Rifle stocks, looking at an upgrade.

Sinko

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Oct 12, 2015
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197
No so much and upgrade as a lighter stock. I've been using an HS Precision for several years and have only the weight to complain about. Looking at Manners, McMillan, and AG Composites.

My criteria is under 32 oz less is better.
14.25"-14.5" lop
I've considered trying a vertical grip like a Game Warden or EH1?

I'm in no hurry since this is a late spring early summer upgrade I decided now's the time to order.
 
I've owned 2 mcmillans and a manners. I have been very happy with the mcmillans and my manners was inletted terribly. I will buy more mcmillans.
 
All of those are good options. I prefer Manners for feel, though they are anywhere from 4 to 9 month wait. If something is wrong with your stock, Tom Manners has far and above the best customer service I have ever experienced. One of my stocks got "lost" in processing, I had ordered it with pillars installed, but unknown to me, there was some confusion in finishing because the action it was inletted for is generally not ordered with pillars, so instead of calling me, it got set in a corner and left. 3 months after I got the email that it was going to finishing, I called them. Long story short, I asked to talk with Tom, asked him what was going on, he figured it out, got it finished up and sent out two days later with a check refunding 50% of the stock cost, and a note with his personal cell phone number to call and let him know if the stock was satisfactory. Tom is a top notch guy, and I will continue to use them simply because of that. The next stock I ordered took 6 months, the next stock I ordered took 4 months, all EH-1's. As far as feel for hunting, I LOVE my EH-1's, not just for prone either. I grew up competing is shooting sports, 4 position NRA type smallbore, and the vertical grip is much more comfortable for me, and the high cheek is perfect with the scope mounted close to the bore. The Manners have the grippiest feel (aside from AG, I have not felt one of them so can't say) of the ones mentioned here.

As far as weight, after full length bedding and pillars installed, outfitted with 2 flushcups, 1 sling stud, 1" decelerator recoil pad, and inletted for a rem 700 long action BDL and sendero type profile, the EH-1's are right at 32 oz. If you went with a 1/2" decelerator pad, it would be closer to 29-30 oz, those pads are pretty dense.

McMillan are great options as well, my cousin ordered one for a savage bottom bolt release, they were fantastic on making sure that they had the proper inlet, as Savage's are PITA's because they can't seem to stay with one design, the stock was finished in 5 months and came out beautiful. That was an A3 sporter in dark Mcwoody, also a very good sporter style with high cheek and vertical grip, came out at 2.8 lbs, but that was with standard fill, not the elite light fill. The Game warden is a good intermediate between a sporter type stock and a tactical style as well.

Haven't used AG composites, but I hear good things, they seem light, and have a relatively quick turn around time. I would have no issues using them either.

Another option that has light carbon stocks in stock is Stockies, their carbon stocks are made to their specs by AG composites last I heard. When you order, you will have your stock in about a week. Their vertical grip stock has a similar silhouette the the EH-1, but it has a much thinner wrist, I'm not a fan but I don't grip the wrist, I more just set my hand on the grip. If you like to grip it there, you may like it a lot. The forend is a little more square, but no hard edges, and feels pretty good in the hand. They are within your weight criteria. This one and the McMillan have the smoothest finish, with this one being the most budget priced. They have decent customer service as well, my buddy ordered one, and the inlet was off center for the bottom metal. He called them, they discussed options, and they ended up refunding him a large portion of the price, I think $200 or something, maybe more, and he just fixed the inletting himself.

That is my experience with some of the options for ya!!
 
No so much and upgrade as a lighter stock. I've been using an HS Precision for several years and have only the weight to complain about. Looking at Manners, McMillan, and AG Composites.

My criteria is under 32 oz less is better.
14.25"-14.5" lop
I've considered trying a vertical grip like a Game Warden or EH1?

I'm in no hurry since this is a late spring early summer upgrade I decided now's the time to order.
Manners EH1 with carbon shell and carbon fiber fill
 
I too was in the market for a new stock for a WIN M70 that I'm repurposing to 35 Whelen. I settled on Manners primarily because it's a local company for me. Before pulling the trigger, I went to their shop a couple of weeks ago and i'll offer my feedback from that visit.

Great group of people that work there for sure. They answered all of my questions and let me put my hands on all of their stocks to evaluate grips, contours, forends, cheek pieces, and colors. I found that the raised cheek piece on the EH6 was just right, not straight and not high like the EH2/3.

In terms of the grip, I too was very interested in the lengthened grip, palm swell, and vertical grips. It seemed like the stocks with the palm swell or vertical grip felt good when shouldered but uncomfortable when in the ready or carry position. It seems to me that when carrying a rifle, the majority of a rifles time is spent in the carry/ready position. IMO, a grip that was thin gave me more leverage to swing it and shoulder it. The EH6 has a traditional shaped grip but it is thinner and that really sold me on that stock.

The EH3 and EH8 were runners up for sure. Remember, the stock will still need to be finished; pillar's installed and bedded so that is an additional cost.

Color/finish - I'm not a big fan of the carbon fiber look or the webbing so I went with a solid dark grey color without the webbing. Should look nice with a SS rifle.

That means I have a 13.0 LOP H-S stock for sale...

Obliviously I'm in the cue and will be waiting awhile but my impression was that they employ a group of high caliber, competent people who are passionate about their product. And, they offer a plethora of options for their stocks which is a plus for the consumer. My advise, give them a call or go to a local gunsmith that might have a few different stocks that you can handle. Good luck!
 
I have both the Manners EH-1 and several versions of McMillan. I recently finished a build that I wanted to keep as light as possible and went with the McMillan Game Warden in CF with edge fill and its an absolute pleasure to shoot! Light weight, super sturdy and just feels good to carry and shoot.
You really cant go wrong with either the Manners or McMillan, but having both, if I built another gun today Id use the McMillan Game Warden.
 
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