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scott_r

scott_r

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Is it all hype owning a rifle with a $800 McMillan or does it really improve your rifles accuracy and worth the money?? Ive owned a Winchester Stealth with a McMillan , it was an excellent shooter but have owned a 788 with a beat up wood stock that shot as well or better?
Do you guys find its worth the extra $$ on a hunting rig.

Cheers!!
 
For $800, probably not. But you can buy one for just over $400 and have it bedded for another $100, it's a lot more palatable.

A lot of us have several, average hunting rifles. I decided a long time ago I'd rather own fewer rifles that I will actually use that have great barrels, stocks and optics. Dust collectors be gone...
 
McMillans seem pretty nice but Ive only handled one. It did impress me enough to order two, but I wont see them until April
 
I have owned six mcmillans,They are well made and seem to absorb recoil better than most other stocks.And they certainly aren't $800 for a hunting rifle stock.
 
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scott_r said:
Is it all hype owning a rifle with a $800 McMillan or does it really improve your rifles accuracy and worth the money??
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I don't think I would spend $800 for a McMillan and expect great leaps in accuracy. A properly bedded walnut should shoot as well as a properly bedded fiberglass stock. Other factors are weight and weather resistance.

I use a TI take off stock on my 700 257Roberts and have another on the way. I like them alot. The one coming was priced a little over $200. I don't even have a rifle for it yet, but it will have a use some day. I could almost buy four of these for your $800 McMillan.

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I don't know about mcmillan stocks but the lightweight fiberglass stocks I have put on my rifles don't cost $800, I guess if you got the top of the line stock custom installed on your barreled action the bill might soar that high, however I do all my own stock work so Its just my time and some materials and the cost of a stock blank which varies from company to company. Normally a decent stock blank will run about $300 some of the ultralite ones will cost a fair bit more but also weight a fair bit less.

Right now I'm sourcing out a Kevlar/graphite or carbon fiber stock for my Custon Titanium to reduce the weight even further and replace the Hi-Tech sheep hunter that I installed on it earlier this year. And as we speak I'm installing a different HI-Tech specialties stock on my 375 H&H M700.

As others have said, a properly bedded rifle will shoot the same regardless of what it is made of provided its a stable material. The added bonus of a good synthetic is Lighter weight, reduced recoil(in some cases), a stable weather resistant platform that won't warp, and its a nice custom feature for those who take pride in there firearms or need there firearms to serve a specific purpose.

The factory Ti stocks are a nice stock but I find that they feel a little funny and "straight" and I also found that they transfer recoil VERY effectivly right to your shoulder joint, my factory 270 TI recoiled WAY harder than my 30-06 mtn rifle with a Hi-Tech stock and the 30-06 was shooting a 168 gr bullet vs a 130 for the 270.
 
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I would not expect leaps and bounds in accuracy over any other properly bedded rifle off the bags at the range.

Take it out to the field and constantly freeze it, soak it, and bash it around season after season and you'll see the difference.

Stability and ruggedness is what makes McMillans and other good fibreglass stocks worth the money IMHO.

As RickF said...you can procure one for less than $500 now with the dollar the way it is...a steal in my eyes!

As for the TI take off...thse are not in the same timezone as McMillans or most others (they are not laid up glass, and have THE thinnest shell and punkiest fill I've ever seen on a stock).
 
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I just ordered a McMillan HTG with EDGE/graphite fill (ultralite), fully inletted, with three studs and a 1" pad, painted, for $536 to my door. For the quality and assurance these stocks give you, they are worth every penny. I also have a Bansner Sheep Hunter (via Supercub) and I really like it, especially since it weighs a mouse over 1 pound.
 
A good laid up fiberglass/graphite stock won't warp, break (within reason), crack, swell, or shrink. Priceless in my estimation. In fact, I'd still own quality synthetic stocks if they cost $800 and doubled the group size of my rifles (the great news is neither has ever occured). IMHO, form needs to follow function where serious hunting rifles are concerned.

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rem338win said:
I also have a Bansner Sheep Hunter (via Supercub) and I really like it, especially since it weighs a mouse over 1 pound.
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Have you actually weighted it? After finishing they tend to weight much more, althought they are light they are far from 16 oz finished, bedded, painted, recoil pad installed. More like 23 -24 oz. Not wanting to cause a argument but people might get misled. My goal is to find a stock that will be finished at 16 oz for a long action m700
 
I think if I spent $800 on ammunition and used it in careful practise, it would improve my accuracy much more than a McMillan stock would.
 
I think if I spent $800 on ammunition and used it in careful practise, it would improve my accuracy much more than a McMillan stock would.
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It would probably improve your shooting skills,but it wouldn't make your rifle stock more durable or stable.If the stock warps,the point of impact can change enough to cause a miss regardless of your shooting skills.
 
I think if I spent $800 on ammunition and used it in careful practise, it would improve my accuracy much more than a McMillan stock would.
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I think the point and purpose to a good quality synthetic is lost on many. Accuracy at the range is just a nice byproduct of a far greater purpose.
 
Unless the synthetic offers real world improvement like light weight and improved accuracy I would just as soon use a nice piece of walnut. The weight of the lightweight stocks are nothing to write home about either. The McMillan Edge stocks are about as light as you can get coming in at 24oz finished. Some of the other makers stocks are very heavy and usually weigh more than the wood stocks they are replacing. Something else that bugs the heck out of me is the noise they make when brushing against vegetation, they drive me nuts in a stalking situation!:runaway:
bugbull
 
bigbull said:
The McMillan Edge stocks are about as light as you can get coming in at 24oz finished. Some of the other makers stocks are very heavy and usually weigh more than the wood stocks they are replacing.
bugbull
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Yes some synthetics offer no weight advantage over a lighter style walnut but you can get synthetics as light as 12oz in select rifles. These are specialty stocks and not for everyone, 16 oz finished is possible too in a nicely design stock
 
Unless the synthetic offers real world improvement like light weight and improved accuracy I would just as soon use a nice piece of walnut.
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The real world improvement is that they are far more stable than walnut stocks,and as a result the point of impact is much more constant in changing conditions.
 
Brambles said:
Yes some synthetics offer no weight advantage over a lighter style walnut but you can get synthetics as light as 12oz in select rifles. These are specialty stocks and not for everyone, 16 oz finished is possible too in a nicely design stock
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Brambles, who is making a finished stock @ 16oz? This sounds interesting.
bigbull
 
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