Monte Carlo vs Classic Recoil?

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I am looking to buy a Weatherby ultralightweight. I am most familiar in rifles with Classic stocks and straight combs.

How do the Monte carlo stocks transmit recoil to the shooter - better or worse than the classic stock ?
 
It depends who you ask. More drop at heel will translate to more muzzle-rise, which might crack you in the chops. I actually find that more muzzle-rise gives me less felt recoil than a straight stock, because I'd rather spread the recoil between my cheek and shoulder and roll back as a unit. The next guy will say I'm nuts.
Much of the idea that straight stocks kick less is American. European guns that aren't made for the American market tend to have more drop than we are used to.
What caliber is your ultralight in?
 
The idea behind the slight forward slope on the Weatherby stock is that
1) as the rifle recoils rewards it pulls the cheek-piece away from your cheek and 2) due to the slope angle, as the muzzle lifts the angle of the cheek piece hits your cheek with less force, as it moves rearward.

Some monte carlos seems to hit unreasonably hard - I never liked the old Sako stocks, despite loving the rifles. I shot a .308 sako forester mannlicher model that really belted my cheek but have shot other monte carlos that were great. Stock fit has a lot to do with it of course. If LOP is too short I find your cheek takes a beating...having said that I find WBY stocks quite ugly but I do like the Bavarian style 'schweinruck' or hogsback stocks...thats my $0.02!
 
If your Weatherby is chambered for a hard kicking cartridge, consider that as the rifle recoils rearward your cheek comes off the stock as Kayaker says, but then the muzzle climbs and you get smacked in the cheek. If your cheek stays in contact throughout the recoil impulse, the perceived recoil is less. All this is dependent on a proper drop at the comb for the height of your sights. If your stock has a high comb suitable for a scope in medium height rings, but you shoot with irons and mash your cheek into the stock to see the sights, the recoil will just about knock your head off, regardless of the shape of the butt.

Just choose the rifle with the stock design you prefer. When you throw a scoped Weatherby to your shoulder, the field of view is most often right there, you don't have to go looking for it. It feels natural. A classic stock looks better to my eye, but perhaps not yours. So forget about the recoil unless you are choosing a very powerful chambering, the Weatherby will handle it fine. If you were choosing something that chambered a cartrige based on the .378, I would choose a classic stock.
 
I pretty much agree with everything Kayaker1 so accurately put it. I think the forward sloping cheek piece is a help.
Also, I would rather have my cheek tight on the cheek piece when it fires, than have a comb rise and hit my cheek.
What hasn't been mentioned is the shape and size of the front wood, or forestock. If the left (forward) hand has a good, solid grip on the front wood, it is surprising how much recoil is absorbed by the forward hand, even without any conscious effort to do so.
 
I like the fit of the Monte Carlo style stocks. So much so, that I ordered that style for my custom 6.5x55AI that I am almost finished. The stocks fit so well that the recoil seems to be better absorbed by my body in general. I never noticed being hit in the face or anything.
 
If you want faster, accurate, repeat shot, straight stock is best. Less muzzle flip aka the AR-15. Recoil comes straight at you. I prefer the Monte Carlo for hunting guns as they give me better scope/eye alignment. Generally, 1 shot is all I need so muzzle flip isn't an issue. If a Monte Carlo reduces recoil then that's better for a hard kicking lightweight sporting rifle.

I cannot be certain either has less recoil as they both still generate the same rearward energy if both rifles weigh and shoot the same caliber/load.
 
If you want to be able to establish a proper cheek weld while having the butt seated properly on your shoulder, you MUST have a monteCarlo style stock. This assumes you are using a scoped rifle, of course.
Europeans buold, and always have built, offhand rifles suited to an upright shooting style. Americans quickly evolved into building prone rifles and developed a style where they put their head down on the stock. Americans also built stocks to work well with 'scopes.
The modern American classic, straight with very little drop, has evolved as much as an art form as anything. It is a stock to which the shooter must, to a certain extent, adapt himself. Still, it is certainly functional. Most MonteCarlo stocks are not real attractive which is one reason they are not real popular. That, and the style is counter to the trend. A stock with just a bit more drop at the heel yet with a forward sloping high comb, is a comfortable stock and it's a Monte Carlo.
Recoil? I doubt it makes any real difference one way or another. However, if there is so little drop at the heel that you end up with a portion of the butt above your shoulder, you have a stock which is not allowing you to get full benefit of the butt (or pad) area. When it comes to handling recoil, big butts are the answer. Jennifer Lopez fans, unable to stay on subject, will tell you they don't look bad either! Regards, Bill.
 
