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Grayboe experiences

B

Blackie Lawless

Private
Minuteman
Sep 8, 2021
49
9
USA
Another Stock question right?

Simple... what model Grayboe do/have you had and what was your experience with it?

Especially out of the box fitment. Bedding usually always helps, but did you have to bed it? Did bedding yield better performance?

How well has it held up? Under what kind of use?

Things like this... and I need to get my post count up so 😉
 
I own 3 Renegades. From the early ones to the current models. My first one I converted to LH since they didn't offer those at the time. It went into a Rem700 action. My second one went on a Defiance Deviant action. I had to do work to that one as well to fit the bolt handle, bolt release, and ejection port correctly. Those were both bedded. My 3rd one is on my Rem700 308 factory rifle. It isn't bedded, but it probably will be in the future. It shoots ok. I think the barrel isn't that good so I just got another one to try.

I've shot several PRS style matches with all 3 rifles. The one I put on my 308 cracked at the bolt handle area. They replaced it free of charge. Overall I like their stocks and would recommend them.
 
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Love mine! Took my rig out to 1000 yards with repeatable hits.
 

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I had a Renegade and it worked good, but the inlet for both action and bottom metal left a lot to be desired. I bedded it and did some work to the recoilpad and also made a cheekriser out of carbonfiber for it.
While I made it work, I would never buy one again.

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The Renegade I had had very good inletting. I was incredibly impressed with the stock, and if I hadn't developed an affectation for AG Composties, I would have a couple more.
 
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A local gunsmith just had an issue with a grayboe and swore them off forever. My last AG composites stock came out amazing, so I doubt I will be using anything else. It's light, strong, in letting was perfect, and it looks amazing.
 
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I've looked into them and reviews of them a lot lately and noticed most inletting issues being in older threads and videos

I was hoping that the process was refined by now and consistently putting out good molds

I've seen a couple concerning the Terrain mounting up with the barrel slightly off center(this could be the older Outlander model)
 
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Specifically the issue was he tried to torque something on and the stock snapped at the back of the inlet where it transitions to the butt stock. Really wasn't much torque. He commented that it was surprising how easy it broke and then when he looked at it, there wasn't really much meat there.
 
Did Grayboe replace the stock? With any injection molded process voids can happen. I have found their customer service to be excellent.
 
scott5456 said:
I will ask him. This just happened last week.
Click to expand...

I’m curious which stock model it was

The Phoenix is “lightened” and the pistol grip is hollow, and the Renegade is solid

So I’m wondering if that is the issue... if the spot he picked was just a bad spot to pick, or if it is a molding weakness
 
I bought a pair of Ridgeback's during a 4th of July sale and threw them on a Rem 700PSS and a Bergara B14r. I haven't messed with the 700 much, but I used the Bergara at NRL22x matches this year. There was no problems with fitment, I'm sure using Grayboe's bottom metal helped. I had to tune the Bergara magazines, but that has been a common issue with putting the rimfire Bergara in an aftermarket stock/chassis. The stock has held up to getting bounced around barricades and general abuse under the timer. Sawtooth makes a great Arca rail that replaces the bottom MLok slots.
 
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patrol120 said:
The Renegade I had had very good inletting. I was incredibly impressed with the stock, and if I hadn't developed an affectation for AG Composties, I would have a couple more.
Click to expand...

Did you use Grayboe’s bottom metal and Magpul mags on the Renegade? I see they asterisk Magpul mag function “may not work”

Interesting you bring up AG

It’s my understanding Stocky’s brand was previously AG and current offerings were developed in conjunction with AG

I like the AG, Mesa, and others... I was wanting to avoid lead times because that has become a whole different can of worms for the last 20 or so months
 
JMGlasgow said:
I own 3 Renegades. From the early ones to the current models. My first one I converted to LH since they didn't offer those at the time. It went into a Rem700 action. My second one went on a Defiance Deviant action. I had to do work to that one as well to fit the bolt handle, bolt release, and ejection port correctly. Those were both bedded. My 3rd one is on my Rem700 308 factory rifle. It isn't bedded, but it probably will be in the future. It shoots ok. I think the barrel isn't that good so I just got another one to try.

I've shot several PRS style matches with all 3 rifles. The one I put on my 308 cracked at the bolt handle area. They replaced it free of charge. Overall I like their stocks and would recommend them.
Click to expand...

Have you used Grayboe’s bottom metal? They mention Magpul “may not work”
 
Tortuga said:
I bought a pair of Ridgeback's during a 4th of July sale and threw them on a Rem 700PSS and a Bergara B14r. I haven't messed with the 700 much, but I used the Bergara at NRL22x matches this year. There was no problems with fitment, I'm sure using Grayboe's bottom metal helped. I had to tune the Bergara magazines, but that has been a common issue with putting the rimfire Bergara in an aftermarket stock/chassis. The stock has held up to getting bounced around barricades and general abuse under the timer. Sawtooth makes a great Arca rail that replaces the bottom MLok slots.
Click to expand...

