Manners Composite Stocks Factory Tour
By David Fortier
Have you ever heard the rumble of a Ford 427 side oiler on a loose exhaust? Its throaty, loping idle sounds as if it has a dead plug or two. Snap the throttle, though, and it instantly comes alive in a crescendo of intake and the remains of burnt fuel. Feared on the street, legendary on the track, it is the stuff dreams are made of. Thomas Manners not only had a 427 Siamese bore NASCAR engine, but it resided in a Shelby Cobra replica. Basically, he drove what most men have fantasized about, and it was every bit as good as you can imagine. He sold that FE-powered Cobra to finance a business he was even more interested in, building rifle stocks.
In order to be truly great at something, you need passion. It's this love that allows some to go above and beyond the norm. For Thomas Manners, it's building high-quality rifle stocks. While Manners has long been a competitive shooter, he hasn't always been in the firearms industry. He actually made a name for himself in the popcorn trade. At one time he had 600 employees, and he did so well that he was paid to stay out of the industry after his company was purchased.
So how did he get into building rifle stocks? Good question. To find out, I visited him at his shop in Kansas City. On a beautiful September day I drove a couple hours east on I-70 and made my way to where his company is located. I arrived at the same time that Jason Morton of CZ-USA did, and we entered together to meet with Manners and his general manager, Matt Walker. Sitting in his office, Manners told me how he enjoyed competing in a variety of shooting disciplines including NRA High Power, F-Class, .50 caliber 1,000-yard Benchrest and Handgun Silhouette. He shot Dan Wesson revolvers in Silhouette and was good enough to be ranked in the top 10 in the country.
Thomas Manners (right) and Jason Morton of CZ-USA (left) present a CZ 455 rimfire action set in one of Manners' new stocks.
Fate reared its head, however, when he, Skip Talbot and some others approached McMillan about building a cutting-edge redesigned stock for them. They took the answer as a bit rude, and Manners decided to build a .50-caliber, 1,000-yard Benchrest stock himself. He not only succeeded in his endeavor, but soon he had other people requesting stocks. He began making stocks on the side at his home as a hobby. He did this for two years while working full-time in the popcorn industry. However, after his company was purchased, it was time to find work elsewhere. At about this time his hobby was starting to snowball and grow in size. He took on his first employee and began to expand. The MCS-T (Manners Composite Stock Tactical) was his first product, and to this day it remains one of the most popular stocks he sells.
He built stocks at his home for about five years. Eventually, he realized that he should try to make a go of it, so he spoke with his wife about turning his stock-making hobby into a full-fledged business. She agreed, but only if he didn't borrow any money to do it. In order to take things to the next level, something was going to have to go. That something was his 427 Cobra replica. The car of his dreams paid for a mill and a compressor along with rent at a new shop for an entire year. Manners hit the ground running and hasn't looked back.
By David Fortier
Have you ever heard the rumble of a Ford 427 side oiler on a loose exhaust? Its throaty, loping idle sounds as if it has a dead plug or two. Snap the throttle, though, and it instantly comes alive in a crescendo of intake and the remains of burnt fuel. Feared on the street, legendary on the track, it is the stuff dreams are made of. Thomas Manners not only had a 427 Siamese bore NASCAR engine, but it resided in a Shelby Cobra replica. Basically, he drove what most men have fantasized about, and it was every bit as good as you can imagine. He sold that FE-powered Cobra to finance a business he was even more interested in, building rifle stocks.
In order to be truly great at something, you need passion. It's this love that allows some to go above and beyond the norm. For Thomas Manners, it's building high-quality rifle stocks. While Manners has long been a competitive shooter, he hasn't always been in the firearms industry. He actually made a name for himself in the popcorn trade. At one time he had 600 employees, and he did so well that he was paid to stay out of the industry after his company was purchased.
So how did he get into building rifle stocks? Good question. To find out, I visited him at his shop in Kansas City. On a beautiful September day I drove a couple hours east on I-70 and made my way to where his company is located. I arrived at the same time that Jason Morton of CZ-USA did, and we entered together to meet with Manners and his general manager, Matt Walker. Sitting in his office, Manners told me how he enjoyed competing in a variety of shooting disciplines including NRA High Power, F-Class, .50 caliber 1,000-yard Benchrest and Handgun Silhouette. He shot Dan Wesson revolvers in Silhouette and was good enough to be ranked in the top 10 in the country.
