The Wenig Story

 

OK, Just got back from Wenig. What a process! I knew my standard BT-99 with and adjustable comb and an adjustable butt plate did not really fit me, but I had no idea that it did not fit me in so many ways! Here's how the process works.

You show up at Wenigs at 7:30, all the boys are already there since they start at 7 am. They go get a piece of wood for your "pattern stock" that will fit onto the receiver of the gun(s) you own. I am getting a BT and an XT fit. The fitter, Jimmy, will fit me for the BT. It takes me about an hour and a half to realize that every time Jimmy makes a change, he calls out the measurement to a second fitter, who is making another pattern stock for my XT across the room. I spend about 2.5 hours with Jimmy making changes and adjustments, as I mount the gun repeatedly after each change.

First off, they fit the pad to your shoulder. this changes in minor ways as you go along, since a change to the grip or comb seems to effect the butt in subtle ways.

Next they fit the grip to your hand. This was the least intuitive aspect of the fit. It is amazing, since when something didn't seem right at one point, say the palm swell seems too small, Jimmy doesn't add to the palm swell, but rather files away somewhere else to make my hand come into better contact. I realize that I had the habit of not wrapping my trigger hand thumb around the stock, because I could not do that with the standard BT stock (as a result of the contortions I would make to get it to my face). But with some filing here and some bondo there, now I can wrap my thumb around the stock. It will take a while to get used to this and do it consistently.

Then the comb gets fit to your face. By now, you are realizing that this stock is Waaaay different then the one you were shooting. I thought I needed a very wide butt pad, since I always had so much wiggle room where I was mounting the gun to my shoulder. In reality, I was raising my elbow so high up to get the standard stock to line up on my face, that I was opening the shoulder pocket up so wide I could not get a consistent mount. It takes me quite a while to quit habitually raising my elbow way up, now that I don't have to. The fitted stock starts to go very smoothly up to my face as it is being formed, and the beads start to come into perfect alignment.

Finally, Jimmy thinks he has the stock right, and Elbert Smith comes over to take a look. Of course, Elbert, being the master fitter and vice president, makes a few minor recommendations. He increases the length of pull, and has a little filed off here and there. When Elbert is satisfied, this "pattern stock" will be put on a lathe and exactly duplicated with the wood that I have picked out. The XT pattern stock is brought over to me, and needs about 10 minutes of minor adjustments to make it exactly like the BT. I am amazed at how exactly the other fitter, Bobby, duplicated what Jimmy had done just through measurements and keeping an eye on what changes Jimmy had made.

Now comes lots of waiting, and a trip to the diner around the corner for lunch. Mr. Wenig and Elbert Smith invite me to lunch with them, but I have already eaten. Then some more waiting, as the new custom shaped stock is cut, then inletted or fit to the receivers on my guns. At about 2 in the afternoon, the fitters and Elbert drive me over to a field with a trap house and patterning board. It is cold, about 38 degrees, with a 25 to 30 mph quartering head wind. The targets are going sky high and virtually stopping, and the right angles are screaming away as they are propelled by the wind. It being Friday the 13th, and a full moon, it figures my luck with the weather was horrible. I didn't learn much from shooting the new stock because of the horrible weather, other than if felt good and I could smoke the straights. I miss quite a few right angles, but the pattern board verifies that the gun shoots where I aim, where I look, and I am just missing because of the horrible conditions.

Then back to the shop to pay. Ultimately, the cheapest way is to have only a custom stock made to closely match your existing fore-end, and use the standard grade wood. That would be $575 for the stock, $395 for the fitting (the second gun fit only costs $295, these are both a bargain!), $90 for the pad, perhaps a few odds and ends (I needed a better/longer? stock bolt), so lets just say $1200 as a minimum. But I have driven a long way, and I am so thrilled by what has went on, I have made some upgrades.

There are LOTS of BT-99's where I shoot. It is not uncommon to grab the wrong one and walk out to the line before realizing it, or even to clean someone else’s before you figure out it isn't yours. There are quite a few XT's around too. So I go with a laminated birch stock, ensuring that my guns WILL NOT look like anyone else’s, from any distance. The laminated birch is about a $125 upgrade for each gun, so there is another $250, and since I want the fore-stock to match, that’s $275 each gun or another $550 total. I want an adjustable comb on my singles/handicap BT, in case I want to raise the POI as I earn yardage, that’s another $175 now, much more if done after its finished. I don't get the adjustable comb on the XT, it's my doubles gun, and I don't see a need for it. I get the metal inserts for the pad screws to make changing pads easier, and an extra, thinner pad for each gun, so I can keep the length of pull the same as the winter clothing goes on or off, about $110 each gun or $220 for both. Bottom line, I drop a bit over three grand for two guns, and they expect to ship them back to me in about 4 weeks, shipping cost not included.

Yes, the wood on my BT is now worth more than I paid for the gun when new, but it is worth it. As I said, you will not believe the difference a custom made stock makes. I doubt I will ever go back to shooting factory stocks again. Mr. Wenig thanks you in person for coming down, and everyone is very friendly. If you have the cash and the time, don't screw around buying different guns to improve your game, go and have Wenigs make a custom stock that will fit the gun to you. I do not think you can use adjustable plates and combs to achieve the same results. You will be satisfied. You could also try to catch Wenigs at a larger shoot, but they tell me they will not be going to Sparta this year, citing too high vendor fees for them to go. Hopefully, they will go in the future, so that people can combine expert custom stock making with their shooting time.

Before I leave the shop, I am told that it will take 4 weeks for the checkering and finishing to be done. Exactly three weeks to the day, I receive a call that both guns are ready. The last three weeks have been hell, shooting guns that really don’t fit me. Oh, I still went shooting, but much of the enjoyment was missing. I pay the extra fees to have my guns sent overnight with Saturday delivery, the long wait is finally over.

Here they are - left side

Right side - stocks

XT stock and fore-fore-stock

XT fore-stock

BT stock and fore-stock

BT fore-stock