Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Nearly Perfect Elk Rifle - Stock

So, I will be having built a custom hunting rifle built. It will be a model 70, trued, rebarreled in 300 Sherman or similar, synthetic stock, some kind of ffp christmas tree reticle scope and back up iron sights.

I’ve been looking at all the major players in synthetic stocks...McMillan, Manners, AG, HS Precision, Bell & Carlson, etc....

I can see McMillan seems to be the best stock, but the best price is Bell&Carlson. The trick with B&C seems to be if they make it, you will like it......, but don’t expect any customization, or any variety to inlet patterns. They will do the 14” lop I’m looking for.

So, I think I will go with the Bell & Carlson Sporter, but I have to ask folks....what if anything will I regret by not buying the McMillan or Manners?

BC is really not in the same league as McMillan or a full carbon Manners. Try it out and if you don't like it, sell it. If trying to save some dough, I would take a hard look at Grayboe stocks which are made similar to McMillan fiberglass stocks.

Bansner is my first choice on the M70. I could like a Brown Precision too or the McMillan Echols Pattern.

For an M70, this, except maybe in the reverse order. ^^^^^

My favorite elk rifle is my pre 64 M70 300 H&H, it has a #2 lilja barrel and an edge fill Echols Legend stock, for me dang near perfect.

Buy once.....cry once!!

Get the McMillan......

The finish on the B&c’s I have is rather slick and the bottom metal inlets have been too deep on a few. Nothing a little epoxy and paint won’t fix.

The HS’s are thick all over and heavy but the grip angle and comb height work for me.

I prefer the McMillan supergrade by far. Haven’t had an Echols. Yet.

Won’t inlet for m70...

This basically describes my feelings about this subject right now....add in that I’m kind of hard on things, so I would feel less pain trashing a B&C than a McMillan!

My favorite hunting stock is the McMillan Classic, just fits me better than any B&C stock and hold up to thrashing quite well

I have a bunch of Brown Precision including the 'pounder. I like them much better than the MC's.

I have had a few different mcmillans, a few bansners, a couple rimrock/pacific research (no longer available), one brown and several B&C stocks (mostly on model 70s). For me B&C stocks are at the bottom of that list.

Bansner with a cheek piece would be my first pick. We have a M70 in a Brown and it’s nice too. McM is always a good option if you can get what you want in Edge fill.

I get many of these others are better....What will I regret going B&C?

What is the accurate weight on the B&C? Sometimes they are quite heavy--like 35 oz. They also tend to be bulky/roundish. Like a person with a 28 BMI that would look pretty fit at 20. Still need to be bedded, even if they have a aluminum bedding block. Some people also say that the AL block causes problems because its thermal expansion properties are not the same as steel, so it expands/contracts differently. Perhaps more a theoretical concern than a practical one.

I tend to use a lot of McMillan, FYI.

A 300 Sherman is short action, am I correct? That takes stocks like the Echols Legend out of the game. Why do a pure wildcat over something like a WSM or SAUM?

I have seen and handled the first 2 have never laid eyes on a Echols pattern except on the Innanet.

It would be tough to beat the first 2 IMHO

Mostly feel , Although the Extreme STock(Newer Version) is nice.

My feeling is, if you're going to the expense of having an action trued, rebarreled, and chambered, don't skimp on the stock.

The Legend is by far my favorite M70 stock for a long action with a barrel at least 24" and about a #2b/3 contour. It was designed for the magnum cartridges that D'Arcy's clients tend to ask for. A smaller barrel just looks silly--like a little kid waddling about in his father's shoes. But the stock has really nice lines and details; sort of the antithesis of the HS Precision and B&C designs.

I have killed 1 elk with an FN-FAL with a plastic stock. All the others I ever shot were shot with guns having wood stocks. that's over 50 years of elk hunting in many different states and some years I hunted them in several states per season. I have never had the slightest problem with my woods stocked rifles including those that were carried for many weeks and never got really dry.

So I like wood. Mostly walnut.