I know this is a broad question with many reason to do and not to restock. Resale value,maker,grade etc. The reason I ask is several times over the last year I've come across a other wise nice SxS but it has stock issues? Cracked,poor repair etc. My thinking was they maybe a gun worth restocking to fit me and use forskeet or trap shooting etc. currently looking at a nice LC Smith field grade 20 ga. Only problem is it has a crack and repaired stock. Everything else about it is solid.

Restocking a field grade Smith is usually price prohibitive. A number of geniuses in the repair field can to wonders at a reasonable price though. Several of them post on this forum...Geo

newf is one of them.

I have seen evidence of Newf's extraordinary ability to reconstruct a stock. I now would always start by sending him the broken/damaged/badly repaired stock for an assessment of salvagability (I just made up that word!) before I re-stocked a gun with a messed up stock.

When is it worth restocking? When you stop thinking about money and just really like a gun.

If a used gun in perfect shape is worth 1-2k then it is never pays to restock. If worth 2-4k then maybe. If a "family" gun then price is not the biggest issue. If you have more money than time or want a gun to fit and know they don't exist then do it and don't worry about the cost.

Truth is that most times it is cheaper to keep looking instead of taking on a major project gun. But no hobby is a money maker. If you break even you have done extremely well.

When it will make you happy at a price you can afford. That is all that counts.

Woody, I've got 5 stock blanks sitting in a corner waiting for future projects, so I may or may not be a good person to give opinion. But, unless the piece is very valuable, then I believe restocking is usually cost prohibitive, as others have mentioned......that is, if you are in it to make money. If you need a stock that fits, or just like pretty wood, and money doesn't matter, then that's another ballgame, and I say go for it. More times than not, you won't see your money again, at least that's been my experience.

It'll never be either a serious skeet or trap gun, even if you get it fitted. Try and get it for a to good to pass up price and shoot it as is. Then decide if it's worth restocking.

A 20 gauge LC Smith is worth it. Go for it.

Ask yourself if you would pay in one lump sum what the gun plus restock would cost if you ran into said gun already restocked. Would you still pay that lump sum knowing you will be very lucky to sell for any more than the gun alone costs?

As noted above, it is a very good idea to educate yourself on what all can be done to salvage stocks in distress.

DDA

I think if you are restocking because it currently doesn't fit you AND has stock issues and it is a gun you plan to use a lot and not flip, go for it. If you plan to flip it unless its a highly desirable gun, then you probably won't ever get your money back.

PS. For me I restock. Have quite a few and these are guns that I'll most likely never see a return on investment, but they fit like a glove and I can shoot them well. I've rather adapt the gun to me then adapt me to a poorly fitted gun.

That was what I was thinking. I fully understand the point of not getting a return when selling on work done to guns. Been through that several times with custom handguns.

If I can get it very reasonable I will look into getting the damaged stock fixed and it will be a very nice grouse gun or a double for my boys. I going to start them out right!!!

Good thing I don't buy guns as investments. I'm not very good at investing.

Over a lifetime I've invested well over $500,000 in automobiles. If I could sell my current inventory for what I owe on 'em, I'd only be $450,000 in the red.

I shudder to think of all the money I invested in cigarettes, booze, pool games and movie tickets. The only surviving investment from that period in my life is an un-punched Woodstock ticket.

I wish I'd restocked more guns.

If you are a frequent seller of guns, or, have a thought of selling the restocked gun at some point, almost never. I've had some restocked, still have one (I'm lefthanded, and it is good to have a lefthanded gun that fits) but, as a rule of thumb, the only person who cares for a gun restocked to fit you, is, well, you.
I don't know what will happen to, or how much money, my lefthanded restock will bring when my heirs are sorting through the debris of my hunting/shooting career. I guess I don't care, either.

Best,
Ted