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Shooting for almost a decade now, we decided it
just might be time to have our stocks fitted. Seemed about time,
don't you think?
After considering a number of
possibilities, we called Wenig Custom Gun Stocks,
Inc. and asked for a catalog,
directions, and decided to make an appointment. They can comfortably
custom fit two people per day on the premises.
We discovered Wenig is located in
Lincoln, Missouri. Hummmm, we still didn't know where it was!
We received their beautiful color catalog in the mail, and the one thing that
we
noticed it didn't say was "conveniently located". The reason?
It isn't! But, that shouldn't stop any serious shooter from considering
their service.
Leaving from Houston's Hobby Airport,
our trip consisted of a two and a half hour flight to Kansas City, Mo. and
then a three hour car ride to a nearby town in the Ozarks where we stayed
the night. You see, when you get fitted with Wenig, the process
starts early in the morning and doesn't finish until around 4:00 p.m.
Driving down to Wenig I wasn't sure if I was Stanley seeking Livingston,
or if Cindy was Dorothy seeking the Wizard of Oz (dare I say the Wenig
of OZarks).
When we got there on Saint Patrick's Day, we were greeted by a "funny,
little, green hat". We knew right then and there we were going to
have a good time, with good people, if nothing else.
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click to enlarge photo
click to enlarge photo
click to enlarge photo
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The building was on the street and we
wondered how and where we would be patterning the guns. Were we
going to have an opportunity to actually shoot at some targets?
As we entered the workshop (a white
building at the rear of the brick building) the scene was akin to
Geppetto's Workshop with artisans and craftsmen working at every stage of
the stock making process. Yes, Lincoln, Mo. is obscure to most of us, but
to my surprise it turned out to be the gunstock making capitol of the
country. It has a history that goes back many decades. Companies
like Bishops and Fajens were located in this very area until their
closings in 1998. In
fact, Fred Wenig and Elbert Smith (V.P.) were employed for over 30 years
at Fajens, and started Wenig Gunstock Company in 1993.
Some of the craftsmen working for this company literally have 30-40 years
of gun making experience.
The procedure for our fitting began
at 7:30 in the morning with literally a team of craftsmen and experts
working with Cindy and me to fit, then build our initial mock up stocks.
Measurements were taken to get a rough estimate of where to start.
Then, a working stock was chosen. After picking our favorite pads (we
chose KickEze) we were ready to begin the serious subtle process towards
that perfect fit. The length of pull was determined and then the
palm swell. "How's that feel?", he asked. I think it's
a bit too... "OK, try it now." It's still too... "OK, try
it now." Oh, so THAT'S what it's supposed to feel like.
It's like slipping into a comfortable shoe with a perfect arch support.
It's there supporting you, but you don't really feel it.
It was interesting to watch them mix
up a concoction of sawdust with a type of glue which hardened within
minutes after being applied to the stock. Roughly molded onto the
stock by hand, it was then sanded down, little by little, until we had the
right fit on our faces and the right fit on our shoulders allowing us to
look down the middle of the rib. You'd think that we'd have a
perfect fit now, right? Wrong. Off to the patterning board and
shooting at some clays.
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So, about one and a half to two hours
into our fittings we were ready to travel the short distance to a farm
where we could pattern and shoot some actual clay targets off a manual
trap.
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click to enlarge photo
click to enlarge photo
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They have a small wood working shop
at this location to fine tune the stock. Cindy shot at some targets
first. Miss, miss, miss, miss. Uh oh. "Not to worry", he said,
"I leave a little extra on when going out to try the stock for the first
time because it's easier to remove a little rather than have to add
to it. Let's pattern it. It's shooting low". Into the small
shop, and after a bit of sanding, back to shooting. Hit, hit, hit,
hit. We check it at the Patterning board. Shooting
dead center. Now it's Joe's turn. With a little fine tuning, smoke,
smoke, smoke, smoke. Pattern board. Perfect.
Retuning to the main facility the
mock up stocks were placed in a machine with our pre-selected wood. We
took a lunch break while our stocks were created by duplicating the
dimensions on the mock up stocks. We returned to shop where we saw
our raw stocks on our guns. Done yet? Nope. Back to the
farm to pattern and shoot the guns with the new stocks for that final fine tuning. After just
a little sanding to get the eye exactly in the middle, we had some fun
shooting targets and bits of targets.
Back to the main shop where the guns
were taken to be finished.
Wenig manufactures stocks for Kolar,
Kreighoff, Garand, and Sharps. The woods that are offered are American
Walnut, English Walnut, Turkish Walnut, Maple, plus a variety of very
unusual woods. They also have laminated stocks which produce some really
interesting looks. Finished stocks vary in prices depending upon the
type of wood and grade of wood along with the checking, etc. involved.
The stocks remained with Wenig so that they could be
stained and finished to match the fore ends. What I’ve really learned is
how important it is to shoot AND pattern a gun to get a good fit.
This process of roughing out a stock, shooting it, fine tuning, shooting,
and continuing to fine tune
until you get everything into alignment has to be about the best chance
possible of having a gun fit that's close to perfect. Even having the
measurements doesn't replace that last final fit. Cindy had two
stocks made and both were given a final fit!
This was quite an experience watching the various
steps of fitting, shaping, checkering, and finishing a shotgun stock all
within a 3000 sq. ft. building.
Our opinion? Wenig's fitting process
is professional and very complete.
[Click photos below
to enlarge]
Then there's always the bill
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