Sounds like your method would be the way to go, and that way you will still have the stock should you decide to pick up another receiver later on or you could sell it in the classifieds and help defray the cost of the new stock.
I have a Gunstocks Inc. stock on my handi and I really like it.
I bought the unfinished walnut roll over montecarlo, and it does have a lot of meat on it when you first get it which I immediately began to hack away at to get it much thinner so that it would flow with the lines of the receiver unlike the factory stocks that are so thick.
I took off a lot of wood, and especially off the high rollover cheek piece using a block plane, since it looked like a table top since it was so high I couldn't hardly see through the scope without having to lay my head sideways on the stock.
I believe they do that purposefully because everyone doesn't have an identical size head, and cheek bones to eye distances that vary also from person to person, and I bought it knowing before I got it that I planned on removing a lot of that excess wood, because the basic shape I wanted was there.
So after a huge pile of shavings I am more than satisfied how mine turned out, and after all that work and sweat, and blood, it does have a satisfying personal touch to it, and beautiful grain, and deep rich,Tru oil finish.
Look at it this way, if you mess up the stock and don't like the way it looks, you've always got the original to put back on!
