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Wood Furniture - Black Aces vs. Ebay Thai Wood (Burma Padauk, Walnut)

ricky_bobby

.270 WIN
So I'm in a bit of dilemma and hence why I bought a "base" Shockwave - I know I wanted the wood on it -

I declined to get the Nightstick because when I held it in store the grip was way too slippery with whatever kind of varnish that Mossberg finishes them in, and too smooth, I could just see it slipping in my hand -

So I originally was thinking that the Black Aces is going to be worth every penny of the $160 because its now checkered on the foregrip and the birds head grip (their original sets had no checkering on the grip) -

https://www.blackacestactical.com/product-page/checkered-walnut-furniture-for-mossberg-shockwave
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However, the Thai craftsman on Ebay does sell some seriously nice furniture for about half the price (about $70-90 depending on which set) - he does have some Burma Padauk which is a very nice hardwood, about 2-3 times as dense as Walnut or Ash - has a nice reddish color too - would you guys pay the extra for the checkering or just hope that the Thai sets don't come as smoothed out as Mossberg? They look nicely textured on the grip area -

https://www.ebay.com/itm/WOOD-FURNI...956713?hash=item2ab7f5a9a9:g:BS0AAOSw8VVdd5Wk

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When I usually try to save a few bucks it ends up biting me in some way, so my inclination is to pay the extra $80 for checkered walnut, but these are nice for the price...
 
I personally like the look of the black aces better.

yes, I know it's more money, but there are certain instances where I will pull up my big boy britches and pony up for what I really want.

This would certainly be one of those instances.
 
My thoughts as well - "do it right or do it twice" - I think the checkering does make a lot of difference on these weapons especially here in the South with our humid sweaty hands lol

However - the Thai guys are a great value - a few months back they were selling sets for $120-130ish so if anyone is looking for some good value priced wood furniture they are definitely good stuff
 
I prefer checkering. It works better, and looks better. Plus, I like walnut over whatever that red stain wood is anyway. Plus, walnut is a hardwood.

Just call me old fashioned.
 
I can't be 100% certain, but the Black Aces doesn't look like real cut checkering. And they don't call it cut checkering just "checkering", either. I don't like the marketing or the price for that product.
 
Meh, I'm gonna have to go against the grain a bit here by admitting that I prefer the look of the Thai grips.

Sorry, but I like the corn cob foregrip better and the stain is more aesthetically pleasing. That being said, I would be slightly leary of buying the Thai grips out of fear that they might not fit and thus may end up needing so much fitting that you might as well just buy some old wood grips for a Mossberg 500 then modify them to fit the Shockwave.

That being said, I'm shocked that Mossberg themselves hasn't offered aftermarket wood grips for those who own a Shockwave but like the grips of the Nightstick.
 
Shockwave with Wood.jpg

Here is my stainless Cerakote Shockwave with the walnut Black Aces furniture. I've tried a number of set-ups and this by far is my favorite. The checkering on the grip and forend give me much better control than anything else I've tried. The fit and finish are really good also. I'm really happy with the set.
 
^Thanks for the feedback guys -

My problem with the Nightstick although I loved the wood on it, it was too slippery in hand (more so than the factory plastic grip) so I'd have to add one of those baseball looking leather grip wraps which isn't a bad solution but not as good as checkering - I wish Mossberg would have checkered the grip on their Nightstick furniture.

With my small hands I have to choke up so far on the grip anyway (if I'm wrapped around, webbing of my hand basically rests on the safety, or if I grip with a thumb on top of receiver it rests on the safety) so any means to not have my hand slip downwards during firing is super helpful, and besides going custom, whether checkering my own wood ($$ in tools and time) or modifying a factory Mossberg stock to shape my own raptor grip (time) BAT is the only way to get the extra gripping surface on the wood, just was making sure the fitment is solid and quality is there, for the price, its not cheap.

Ideally I know this is blasphemy but based on my small hands I *should have* gotten a Tac14 Hardwood, Remingtons trigger group placed farther back on the receiver probably would have been much more comfortable to grip for me, but I am not a fan in the least of the QC on newer 870 Express models or their finish which tends to rust by just looking at it. I think the checkering will give me the confidence I need on my grip (at 5'7" with short arms I'm fairly close to my face with a standard push/pull grip) I may leave the sling swivels off for the time being and practice with low recoil buck and light target loads.
 