Thomas Manners (right) and Jason Morton of CZ-USA (left) present a CZ 455 rimfire action set in one of Manners' new stocks.
Fate reared its head, however, when he, Skip Talbot and some others approached McMillan about building a cutting-edge redesigned stock for them. They took the answer as a bit rude, and Manners decided to build a .50-caliber, 1,000-yard Benchrest stock himself. He not only succeeded in his endeavor, but soon he had other people requesting stocks. He began making stocks on the side at his home as a hobby. He did this for two years while working full-time in the popcorn industry. However, after his company was purchased, it was time to find work elsewhere. At about this time his hobby was starting to snowball and grow in size. He took on his first employee and began to expand. The MCS-T (Manners Composite Stock Tactical) was his first product, and to this day it remains one of the most popular stocks he sells.
He built stocks at his home for about five years. Eventually, he realized that he should try to make a go of it, so he spoke with his wife about turning his stock-making hobby into a full-fledged business. She agreed, but only if he didn't borrow any money to do it. In order to take things to the next level, something was going to have to go. That something was his 427 Cobra replica. The car of his dreams paid for a mill and a compressor along with rent at a new shop for an entire year. Manners hit the ground running and hasn't looked back.
Manners Composite Stocks Factory Tour
Since he expanded from working at his home, his business has grown by 30 to 40 percent every year. Within five years he had outgrown the shop and secured a larger facility. This required the laborious work of moving his mills. These were relocated on a Saturday and back up and running by Monday. Business growth has continued, and when I met with him he had just added another 4,000-square-foot building. Today he has 37 employees and runs two shifts trying to keep up with orders. Over the years, his offerings have steadily grown. Some of his biggest supporters have always been George Gardner (G.A. Precision) and Marty Bordsen (Badger Ordnance). They combined and created one of his first tactical stocks, the MCS-GAT. This stock became his first piece to be torture tested. To see just how rugged it was, he took it and put it on the arms of a chair and stood on it (USMC stock test) to try to break it. The stock shrugged off the abuse, so he used it to hit softballs, without issues. He then drove over it with a truck. When this failed to harm it, he put angle iron under each end and parked the truck on it. Despite all the abuse, it never failed and therefore the MCS-GAT caught people's attention.
Impressed, I asked him just what went into making one of his stocks, and he walked me through it. Every stock starts with a concept. This is perhaps the most important part of the entire process. It begins by finding out what shooters want. "You have to listen to the consumer, and while you can't please everyone, you need to listen to what they want," Manners said to me. Then you need to take the concept and develop it to fit most people.
Once you have the concept, then a "plug" is produced. This is the prototype, or master. The plug is tweaked and massaged until it fits properly. This then becomes what the molds are made off of. Once the plug is finished, they can begin to manufacture the actual molds. The stock then begins with an outer gel coat. Each piece of material (carbon fiber or fiberglass) is then carefully handlaid into place. Different material is weaved in a certain way to make a strong and stiff foundation. They carefully utilize the material's strengths to its advantage by how they weave it in this process. Different materials and weaves are used for different applications. Not only that, but different areas of the stock get different weaves and material. The end results are two clamshells that are put together, forming a hollow shell.
It's the attention to detail that separates a Manners stock. Note the aluminum pillar, 10-32 machined studs installed with steel T-nuts in the forend and nicely executed inletting.
While you wouldn't think so, the hollow shell ends up surprisingly robust. It actually becomes the backbone of the stock and provides the strength. So on a Manners stock the strength is in the shell and not the fill. Manners offers three different fill weights, classed as lightweight, standard and heavy. These will dictate how heavy the stock is. Other options, including lead, can be added to balance a rifle. If weight, not cost, is of primary importance, 100 percent carbon fiber may be utilized.
Impressed, I asked him just what went into making one of his stocks, and he walked me through it. Every stock starts with a concept. This is perhaps the most important part of the entire process. It begins by finding out what shooters want. "You have to listen to the consumer, and while you can't please everyone, you need to listen to what they want," Manners said to me. Then you need to take the concept and develop it to fit most people.
Once you have the concept, then a "plug" is produced. This is the prototype, or master. The plug is tweaked and massaged until it fits properly. This then becomes what the molds are made off of. Once the plug is finished, they can begin to manufacture the actual molds. The stock then begins with an outer gel coat. Each piece of material (carbon fiber or fiberglass) is then carefully handlaid into place. Different material is weaved in a certain way to make a strong and stiff foundation. They carefully utilize the material's strengths to its advantage by how they weave it in this process. Different materials and weaves are used for different applications. Not only that, but different areas of the stock get different weaves and material. The end results are two clamshells that are put together, forming a hollow shell.
