Waited patiently over the holidays to receive my new AEA Challenger Standard from a well known dealer. It finally arrived and I was very excited to open it up and start having fun with my pretty new toy. Thats when the trouble started!
My eye was immediately drawn to a significant gouge in the stock! As you can imagine I was horrified!
So I did the right thing and fired up the ol' table saw and belt grinder...
Had you guys going didnt I? rofl
Truth is there was a scratch as pictured, probably from installing the optional regulator. But I was expecting a cheap fun toy and planned on fixing up some quirks. The factory stock is actually a lot nicer than I wouldve guessed. I dont recognize the wood, maybe beech or similar. But it did have a few design issues imo. The comb was way too low, which is typical for virtually every stock made in the last 70 years. The comb was also at an angle, not parallel to the bore. The buttpad was also at an unusual angle, not 90* perpendicular to the bore. And lastly I wanted a smooth angle transition to ride bags and be micro adjustable like on my PB's. So I cut everything off, screwed and glued some hardwood scraps on and began shaping. Its obviously still in the rough and is going to turn out crooked and lumpy, but function is paramount to me. I might extend the forend some as well. Im going to end up painting it probably dark geen with some accents for hunting.
Any color combo advice?
My eye was immediately drawn to a significant gouge in the stock! As you can imagine I was horrified!
So I did the right thing and fired up the ol' table saw and belt grinder...
Had you guys going didnt I? rofl
Truth is there was a scratch as pictured, probably from installing the optional regulator. But I was expecting a cheap fun toy and planned on fixing up some quirks. The factory stock is actually a lot nicer than I wouldve guessed. I dont recognize the wood, maybe beech or similar. But it did have a few design issues imo. The comb was way too low, which is typical for virtually every stock made in the last 70 years. The comb was also at an angle, not parallel to the bore. The buttpad was also at an unusual angle, not 90* perpendicular to the bore. And lastly I wanted a smooth angle transition to ride bags and be micro adjustable like on my PB's. So I cut everything off, screwed and glued some hardwood scraps on and began shaping. Its obviously still in the rough and is going to turn out crooked and lumpy, but function is paramount to me. I might extend the forend some as well. Im going to end up painting it probably dark geen with some accents for hunting.
Any color combo advice?
