By Jeff Johnston, FE Hunting and Shooting Editor
Once upon a time there dwelled a tired old Savage 110 that was rarely ever fired. It was chambered in 6.5×284 Norma—an overachieving cartridge despite its wildcat scarcity—but the plain plastic stock looked so cheap and felt so brittle compared to the others in the vault that over time it was shuffled to the shadows of the third row, perpetually overlooked. I felt guilty, like forgetting to visit my father at the nursing home, but what was I supposed to do?
Then one day I thumbed past an ad in Field Ethos’ Print Journal for Woox stocks and became convinced one of their stocks would surely transform any raggedy old rifle into a handsome killing machine, provided its barrel and action were sound.
So I ordered a Woox Furiosa stock—which wasn’t cheap—and waited.
When it arrived I eyeballed it profusely, noticing its curious RoboCop meld of machined aluminum chassis and walnut; aluminum on the areas that contact the action, walnut on the places the shooter actually touches. Its fully adjustable buttstock, with its system of set screws and pillars, reminded me of a 1960s woodworking jig still in use at a modern machine shop because it was built to last forever.
I installed the stock in two minutes by way of the Savage’s three action screws. I’m no gunsmith, but I was pretty damn proud of myself when the barreled action dropped perfectly into the stock like a pig in a blanket and the screws snugged up just right. I adjusted the cheekpeice to fit, installed a Spartan Precision bipod stud to the fore-end’s recessed M-Lok rail, then sat the resulting rig on the shooting bench to admire the Frankenstein I’d created.
Savage’s AccuStock is cheap and ugly, but it’s inexpensive and functionally sound thanks to its embedded aluminum chassis and rail. It takes a special stock to improve upon its accuracy, while many can easily ruin it.
Range testing proved the Furiosa was also functionally sound. Groups from both the factory stock and the Woox were identical. But something curious happened when shooting prone, without the luxury of the bench: The groups I shot with the Furiosa improved in relation to the groups I shot with the old stock. How did this happen? Clearly, I shot better, likely due to the added weight of the rifle with the stock installed (the Furiosa weighs 4.8 lbs. alone) and, mainly, to the adjustable cheekpiece and deep pistol grip that promote consistent shooting.
Certainly, the rifle now looks much different—a blend of the future and past—but I’m newly intrigued by it; I find myself grabbing it much more often when the light of day enters the safe.
Alas, a tired old rifle is reincarnated. $1,099 (as ordered)
Pros: Quality made, fully adjustable buttstock; will make most rifles more accurate, will breathe new life into an old rifle, great wood with excellent grip stippling; easy to install; modular and customizable via the website
Cons: Expensive; on the heavy side