Ideally I know this is blasphemy but based on my small hands I *should have* gotten a Tac14 Hardwood, Remingtons trigger group placed farther back on the receiver probably would have been much more comfortable to grip for me, but I am not a fan in the least of the QC on newer 870 Express models or their finish which tends to rust by just looking at it. I think the checkering will give me the confidence I need on my grip (at 5'7" with short arms I'm fairly close to my face with a standard push/pull grip) I may leave the sling swivels off for the time being and practice with low recoil buck and light target loads.

While this is a Mossberg owners site, you will find that we're gun guys. And we won't be harsh with you regardless of which brand you buy. Or which model you prefer. Though you are right, I have heard several comments about Remington quality control the last several years.

I had a Remington 7400 that would rust even after being generously oiled. The first morning that I took it deer hunting was a little warmer than usual and I didn't get one. So, the next morning, I got it out of the cabinet, you could clearly see my handprint rusted in the receiver. That is not an exaggeration at all.
 
While this is a Mossberg owners site, you will find that we're gun guys. And we won't be harsh with you regardless of which brand you buy. Or which model you prefer. Though you are right, I have heard several comments about Remington quality control the last several years.

I had a Remington 7400 that would rust even after being generously oiled. The first morning that I took it deer hunting was a little warmer than usual and I didn't get one. So, the next morning, I got it out of the cabinet, you could clearly see my handprint rusted in the receiver. That is not an exaggeration at all.

Agreed - I've seen a video where a guy left a couple shotguns in his garage for a week and the entire Tac14 was rusted over - Rem's finish just doesn't hold up - I'll deal with my grip issues on my Shockwaves but I wouldn't buy any new Remington Express product, the parkerized Police Magnums, sure, but not Express -
 
My only current Remington product was made in 1989 according to their records. It was originally blued, but most of it was worn off. So, I reblued the gun with birchwood casey cold blue paste, then I went over top of that with Norrells Moly Socom bake on paint. The metal is protected about as well as it's going to be.

The Moly even has a higher sea/salt water rating than Parkerizing.

I intend to give it to my youngest grandson someday.
 
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Here is my stainless Cerakote Shockwave with the walnut Black Aces furniture. I've tried a number of set-ups and this by far is my favorite. The checkering on the grip and forend give me much better control than anything else I've tried. The fit and finish are really good also. I'm really happy with the set.
Wtf.. am i trippin ?! Are the colors in the image ok ?
 
I like the corn cob front
The thai grips look nice. In fact I have purchased a couple for revolvers.

The only down side is in returning. You would have to.pay international shipping to send them back. This would cost more than what you paid for the set.

I had a couple grips for security six that I wanted to return. I am putting them on the ruger forum to sell. Lol
 
Well guys its a year and a half later (I was trying to finish my project before my son was born in August 2019 and failed LOL)

I'm still super happy I paid $279 delivered with a case for my Shockwave - I do not still know whether I want to "invest" in the Black Aces Wood or not - I do have a short wood stocked 500, so my thinking is in a SHTF end game scenario, can always run the SW with that since the NFA will be gone in end of days lol

I was thinking to perhaps just stipple the stock grip for now, and put some rounds through, before I put the Black Aces - or just do the Black Aces and a short leather sling and keep it as a cool conversation piece in the safe (I have 3 other Mossberg pumps and a PGO Mav88, as well as a Beretta 1301)
 
Maybe an owner with the Thai furniture can post their info here and we could use this thread for reference.

The height of the forend is virtually the same. The BAT is 1.5” longer. The profile taper and length of the grip is virtually the same.

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The width of the forend is virtually the same. The BAT grip tapers less in the middle so it’s slightly wider in that section.

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If you prefer the original forend length you could easily cut off the bottom overhang without disturbing the checkering.

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The flatter sides/bottom of the BAT forend fills my hand better. The length of checkering allows me to grip farther back, which I like. I don’t have large hands, so I was unsure about the slightly wider mid-section of the grip. After installing it I found that, like the forend, it filled my hand better, if that makes sense.


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I really like this set up so far. It makes everything feel stout. I was surprised at the grip difference between the original raptor/cob and the checkered BAT. The finish is more satin than gloss. There is no yellow/orange hue like in some of the advertisement photos I’ve seen. Installation was straight forward.
 
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