What caliber is your ultralight in?

300 Weatherby at a price that is hard to refuse.

Thanks for all the input. I personnally am growing fond of wood and monte carlo stocks, and I may even restock my M700 300 RUM with a BDL Classic Deluxe monte carlo stock I picked up from the EE. I am just a but concerned about the recoil and muzzle jump, in either the weatherby or my hard kicking RUM. Sounds like proper form is the real key to handling recoil with either stock design.
 
300 Weatherby at a price that is hard to refuse.

Thanks for all the input. I personnally am growing fond of wood and monte carlo stocks, and I may even restock my M700 300 RUM with a BDL Classic Deluxe monte carlo stock I picked up from the EE. I am just a but concerned about the recoil and muzzle jump, in either the weatherby or my hard kicking RUM. Sounds like proper form is the real key to handling recoil with either stock design.

Now there's a coincidence, I just bought an ultralight in .300 on Friday. I've got Montecarlos, classics, bavarians and classics stocked for irons. At the .300 level it doesn't make much difference in recoil to me. I'm in the camp that likes the look of the American classic pattern, and the feel and fit of the Montes, and Bavarians. Face and body shape may have as much to do with that as anything else.
 
If you want to be able to establish a proper cheek weld while having the butt seated properly on your shoulder, you MUST have a monteCarlo style stock. This assumes you are using a scoped rifle, of course.
Europeans buold, and always have built, offhand rifles suited to an upright shooting style. Americans quickly evolved into building prone rifles and developed a style where they put their head down on the stock. Americans also built stocks to work well with 'scopes.
The modern American classic, straight with very little drop, has evolved as much as an art form as anything. It is a stock to which the shooter must, to a certain extent, adapt himself. Still, it is certainly functional. Most MonteCarlo stocks are not real attractive which is one reason they are not real popular. That, and the style is counter to the trend. A stock with just a bit more drop at the heel yet with a forward sloping high comb, is a comfortable stock and it's a Monte Carlo.
Recoil? I doubt it makes any real difference one way or another. However, if there is so little drop at the heel that you end up with a portion of the butt above your shoulder, you have a stock which is not allowing you to get full benefit of the butt (or pad) area. When it comes to handling recoil, big butts are the answer. Jennifer Lopez fans, unable to stay on subject, will tell you they don't look bad either! Regards, Bill.

Well said Bill.

I for one find that with the massive head and long neck I have a monte carlo style stock is needed to get the buttpad on my shoulder.

For me traditional Sako is perfect and Ruger is the worst for recoil.
 
I personally prefer the classic style of stock, and have become accustomed to it over the many years I have used them. Esthetically, there is no comparison, the Classic wins, hands down. As far as cheek position, The Monte Carlo is good if it is designed properly. Eagleye.
 
Its what fits your face. Some hate the Weatherby but for me its the best right up to the 460 for comfort. A straight stock seems to punish me a lot more and I get bruises. My Weatherby's don't give me the black and blue shoulder or the chipped teeth if I forget to close my mouth. If you read all the American gun rags they say straight kicks less but I feel it is worse. I like the looks of the Weatherby and the classic if the wood is nice. The barvarian doesn't fit me at all.
 
Its what fits your face. Some hate the Weatherby but for me its the best right up to the 460 for comfort. A straight stock seems to punish me a lot more and I get bruises. My Weatherby's don't give me the black and blue shoulder or the chipped teeth if I forget to close my mouth. If you read all the American gun rags they say straight kicks less but I feel it is worse. I like the looks of the Weatherby and the classic if the wood is nice. The barvarian doesn't fit me at all.

I always thought the Barvarian was a Weatherby with all the corners sanded off?;)
Since Weatherby started wildcatting in the 40s, his stock pattern is a classic in its own right.
 
Most Monte Carlos dig me in the cheek. I can't stand the Sako 75 Monte Carlo stocks, I was working up a load for my buddy using his Sako 300WM and thinking about how I'd prefer to be shooting a .375 or .416, as I was getting smacked around with that damn laminated stock. Never felt such recoil from such a heavy gun in a medium chamber.:)
 
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