Winchester with a stock question

I acquired a Winchester that was essentially complete except for the bubba'd stock. It is in great shape from the sling swivel back with all the markings nice and clear. I have a spare 1917 stock that is in very rough shape with few clear markings but functional. My question to the forum is if it is better to splice the front off the rough stock onto the bubba'd stock or just use the rough complete stock? This one is a shooter, not a pristine collector.

I'll try to have pictures up in a day or two.

First off it's your woodwork so do as you please, but if it was me I'd splice a new section of walnut on the end of your cut down stock and keep your other whole stock intact. Once you cut the whole stock into two there's no going back from that. I have a few spliced SMLE and M17 stocks that work great, but I would trade them in a heartbeat for a full spec stock.

pictures would help.
have the stock and handguards refinished correctly...would me bet

At a distance, both look about the same..
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...df23418e-1.jpg

But there is a big gap around the front of the magazine
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...0eed7f27-1.jpg

cracks and gouges along one side
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...b48b1653-1.jpg

Cracks and repairs on the other side.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...e7febfa2-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...6818934e-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...ad138a9a-1.jpg

I would imagine it's repairable and could be refinished well. I'm just not sure about the gaps and how to fix that. Since it's a shooter, it may not be that big a deal.

I think I'd be looking for a replacement before I'd start grafting wood together needlessly. I don't see either of them as suitable for collecting. But if it's a shooter, then clean the existing stock...

If you have some laquer thinner and Blo on hand you might try giving the full stock a cleaning and coat of blo to see how it looks.

lots of wood is missing from the bottom.
id be searching for a better replacement.

The chopped one was the stock it came with. The full was an old one I picked up a while back. Should I worry about the gap at the front of the magazine? Any good way to fix it? I plan on using epoxy to fix the few cracks.

You can't put wood back. Cobbling looks like cobbling. Once you finish, you'll still have what you have now.

Thank you all. I'll patch up and use the full stock I have until something better shows up.

Pokey, Are you sure there is wood missing from the bottom? It looks as though maybe the magazine isn't seated all the way into the receiver and preventing the trigger guard from seating all the way. (hard to tell from picture) Also I think I would favor using the better looking shortened stock anyway. Neither stock is valuable as a collector stock so you might as well put the best looking setup together you can with what you have. Salt Flat

Salt Flat, you were right about the plate not being properly seated. I'm used to 1903s so this is a new one to learn about. As I cleaned it up, I found 4 stamps. The stock is a Remington stock and on the side is a stamp 'BA-JL' or something to that effect.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...cd68f066-1.jpg

What was interesting were the Chinese(?) stamps on the butt of the stock. One on each side. Did we lend 1917s to the Nationalists?

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...cc1c6f05-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...37bbcf2d-1.jpg

I'll keep my eye out for a Winchester stock but for right now, this one will definitely work for playing at the range. Thank you all for the input.

Pokey, That's good news. Post a picture when you have it all assembled. I have heard that the Chinese used Enfields as well as many other countries. Salt Flat