Bavarian Stock

The thing about those straight stocks is that with the 90 degree pitch (angle of butt to centerline of bore) of the butt, the top of the butt is typically not in contact with your shoulder when taking a standing/kneeling shot, giving reduced support and ... opportunity for a lightweight rifle to hit you hard at the top of the shoulder when the rifle swings up during recoil. Yes, 'some' people can cope quite nicely with that configuration but ... the main reason for the U.S. gun companies to introduce 'American Classic' stocks was financial.

These 'lightweight prone' stocks (correct technical name) can be made from smaller blanks and the tooling can be set up more easily due to the reduced number of angles. Injection moulded stocks can be produced in smaller dies and set up for die making is again easier, due to the reduced number of angles. Similar advantages apply to fiberglass stock manufacture.

Remember that these are the same people who replaced metal bluing with hot rust blacking but called it 'hot rust bluing' to make it sound better. They are also the people who promoted recessed interchangeable shotgun chokes as an improvement, instead of the cynical cost cutting exercise that it was.

My best fitting rifle is my CZ452FS (stutzen) rifle. My next best fitting rifle is my modified Brno No.4 (messed up by a previous owner so no sacrilege committed by me). My third best fitting rifle is my ZG47 with the basic no-cheek piece stock. I had the original, hideously bad butt plate replaced with a Pachmayr deceleration butt pad and had the length of pull reduced by 6-8mm at the same time.

None of these rifle has a 90 degree pitch!

I may have ranted about this before, but it tends to push my buttons!

P.S. I have held one of those Model 85 Bavarian rifles and if I was in the market for a new hunting rifle, it would be in the top three. Great stock and very good sights.

I heartily agree about the pitch of the butt and generally do mine at minus 4* but a fried is a lean into it type shooter and he likes his stocks at about plus 2 degrees.

Its here! Sorry for the bad pics!

I have a couple Bavarian stocked rifles that fit like a glove. If anything, I thought they managed noticeable recoil better than your classical English stock. I think fit is most important. Europe has always been about ergonomics.