Stock style/selecrion

[RStien321]

Was curious peoples experiences with stocks like the one below? I’ve seen a lot more .375+ rifles with straight cheek pieces vs the raised variety and was wondering what others experiences have been, or what the pros/cons are?

 

[curtism1234]

To me, the stock picture you posted is perfect.

 

[BeeMaa]

I've been very fortunate to not have needed a custom fit stock.
I've had two rifles that are 375 or larger.
The CZ550 had a Bell & Carlson synthetic "American Safari" stock and it was great.
The Blaser R8 also has the same general shape with a straight comb.

I've found both very comfortable to shoot, but the stocks also fit me well.
A stock that doesn't fit you well, is not going to feel good regardless of the shape.
My wife has a Blaser R8 Intuition stock on her rifle, much different than a regular R8.

As you go up in caliber, having a properly fitting stock becomes more important.
There are people who specialize in fitting a rifle for your needs and shooting style.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I like the Monte Carlo stocks, as a straight stock will not quite get the whole but pad on my shoulders. I have both, and don’t mind either one.

 

[rookhawk]

It's important to understand the nature of factory gunstocks:

A.) Bad - They try to divide the difference between average height for sights and average height for scopes at the comb suited for the average body size of the average customer.

or

B.) Worse - They create a high comb gun making iron sights miserable while making the stock fit appropriate for a particular ring height, forcing you to use a smaller scope than you want or a higher scope ring than you want, amplifying recoil.

A look at the Winchester stock above looks like A. to me although it may not be horrible, its not optimal. But it is mass produced to provide maximum satisfaction to maximum number of customers under maximum number of applications.

The reason for a pitched stock is overlooked by many. The reason for a traditional "rigby" style stock is that as you elevate or decline the shooting angle your muscles are expanding or contracting, sliding your face up and down the comb with the purpose of getting you to the right sight picture with iron sights in a variety of circumstances. This is of course even more important with wingshooting than rifle work. The complaint of "proper English stocks" is that the face is low on the comb (thus greatly reducing recoil) but may require you to take your face off the comb to accommodate that big-ol'-piece of glass affixed to those high rings. The Brits and Africans would say "precisely, but that's why you don't use big scopes because how much power do you need to do stalking? 5x?".

Not trying to stir the pot, just trying to educate what's what and why. I love an english style rifle stock, low rings, a straight tube low profile scope, and quick detach mounts so my recoil, face position, and readiness to shoot are virtually the same whether I'm using optics or iron sights. That being said, it is not cheap to accomplish that with modern, mass-produced guns. Hence, I buy vintage guns to accomplish this task as I'm not about to compromise on "proper safari gun dimensions" even though I have limited budget. Worse yet, I'm not about to accept solutions provided by the mass-marketers to solve these complaints of bad fit, poor scope height, and comb issues by using solutions like a muzzle brake or avoiding iron sights as a backup option.

You can be rich and just buy the best. You can lower your standards and tolerate the worst. Or you can be darned frugal and shop very hard for affordable vintage guns that cost what modern mass-produced guns cost but check all the boxes. I'm in the latter category because I'll never be able to finance the best new nor will I tolerate the worst cheap.

 

[nztimb]

A great deal of the stock shape and fit is also in the way you shoot. The older English style stocks were also different in the D A N (drop at nose) and D A H (drop at heel) which encouraged a more heads up style of shooting similar to field shotgunning and so even with a more modern stock and a scope the heads up style of shooting does not require or encourage the modern cheek (a high under the cheekbone) weld on the comb to get a good sight picture as they are not designed as a sniping rifle but as a walking stalking rifle. On my stalking rifle I have a 3/4 D A N and 1 1/3 D A H and this perfectly suits the iron sight with easy soft cheek hold but equally suits the scope in the lowest mounts but with a heads up shooting position (high jaw mid cheek rather than high cheek comb "weld) This heads up style of shooting is so very much better for keeping the eyes level the same way they are when scanning for game and therefore more accurate for the quick shoulder and aim when a quick shot (through a clear scrub lane etc) Of course cartridge the rifle is chambered for can effect just how much of the drop that you may need but the 3/4 D A N and a similar D A H or with a 1/4 inch more will still work for both sighting systems