Acquired a VH 20 ga. w/26" barrels full and fuller, s/n 172371 in 2013. The stock had a dowel repair done near the wrist at the time I acquired the gun. The wood had a repaired crack in that area, but the wood seemed sound. This gun was purchased as a field hunter and has seen a lot of birds, several fell from the sky many more were given futile salvos in the direction of said fleeing birds.
I am a shooter with extremely short length of pull requirements (12 3/4"). A "store bought" gun with 14” or 14+" LOP is very difficult for me to shoot and usually hard for me to shoot accurately. So, it has always been my intent to modify the stock.
The fall of '21 found me once again, chasing birds in Oklahoma. Brian Hornacek and I were looking at the gun and discussing the possibilities for its' future. He was inspecting the repaired crack and commented that it appeared to be reopening. I didn't think, at least hoped, that that wasn't the case. A side note, we were also looking at a nice PH with laminated barrels that had folk art carved into the stock and needed a restock. The thought of losing both guns for a year or more was more than I felt I was willing to do. Another time we can discuss this PH. (The barrels are nice.)
We talked about the many alternatives that are available for a project gun. The VH, I felt, just needed a look see by an expert.
90 days fast forward. A stock repair expert takes the action apart and the wrist comes away in two pieces. Yikes! OK, let's go look at walnut blanks and prepare for a new stock.
The stock maker is Ebbie Jones. His company Tsavo Custom Firearms is a central Missouri throwback to the craftsman who have their own shop on a "piece of ground" and works less than 100 feet from the house. His shop has all the modern tools you would expect in a shop where serious wood is formed into works of significant beauty for those of us who enjoy such things.
Fast forward to early summer 2023 and a call from Ebbie says the gun is ready. I work summers in the Ozark hills, so it is a short 20 minute jaunt over to see the results. I am pleased. This gun should serve me well for as many years as I have left to walk the fields behind a discerning dog seeking feathered quarry. Photos courtesy of Tsavo Custom Firearms