So not much use on the 700?
 
VargmatII said:
I had a Renegade and it worked good, but the inlet for both action and bottom metal left a lot to be desired. I bedded it and did some work to the recoilpad and also made a cheekriser out of carbonfiber for it.
While I made it work, I would never buy one again.

p5pb15654727.jpg
Click to expand...

What bottom metal?
 
Magpul AICS 10rnd mags are hot garbage, but that isn't because of television bottom metal. My 5 round magpul mag works ok. I use Accurate and MDT mags without issues. And I've used AIAW mags in my Defiance without issue.
 
JMGlasgow said:
Magpul AICS 10rnd mags are hot garbage, but that isn't because of television bottom metal. My 5 round magpul mag works ok. I use Accurate and MDT mags without issues. And I've used AIAW mags in my Defiance without issue.
Click to expand...

Some people say the Magpuls are the greatest AICS mags ever, some say otherwise

Although I have seen the follower is on it’s 3rd change and all of the bad feedback I see comes from people shooting the niche calibers in 6 and 6.5 that I have noticed. Presumably because of the shoulders, and the mods to the floor plates have gone from flat to slight bump, to bigger bump forward on the plate where the shoulder would be

I don’t think I have seen one bad comment from a .308 user
 
Blackie Lawless said:
I’m curious which stock model it was

The Phoenix is “lightened” and the pistol grip is hollow, and the Renegade is solid

So I’m wondering if that is the issue... if the spot he picked was just a bad spot to pick, or if it is a molding weakness
Click to expand...

I believe it was the Terrain using a Remington 700 action. Snapped right at the thin part of the handle near the back of the action tang. Said he's done the same thing on every other stock with out an issue. It was a stuck case and was bumping on the bolt handle to get it unstuck. The stock was returned to the dealer he bought it from and will see what they can work out with Grayboe. He did mention that it was foam filled and not hollow handle but had no structural support other than the shell.
 
All the work I've done converting to LH and fitting my Renegade stocks to my rifles I've never encountered any kind of foam. It has always been the same hard fill as Manners or McMillan uses.
 
Own and Ridgeback and its excellent. Looking at getting a Pheonix for a light weight build as well. Great stocks. Ive never had any issues with mine and fitment was great. Ive never seen any need to bed my ridgeback. If you want one go for it man. I dont think you would be dissappinted.
 
JMGlasgow said:
All the work I've done converting to LH and fitting my Renegade stocks to my rifles I've never encountered any kind of foam. It has always been the same hard fill as Manners or McMillan uses.
Click to expand...

I believe that is what it is. I hesitate to call it hard fill as it does not provide a lot of structural rigidity. Kind of like the expanding foam for doors/windows. While under compression it helps a bit, but when you try to twist it, or under tension it ultimately has little strength. Mechanically you'd need some sort of internal structure, thicker shell, different material, etc to help stiffen things up.
 
I don't recall ever needing a dremel or files to remove construction expanding foam, yet I did need it to remove the fill in all my Grayboe stocks.
 
scott5456 said:
I believe it was the Terrain using a Remington 700 action. Snapped right at the thin part of the handle near the back of the action tang. Said he's done the same thing on every other stock with out an issue. It was a stuck case and was bumping on the bolt handle to get it unstuck. The stock was returned to the dealer he bought it from and will see what they can work out with Grayboe. He did mention that it was foam filled and not hollow handle but had no structural support other than the shell.
Click to expand...

Yeah that doesn’t seem right
 
I have a Ridgeback for my Tuebor Legion short action. I like the simplistic design of the stock while still being able to bolt items on to the Mlok portions. With that being said, I had a few issues with the stock including fitment of the action to the stock, and the ability to get my cheek rest high enough.

The fitment issues dealt with the recoil lug, not sure if it was Grayboe or Tuebor as I haven't has the action in anything else yet. Due to this interference coupled with my inability to wait and see which piece was causing the issue, I decided to relieve the area with my die grinder and bed the stock.

The second issue was the cheek rest could not go high enough for my face. during the initial firign of the rifle it never felt right, it just felt off. I determined that my cheek rest wasn't high enough for my liking and I couldn't go a whole lot lower with rings. I cured this with some eva foam glued to the cheek piece that I sanded down to get a proper cheek weld, feels great now.

