Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats McMillan HTG vs A5 stock for prone and bench shooting

Which would you take for shooting prone and from the bench with a heavy 18" barreled 223 and why?

Oregon...you may want to visit snipershide.com and ask the same question. Those guys are all about heavy barrels, bench and prone shooting.

I know that some guys aren't big fans of the A5 and like the A4 and I'm sure that goes both ways. All of them have their positives and negatives.

Just my 2 cents.
J

I just went through this exact dilemma as I'm having a custom tactical rig built as we speak. I started out wanting an HTG as I like hunting style stocks since that's all I use mostly. However, after talking to the gunsmith building my rifle (Terry Cross), I posed the question to him on which and why and he mentioned that you can take a less experienced shooter and put him/her behind an A5 and they will shoot more consistent due to the stock being heavier and being able to get a better cheek weld with the A5. I have therefore decided to go that route as I shoot mostly from a bench and prone. If I were to buy a setup for walking/hunting, it most definitely would be something more along the lines of an HTG or Sako style stock. I was also advised from others that a heavy barrel (in my case a 24" Kreiger #10 AMU) would ride better in an A5. With you going with an 18" barrel, that's a pretty short barrel. You might want to talk to McMillan for a reputable 'smith and get their opinion. Hope this helps...

For a heavy barrel I cant like the HTG, I prefer the Winchester marksman stock for the heavy barrel rigs.

18" barrel is pretty short, I run 21" as a Min
Muzzle blast gets excessive with too short a barrel.

If your looking for a compact sto-a-way, I think Robar was doing a "folding" or "two piece" stock conversion on mcmillan stocks.

Of the 2, the A-5 is better for a rested rifle. An A3-5 is better for prone than either of the two. The bottom of the stock(forend) is more angled, and more easily adjusted when elevating the rifle.......... It has an A-3 forend with an A-5 butt........

I HATE the hook on the A5. I know some love it. I've two barreled actions speced the same, one in an A5, one in the HTG. Give me the HTG anyday, with the one exeception being if the rifle would only be shot from prone.

This is what my 22-250 will wear when the factory barrel gets yanked and a fast twist Senderoish tube gets screwed-on. It sure seems to be a useful combo & should become popular, quick..

I have all sorts of stock: A5's, A2's, M40A1, HTG, and a A3f A5rear. I love my m40s I have 3 of them now. Appearently not to many of you guys shoot prone, knowing full well MCM prone is the top choice for prone shooting. The name states itall.

Good point. For my type of shooting, there's no use for the A5.

I have a 20" barrel in an A3 and REALLY don't like the look and feel of it. 18" will be ever worse. Of all the A series to me the A3 wins as far as an all around stock. The A1 is nice for hunting. Bench/prone the A3 is my fav. The A5 has too much beef to it.

+1 Gotta love the M40/HTG for carrying. None of those A-series, and target stocks are ment for comfortability carrying.

If your bench shooting is going to involve using a rear bunny or rabbit eared bag, I'd advise not using a stock that has a 'hook' butt like the A5. The 'hook' on the butt is there as a way for the non-trigger hand to push the butt back into the shoulder.

My preference between the two you asked about would definitely be the HTG. My own preference would be the A3 or the A1-3, which is a modified version of the HTG. From a 'looks' standpoint, an 18" barrel would look better in a HTG.

Now you guys can see why so many different models are available............very subjective.......

Prone or bench I would look at more of an F class type stock rather than the tacticals. I think FVA uses something like it and has it on more than a couple rifles.