Lightweight mid range hunting stock?

matt_3479

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Jan 31, 2010
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Southern Ontario
Hey guys,

finally putting together a lighter weight rifle. I finally finished off my long range hunting set up in 300 Norma coming in at 13lbs ready to hunt and now looking to accompany it with a lighter weight carry rifle. I mainly hunt moose. The Norma is for the back lakes, swamps, clear cuts and logging roads and want the lighter rifle for the long hikes. Shots would occur from 75yard-600 yards but generally no further. I'd like this rifle to come in at under lbs ready to hunt.

the stocks I'm considering are; manners eh1/mcs-t, McMillan game hunter/scout/warden, McMillan a3 carbon, ag alpine hunter are at the top of my list. What's your thoughts? If you've used one of these how do you like it? What's the weight of the stock?
 
I had an EH1 and really didn't like it for hunting, it weighed 34 oz and was advertised at 28.
It was bulky and blocky in my opinion, making it uncomfortable to carry.
I've used the Game Hunter with edge fill and it was pretty nice, again it was heavier than advertised at 32 oz.
The real drawback for me was that the LOP is 13.5" and I have long arms, it just didn't fit me well.
Now I have an Allterra Arms carbon hunter Stock and its the best I've used.
It weighs 27 oz with a 14.5" lop (which is customizable).
 
I went with a Wildcat on my lightish 6.5x47. Finished at 8 lbs with a Z5 5-25x52 BT #3 Benchmark. The stock did need some work to get it to fit properly. But that was ok as it was a winter project. Once completed I had it dipped. It was light, but that was 5 years ago so don't remember exactly. I want to say it was 17.5 oz before bedding, dipping etc.
 
Take a look at AG composites there great stocks they run 24-28 oz depending on stock
Okay thanks. It's one of the ones I posted.
I had an EH1 and really didn't like it for hunting, it weighed 34 oz and was advertised at 28.
It was bulky and blocky in my opinion, making it uncomfortable to carry.
I've used the Game Hunter with edge fill and it was pretty nice, again it was heavier than advertised at 32 oz.
The real drawback for me was that the LOP is 13.5" and I have long arms, it just didn't fit me well.
Now I have an Allterra Arms carbon hunter Stock and its the best I've used.
It weighs 27 oz with a 14.5" lop (which is customizable).

Okay thank you. I'm not the tallest at 5'9". The allterra arms stocks I looked at and heard great things but don't think I can get them in Canada
 
For my midrange I rifles I have 2 models of AG composites, the alpine hunter and the privateer. They appear to be well built and I would use them again. I like both but prefer the alpine hunter for shooting prone and it does fine offhand. It's fairly light at 31oz I believe but I went with a privateer on another even lighter weight build as that stock is 24 oz. It's more of a traditional style and prefer it for offhand shooting. Does just fine prone as well. 7 oz difference was the determining factor on the second build. I have 2 EH1s on longer range builds and love them for that but not my go to on lighter rigs. Recently I have a couple allterra carbon hunters on order for a lightweight 6.5 prc and 7 saum. Never held one but really like what I'm hearing about them and they are fairly customizable with lop and fill weight. If you are unable to get them in Canada that's unfortunate. I have high hopes for them after lots of research.
 
When I think light and carrying, I don't think prone. I love my EH1, but I mostly shoot it prone or off a bench. For off-hand, EH-8 (or EH-6 depending on barrel length/contour) is perfect.
 
I have (2) Manners EH2s. The forend grip is what sells me. I have an MCST and it is blocky in the forend. One is one a 8lb 6.5 SAUM- very handy. The other is on a 300 Ultra with a CF barrel. It is under 10 lbs with NSX on it but probably too light for this cartridge for me.

I also have the McMillan Game Warden and wish I would have done the adjustable cheek piece but for lightweight it is close to the EH series.
 
I have (2) Manners EH2s. The forend grip is what sells me. I have an MCST and it is blocky in the forend. One is one a 8lb 6.5 SAUM- very handy. The other is on a 300 Ultra with a CF barrel. It is under 10 lbs with NSX on it but probably too light for this cartridge for me.