Another minor issue was putting an arca rail on it, I used an Area419 universal rail and bedded the rail to the rifle (I had extra epoxy) and it works just fine. Knowing what I know now I would have bought a rail specific to the Ridgeback from Sawtooth Rifles.
IMG_20210515_063943490_HDR.jpg
 
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JMGlasgow said:
All the work I've done converting to LH and fitting my Renegade stocks to my rifles I've never encountered any kind of foam. It has always been the same hard fill as Manners or McMillan uses.
Click to expand...

I’m always somewhat skeptical, especially with newer companies, models, materials

Because what looks great on CAD and paper calculations doesn’t always transfer to the real world as anticipated
 
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As you can see, the fill isn't a soft foam, and does add structural rigidity. This is on a Defiance action, so some work needed to be done to fit correctly, and also necessitated bedding.
 

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Blackie Lawless said:
Did you use Grayboe’s bottom metal and Magpul mags on the Renegade? I see they asterisk Magpul mag function “may not work”

Interesting you bring up AG

It’s my understanding Stocky’s brand was previously AG and current offerings were developed in conjunction with AG

I like the AG, Mesa, and others... I was wanting to avoid lead times because that has become a whole different can of worms for the last 20 or so months
Click to expand...
Sorry it took so long to respond, I have been in the woods.

At the time I had my Renegade, Grayboe wasn't producing their own metal, they were selling Mesa Precision in their stock packages. In that case, it worked flawlessly with every magazine I tried except the Magpul 10rd...and all those took was just a hair off the bottom of the latch nubbin. I am currently using the Grayboe metal in an AG stock and it works without issue.

I know that doesn't answer your question, but its what I got.



On another note, I wholeheartedly endorse the AG stuff. I have two Alpine Hunters and absolutely love them.
 
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Glad your experience has been better than the 2 I have tried, as well as most of the people I shoot with having issues with them.
 
patrol120 said:
Sorry it took so long to respond, I have been in the woods.

At the time I had my Renegade, Grayboe wasn't producing their own metal, they were selling Mesa Precision in their stock packages. In that case, it worked flawlessly with every magazine I tried except the Magpul 10rd...and all those took was just a hair off the bottom of the latch nubbin. I am currently using the Grayboe metal in an AG stock and it works without issue.

I know that doesn't answer your question, but its what I got.



On another note, I wholeheartedly endorse the AG stuff. I have two Alpine Hunters and absolutely love them.
Click to expand...

Awesome... I know a lot of people are just quoting Magpuls as “junk” and just as many are saying they run flawless it seems

I’ve also seen a lot of people say it only takes 2-3 light swipes with a fine file and they work like a charm

So it always begs the question from the ones that say they are “junk” if they bothered to try a light file job or not. But they usually never comment on that, and I understand some people are not confident in their ability with their hands so that is that. Skill level is skill level and confidence is confidence. It always reminds me of a guy who had problems with a power steering pump on an F150 and since all he knew at the time was basic carpentry, he cut the bracket in half with a sawzall lol... smh

Thanks for the feedback, I have been really busy the last couple days also
 
308pirate said:
And yet the two I have run and run and run in a Howa 1500 on a KRG 180 Xray
Click to expand...

Without even a file swipe? Lol... figures

I was looking for a Howa heavy barrel when I came across this stupid deal on this 700... just couldn’t pass on the price of an 870 express on a brand new heavy barrel 700

I like that Xray chassis, the Bravo as well... sadly haven’t been able to physically check them out to see which one I like better.

I like the Xray comes with the adjustable butt pad and thinner grip panels with the option for thicker ones... but then I’m a little unsure about the hybrid Dragunov style buttstock

The Bravo I like it being more traditional and don’t think the vertical grip would be too much of an adjustment to get used to... but the thick grip might not be the best for a 5’11” with normal hand size
 
Blackie Lawless said:
Without even a file swipe? Lol... figures

I was looking for a Howa heavy barrel when I came across this stupid deal on this 700... just couldn’t pass on the price of an 870 express on a brand new heavy barrel 700

I like that Xray chassis, the Bravo as well... sadly haven’t been able to physically check them out to see which one I like better.

I like the Xray comes with the adjustable butt pad and thinner grip panels with the option for thicker ones... but them I’m a little unsure about the Dragunov style buttstock

The Bravo I like it being more traditional and don’t think the vertical grip would be too much of an adjustment to get used to... but the thick grip might not be the best for a 5’11” with normal hand size
Click to expand...

The Xray's pistol grip is the most comfortable one I've ever used.
 
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308pirate said:
No. KRG chassis only accept AICS-pattern magazines. Mine have taken MDT steel, MDT polymer, Alpha Industries (steel) and Magpul.
Click to expand...

Awesome, I thought that pmag pattern was different Thank you for the clarification

I am a long time 30-06 fan, so I never paid any attention to anything .308 until about 2 months ago when I picked up this 700
 
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