Manufacturer:- www.ginb.it

Retail Price :- €280 Euros (+Bank Transfer Fees of around £20)
Intended Purpose :- Replacement FT style stock for AA S400 Action
Material :- Sono Kembang (also known as Angsana, Andaman redwood, Pterocarpus indicus)
Weight :- 1.87Kg
Finish :- Plain sanded finish as requested (Oil finished by me)
Includes :- Stock Bolt, Aluminium trigger plate with screws.

This is the new stock for my Air Arms S400 GML Hunter airgun that I bought recently.

After hearing about the Ginb custom stock on the AirgunBBS and then finally seeing one at my local club I decided that it would finish off the Air Arms GML package that was nice but not as good as the thumb hole stock of the Daystate MK3.

So I got in touch with the people at Ginb in Denpasar, Indonesia and put my order in. I was warned they were very bust and it could take two to three months, but they have beaten that by some margin and I only had to wait about six weeks in the end.

Well worth the wait it was as well. :-)

The stock arrived well packed in brown paper, bubble wrap and shredded paper. Once unwrapped the beautiful sanded finish of the wood was the first thing I noticed along with the sweeping lines and distinctive styling of the stock.

The colour was slightly lighter than I was expecting. The Ginb stocks made from Sono Kembang that I had already seen looked almost black. But this is a subtle dark brown. I think it was a good choice compared with the lighter wood that is also available. But I know from my previous stock re-finishing projects that the oil will darken it slightly. The wood is native to area and is known under different names Ginb calls it Sono Kembang but it is also called Burmese Rosewood, Angsana,Sena Tnug and Pradu. There are no knots or issues with the stock. You can see some nice grain and figuring in the wood and it may not be Walnut but it certainly looks the part.

Inside the stock cutouts wrapped in bubble wrap were some additional items. A replacement allen screw headed stock bolt. A replacement trigger plate with screws to replace the Air Arms trigger guard. The trigger plate is the new revised version that allows the use od the original trigger tension spring without any problems. Previous versions needed a new spring.

This stock is also fitted with an adjustable rubber butt plate rather than the wooden ones the older versions had.

All the components of the stock are made from a single piece of wood, You can see the matching grain pattern through the adjustable cheek riser.

The cheek riser has an extruded aluminium support shaft along with a locking brass blind nut. The hex screw is inset into and aluminium housing and is flush with the woodwork.

Underneath the palm rest area is a similar aluminium housing for the stock attachment bolt and an aluminium tube to view the S400 pressure gauge through.

Towards the front is an aluminium inletting give the stock a bit more style and this matches the plate on the bottom of the palm rest area.

I grabbed my GML S400 and removed the original stock. You now have to remove the original Air Arms trigger guard and use the supplied aluminium plate. You will probably have to play with the spring tension screw once you have done this to make it the same as your original adjustments.

The fit of the action in the stock is perfect with no fore or aft or sideways movement. Impressive but also important. Even my oversize GML bolt clears the side of the stock which did worry me a little! ;-)

With the action in place I tried the fit and balance. It is way better for me than the standard non adjustable walnut stock that came on the GML. Slightly longer and perfect scope position by raising the cheek riser a little. It is also a lot deeper, so my position an kneeling and standing shots is also more relaxed. I'll know more once I've shot a few HFT rounds with it.

The hand grip fits almost like it was made for me. I don't have very big hands so that may cause people who have a few issues. There is a nice palm swell, which I've only seen on my Steyr pistol before. The position thumb up or thumb through works well, although I do tend to shoot thumb up.

So time to a remove the action and apply some Napier London Gunstock finish to protect the wood. I just use the tips of my fingers to rub it in with and apply very sparingly. The surface should not end up sticky as this will attract dust and dirt while it hardens and ruin the finish. To get the oil into the fine grooves I used a clean paper towel. I also use the heel of my hand to really rub the oil into the grain.

The stock looked great after just one coat of oil. So a left it for 24 hours and the finish had dulled off a little, so I gave it a further application. It now looks great, not too shiny more of an egg shell sheen to it. I'll leave it a month and maybe give it another coat, then just as and when required.

I've been to the club and shot on the zero range, even had a few standers with it. So far I really like the fit and finish. Lots of admiring comments from fellow shooters as well. Just need to spend some time with it on the HFT course now.

I am so impressed with the service and the high quality of the product from Ginb that I can see me buying something else from them in the future. Not sure what yet, but it will be fun deciding. I predict that I will end up seeing loads of these stocks on the various competition I attend. Value for money wise they are hard to beat and the quality it right up there with custom stocks costing a lot more money.

www.ginb.it

www.air-arms.co.uk

http://airarmsclub.21.forumer.com/index.php

www.airgunbbs.com