built 30 years ago in a more traditional style in nice wood. Thanks

[esheato]

Great American Gunstocks is in Yuba City, CA. I live a mere fifteen miles from their store and have been in their stockroom many times oogling the beautiful walnut.

If I had a gun to re-stock, I'd deal with them in a heartbeat.

Ed

[ChipChaff]

I know this is an old thread and I posted another comment elsewhere on this site, but I'd hate to have a fellow gun-lover screwed over by Henry Pohl of Great American Gunstock Co. relying on the out of date praise above. If you do an internet search, you can find a lot of people who have had less than satisfactory experiences with that outfit, especially after his fire. Check out ripoffreport.com for starters.

My story - I paid $600 for a rough inletted piece of french walnut - I was actually surprised at what a beautiful piece of wood it is. It was rough - I had to assure my wife it was really OK when we pulled it out of the box - and I put a lot of work into shaping it and getting all the rough shaper gouges out of it but the real flaw became apparent when I tried to inlet the action - the action screw holes were off center and before I realized it I may have removed too much wood to get a correct fit once I reposition the holes correctly.

I found that the holes had been drilled first from the bottom and came out in the wrong place on the top - so someone drilled them downward half way and had doglegs in the middle where they met. I drilled those out slightly oversize and plugged them with hardwood dowels and will either redrill them and have little dowel crescents left over or bore the holes oversize and put in pillars. If I pillar bed or find I did remove too much wood already, I'll have to glass bed/pillar bed to get a reasonable fit.

I got with Henry and told him what I had found and that I thought a partial refund would be fair for the additional work and hassle caused by his mistake - not a chance. Here's what he wrote back yesterday exactly as he wrote it:

". . . even if the hole is a little miscut, the stock was sent with the opinion that regardless of what minor blems their might be found in it it was nonetheless worth the asking price. I regret that you don't feel this way, but I honestly think your judgement is somewhat severely and unfairly negative. Where else can you get a gunstock that nice for such a low price?"

A little miscut?! Try 90 thousandths - almost a tenth of an inch. Basically his response is "screw you buddy, you're stuck with it."

The amount I asked for was much less than it would cost to have the work done commercially and my motivation in letting people know has less to do with the money than the injustice. I sincerely do not want other people like me to be treated in this way.

Henry's wrong on another point - there are a number of other options for high grade stock blanks. Support real artists - not con artists.

Chip

[koginam]

I have dealt with them on many occasions and never had a problem with them.
Chip is right their are other manufactures out their and they do have good products, but I would still use Great American.

[krs]

He did a gorgeous job of duplicating an original buttstock for one of my Stevens Walnut Hill rifles. I sent him the cracked and once poorly repaired original and he selected walnut and color so well that he somehow matched the 1923 original so that it is impossible now to tell that the rifle has been restocked.

It wasn't cheap and it took forever, but the result made it all worth it.

[koginam]

I think when you do the number of stocks they do you are bound to have some bad experiences. but for the most part I think they do a good job.

[dirtyjim]

i have a few of his stocks & i'm about to buy a three more for projects. his bargain bin stocks are a crapshoot but i've always been able to make them work. if i spent $600 on a stock it would be very carefully examined before any work was done to it & sent back if it was not up to par. i know several people who have gotten stocks similar to what chip described but they were all given the option of sending the stock back along with their barreled actions for henry either to fit them or replace them. the difference was that they spotted the flaws before they started cutting on the stock
asking for a partial refund after the fact will usually get you nothing.

[Jolly Rogers]

My story - I paid $600 for a rough inletted piece of french walnut - I was actually surprised at what a beautiful piece of wood it is. It was rough - I had to assure my wife it was really OK when we pulled it out of the box - and I put a lot of work into shaping it and getting all the rough shaper gouges out of it but the real flaw became apparent when I tried to inlet the action - the action screw holes were off center and before I realized it I may have removed too much wood to get a correct fit once I reposition the holes correctly.

I see a little bit of operator error in the process of fitting the stock. I cannot determine the sequence of your process but I would inlet the stock completely as the first step. Is this what you did when you "removed too much wood"? In my opinion drilling from both ends may have been the best way to fit the action. That way the holes look acceptable from the outside and fit properly inside. What occurs in the middle cannot be seen anyway.
True, when you spend $600 for a slab of wood you want a good job...It is way more than I could spend for a stock.
Just trying to get a feel for the chronology here.
Joe

[gspspinone]

I'd stay away, Henry Pohl is not the best businessman and in my experience can't be trusted. You can read my story at shotgunworld.com and several other bad experiences if you search the net.