Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats McMillan lost their EDGE

That's sorta my question...

I wonder if you can order an inletted Pound'r unpainted, do the glass work, send it back for paint like McM.

I've owned one Brown rifle, gave it to a good friend. It wasn't a Pound'r.

DF

That probably has a lot to do with it, but if there ever was a catastrophic failure, im sure the fire would have been one of the first to hear about it. We have a way of weeding things out around here. My thought is there was too many complaints of the graphite resonating too much, during recoil.

Totally different process. Brown uses kevlar, while McMillan uses a graphite shell. You tell me which is best. Or maybe ill lead and say the brown is much better. If McMillan was smart, they would change their whole process. Get their weights down and use better materials. However, there has always been a market for "edge" filled McMillan stocks, even though i dont prefer them. They will shoot themselves in the foot by making them heavier.

There are a few of us who’ve spoken with Echols and he mentioned a couple cases where the EDGE shell and fill was reacting poorly with 300 Wby and larger jugged cases. So he has an EDGE shell and standard fill he recommends for those uses. I don’t know either way but the man has considerable experience building accurate and probably damned near perfect hunting rifles so I’ve stuck with his advice. I’ve used a few of the EDGE shell and standard fills and have been nothing but happy with them. I know for a fact he’s frustrated with McMillan making stocks that aren’t the same way each and every time.

Yeah, i bet.

What’s your Brown weigh on your 338 BSA? I may bite the bullet for a PoundR.

Not BSA, but the last Pound’r I bought the blank was 15.8 ounces. 22 ounces finished.

You know this, but the guy doing your stock work needs to be careful with the Bondo otherwise the brown kevlar can gain some weight. Brown blanks are pretty rough!

That’s good info Rick.

Are they so rough that a couple coats of primer with sanding won't smooth them up?

DF

I emailed some pics of kevlar and fibreglass blanks to Scotty, perhaps he can post them.

When I first got it, it was light as a feather. With glass bedding, glazing putty, paint, and red pachmayr recoil pad, it weighs in at 22 Oz's. Like Rick's stock. It sure mitigates recoil on my 338 though. It is a lot of money, but then again you are getting a lot for what you are paying for. Its a damn near bullet proof stock that you will never have to worry about and it is very light, even at 22 oz's..

On mine, I just used a little primer, spot glazing putty and the paint I use covers up a lot as well. I prefer a texture type paint, but then go over it with clear for protection.

Yeah, I believe I need to try one.

I am wishing now I had taken more photos. The outside of the shell isn’t too bad on a Brown, but the areas that are cut like the action inlet and the floor plate and the end of the butt? They can be really rough with gaps and voids that need filled.

Rick, I bought mine used on the pre 64 338wm. So in all honesty, maybe the original owner did most of the hard work for me. When i went to prep it for paint, it didn't need much in the way of body filler. If I were to use body filler, though, I'd look at the lightweight body filler personally. That stuff is so much lighter than regular ol "bondo". When I was power sanding my Brown PoundR, I hit the kevlar in a few spots and that's where I ened up using the glazing putty. I wish I would have taken more pics as well:


Sorry, I know this thread isn't about the Brown PoundR, but it seems like these stocks get brought into the conversation when we are talking good strong lightweight stocks...

I’ll get Ricks pics up once I get home.


Won’t Brown fit and bed the stock for you if you send it to them?

I think Bob used Alex Sittman if I remember right for his P64’s.

Alex Sitman @ Master Class stocks does do great work. I have had him bed several of my rifles and also do some other stock work. 1st class gentleman and does a really fine job for a reasonable price.

Good word, thank you. I’ve never had him do a rifle but I believe I’d like to try him out. Bob had nothing but great things to say about him.

Yes, last I heard Brown will fit your barreled action. Price is pretty stiff though. I found some more pics of my Brown. Rick is right, they are pretty rough on the inside, but I really don't care about what people can't see. As long as its solid and the bedding/platform is excellent, who gives a chidt? Here are some pics...:



Pretty rough, but the mag box doesn't complain. Yes, I painted the inside of the stock too, after glass bedding. It still shoots pretty good though..


I think what I'm trying to get at is I care more about how the rifle fit up looks on the outside and how stable the glass bedding/foundation is:




Sorry about the crappy pic, but this was the weight of the rifle after all the work was done: Paint, cerakote, recoil pad, glass bedding, aluminum "fwt" bottom metal, etc... That's a pre 64 H&H action with 24" stainless 338wm barrel, for those that don't know..

That’s a great looking rifle.

My only caution would be not so much that they are rough and don’t look so pretty when you get them, but by the time you fill some voids and what have you the ounces can creep up.

Edited to add: the last BP stocks I ordered, a Kevlar and a fiberglass, my leaky memory recalls that they were about 5 ounces difference in weight as blanks. The Kevlar definitely takes more fill and more time to finish. Keeping in mind that we are paying a premium for the Kevlar stock, not to mention higher finishing costs if you hire a stock guy, if the stock guy is not careful and starts to make up that 5 ounce difference in weight finishing the Kevlar, it raises the question of is it worth it to go Kevlar in the first place. Kevlar is definitely stiffer, but you could argue that being stiffer it doesn’t soak up recoil as well as fibreglass which theoretically flexes a bit. All sorts of mental masturbation on this issue!