Garnett, I have had 2 very good checkering jobs done by Ahlman's Gunsmithing in Minnesota. One was plain checkering on a replacement stock for an L.C. Smith SxS 16 guage double. They replicated the plain factory checkering (nothing special, it was a "Featherweight Field" model). Done about ten years ago.
The other was a replacement stock in very dense figured walnut for a Savage Model 333 O/U 12 guage (imported by Savage, made by Valmet in Finland). I ordered rather coarse "French" or "skip-a-line" checkering for that one, 18 lines to the inch, because I often hunt with gloves with that gun and wanted something that I could keep hold of.
Both jobs came out just as I wanted and if I recollect, cost about $120 each, buttstock and forend. Done quite fast, too. I ordered both in the dead of winter, which is their slow season. I believe the checkerer of the Savage/Valmet which I had done about 18 months ago, was a woman, but don't recall her name.
You might google them and look at their lists of services. Their gunsmithing department's # is (507) 685-4243.
Good luck with the project!
Mike Armstrong
