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Minnesota ‘wood butcher’ creates hand-checkered gunstocks that are both beautiful and functional

Evan Koch carefully hand-checkers the forend of a shotgun at his workshop north of Minneapolis. (Photo by Patrick Durkin)

Evan Koch calls himself a “wood butcher” on Instagram, but he wields chisels with world-class skill to craft, carve, and checker gunstocks for high-end rifles and shotguns.
Checkering, of course, is functional, yet decorative carvings in which fine lines intersect in diamond-shaped patterns on gunstocks to ensure a solid grip and eye-pleasing patterns. Koch, 35, gets all the checkering work he can handle through his social-media posts and word-of-mouth referrals from mentors and satisfied customers nationwide.

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