Everyone on this forum has been so helpful that I thought I'd share my latest experiment with changing buttstocks on my Handi 500 S&W. Obviously, this sort of thing is purely subjective and applies only to me. Nevertheless, perhaps someone can benefit from it.
My Handi originally came with wood stocks. Nothing wrong with these as these have served their purpose. However, the forend was for me too slim and did not allow me to get as good a grip as I'd like. So, I tried the Choate Varmint synthetic forend and what a difference it made. I did have to do a little sanding so the barrel would free float (even with o-rings installed) but that was no big deal.
Now that I had a synthetic forend, I just had to have a matching synthetic buttstock. I know the Handi won't win any beauty contests in any configuration but this really bothered me. One prime consideration for me was the LOP on the replacement buttstock. With my hunting clothes on, I need about a 13" LOP. After researching the options, I first decided to try the Choate Youth stock, which has just over 12" LOP. It just so happened that I had a 1" thick Limbsaver slip-on pad that I put over the regular Youth stock pad. So, regarding the LOP, this would work. However, there was not enough clearance inside the Youth stock for me to tighten the bolt to the receiver as tightly as I'd like. I even gouged out some of the stock interior when I was trying to install the bolt but never could get a real good hold on the bolt head (and I did try a deep well socket). I'm sure I could have eventually gotten this to work but rather than continuing to mess with this, I decided to try the Choate Survivor Buttstock. I took the hard plastic end cap off and installed the Limbsaver slip-on pad and, even though the LOP is 13.5", it works well for me (must have something to do with the thumbhole style of this stock). Both the synthetic forend and buttstock fit me like a glove and I find these very comfortable. I am a happy camper.
As I said, this applies only to me but maybe this would be of help for anyone thinking about swaping stocks.