I also have the McMillan Game Warden and wish I would have done the adjustable cheek piece but for lightweight it is close to the EH series.
Thank you for your response. Very informative. Do you find the check weld to low on the eh2 and the mcst or is it just the game warden? I've read 100 times that the game warden and game scout usually don't have a high enough check to be perfect on the rifle and require the adjustable check piece but then you suffer the weight.
 
Prone= too low on all of them.

But the EH2 is higher and not terrible. I have a stock pack on it now, but would prefer something with a little more weight for the RUM. With the lightweight, its perfect.
 
Prone= too low on all of them.

But the EH2 is higher and not terrible. I have a stock pack on it now, but would prefer something with a little more weight for the RUM. With the lightweight, its perfect.

hmm it looks like the cheek weld would be highest on the mcs-t and is the reason I was leaning that way. Figured it was 1oz heavier then the eh2 but a higher check weld.

this rifles mainly going to used in hunting situations where a lot of sitting or prone shots can be taken but the off hand chance is very possible as we stumble across moose at 50-150 yards with little time to get a rock solid rest set up and pick the closest thing to lean, rest up against to make the shot. I just want to be able too still comfortably shoot prone.
 
For my midrange I rifles I have 2 models of AG composites, the alpine hunter and the privateer. They appear to be well built and I would use them again. I like both but prefer the alpine hunter for shooting prone and it does fine offhand. It's fairly light at 31oz I believe but I went with a privateer on another even lighter weight build as that stock is 24 oz. It's more of a traditional style and prefer it for offhand shooting. Does just fine prone as well. 7 oz difference was the determining factor on the second build. I have 2 EH1s on longer range builds and love them for that but not my go to on lighter rigs. Recently I have a couple allterra carbon hunters on order for a lightweight 6.5 prc and 7 saum. Never held one but really like what I'm hearing about them and they are fairly customizable with lop and fill weight. If you are unable to get them in Canada that's unfortunate. I have high hopes for them after lots of research.

do you find your alpine hunter sufficient in prone without the adjustable cheek piece? Is it okay to pack? I'm really thinking this stock. If I go more traditional it's betweeen the manners eh2 and mcs-t but I'm so use to shooting a more vertical grip and using more (tactical) style stocks (t5, eh5a, prs1, McMillan a5, and a bunch of chassis).
 
I have zero issue shooting the alpine hunter prone. I have put the stock in the hands of numerous shooters of all experience levels and almost all preferred the feel of the alpine hunter to the EH1 or a couple McMillans. Reason being the palm swell is not as substantial as on the other 2, which I personally don't mind. One slight disadvantage to some, especially those with smaller hands like my wife, is the reach from the vertical grip to trigger is more than on the other 2. Cheek weld is definitely better than the game warden and is actually my favorite if not going with an adjustable. I wanted to test the game warden max, but as of recent it has been discontinued. Apparently they were not selling enough of them and my guess is new management made the cut. Don't think you will be disappointed in it if you like the weight it is at. If you don't mind a little more weight and want better contact the adjustable game warden or the EH1 with Defensive Edge adjustable cheekpiece would be solid choices.
 
I have zero issue shooting the alpine hunter prone. I have put the stock in the hands of numerous shooters of all experience levels and almost all preferred the feel of the alpine hunter to the EH1 or a couple McMillans. Reason being the palm swell is not as substantial as on the other 2, which I personally don't mind. One slight disadvantage to some, especially those with smaller hands like my wife, is the reach from the vertical grip to trigger is more than on the other 2. Cheek weld is definitely better than the game warden and is actually my favorite if not going with an adjustable. I wanted to test the game warden max, but as of recent it has been discontinued. Apparently they were not selling enough of them and my guess is new management made the cut. Don't think you will be disappointed in it if you like the weight it is at. If you don't mind a little more weight and want better contact the adjustable game warden or the EH1 with Defensive Edge adjustable cheekpiece would be solid choices.

thank you. Well the components I've chosen I need to be super careful with weight. There's lighter actions out there but I really want to try a lone peak fuzion steel action, so the rest of the components are weight cautious in order to try and get it to under 10lbs ready to hunt
 
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