It's the attention to detail that separates a Manners stock. Note the aluminum pillar, 10-32 machined studs installed with steel T-nuts in the forend and nicely executed inletting.
While you wouldn't think so, the hollow shell ends up surprisingly robust. It actually becomes the backbone of the stock and provides the strength. So on a Manners stock the strength is in the shell and not the fill. Manners offers three different fill weights, classed as lightweight, standard and heavy. These will dictate how heavy the stock is. Other options, including lead, can be added to balance a rifle. If weight, not cost, is of primary importance, 100 percent carbon fiber may be utilized.
Manners Composite Stocks Factory Tour
Next, the stocks head to machining. Here they are machined for the action, barrel and bottom metal, where 10-32 machined studs are installed with steel T-nuts in the forend. They are installed in the butt using an aluminum block with a stainless steel helicoil. Buttpads are ground by hand individually with top-of-the-line Pachmayr Decelerators being offered. With everything installed, they go to finish, where they are carefully checked and QC'd before being logged out. Holding one of his stocks, Manners commented, "I might sell you a stock, but it's always my stock; my name's on it. They come with a 100 percent lifetime guarantee; I always stand behind my stocks."
Interested in how CZ-USA became involved with Manners Composite Stocks, I asked Jason Morton about the connection. He replied, "We are putting out some of the best rifles available, and we wanted to have high-grade options. As far as I'm concerned, Manners is putting out the best stocks available. Our first rifle to wear a Manners stock was the CZ Precision Trainer 455 .22 LR. It sold shockingly well and really showed the market for a Manners stock on our products."
While the carbon fiber stock is attention-getting, it's the attention to detail that sets apart Manners stocks from the crowd.
CZ-USA will be offering a number of different models fitted with Manners stocks. The 455 .22 LR will be receiving a new stock with molded camouflage this year. Plus their hardhitting .338 Lapua H.E.T. II will be fitted with a Manners stock featuring an adjustable cheekpiece and moldedin Midnight camouflage. Additionally, their 550 Western Series will receive a 100 percent carbon fiber stock to reduce weight. This will be painted olive and weigh approximately 27 to 28 ounces. The CZ 557 Sporter will receive a 100 percent carbon fiber stock. Weighing only 25 to 26 ounces, it will be painted tan.
Each stock is carefully machined using CNC equipment, then carefully checked to ensure that a barreled action fits properly.
Personally, I like Manners Composite Stocks. The highest score I've shot in competition to date, 200-15X, was fired using a Manners stock. So it was an interesting afternoon having a chance to meet Thomas Manners and his crew. I think CZ-USA made a wise move selecting Manners out of the stock crowd, and I look forward to what the future brings.
Interested in how CZ-USA became involved with Manners Composite Stocks, I asked Jason Morton about the connection. He replied, "We are putting out some of the best rifles available, and we wanted to have high-grade options. As far as I'm concerned, Manners is putting out the best stocks available. Our first rifle to wear a Manners stock was the CZ Precision Trainer 455 .22 LR. It sold shockingly well and really showed the market for a Manners stock on our products."
While the carbon fiber stock is attention-getting, it's the attention to detail that sets apart Manners stocks from the crowd.
CZ-USA will be offering a number of different models fitted with Manners stocks. The 455 .22 LR will be receiving a new stock with molded camouflage this year. Plus their hardhitting .338 Lapua H.E.T. II will be fitted with a Manners stock featuring an adjustable cheekpiece and moldedin Midnight camouflage. Additionally, their 550 Western Series will receive a 100 percent carbon fiber stock to reduce weight. This will be painted olive and weigh approximately 27 to 28 ounces. The CZ 557 Sporter will receive a 100 percent carbon fiber stock. Weighing only 25 to 26 ounces, it will be painted tan.
Each stock is carefully machined using CNC equipment, then carefully checked to ensure that a barreled action fits properly.
Personally, I like Manners Composite Stocks. The highest score I've shot in competition to date, 200-15X, was fired using a Manners stock. So it was an interesting afternoon having a chance to meet Thomas Manners and his crew. I think CZ-USA made a wise move selecting Manners out of the stock crowd, and I look forward to what the future brings.
