Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Red Hawk Rifles

Bought my third Bell & Carlson from Dick Churchley of Red Hawk Rifles. Couldn't find a better person to deal with. Super guy.
Why B&C instead of a McMillan? All of my factory barreled rifles with B&C dropped from 1"+ groups at 100yds to legitimate 1/2" rifles.

A McMillan wouldn't have allowed your rifles to do that somehow?

Dick is a first class guy to deal with. Monashee

Not much into synthetic stocks, but I have two sporters with these stocks; one a McMillen and the other a B&C. Both shoot 3 shots inside 1/2" at 100 yards. No complaints about either make.
I did have B&C replace a 20+ year old recoil pad that just went the way of many older pads due to ozone, use, etc. They replaced it for the pad cost only, and they picked up labor costs. While there, they repainted it for $45, after calling me on the phone asking me if I wanted them to do it; a great price. It was all black, and now it is snow camo. They get high marks from me on their customer service.
Never had any problems with the McMillen which is 20+ years old also. It's a sporter stock on my 7mm Mag. The B&C is a sporter stock on my 22 BR.
Never used any other make synthetic stocks, and if I wanted a new one today, it would be one of those two that I have now.

Don

John Boy,

You have committed one of the ultimate sins. You said something good about a stock that is not a McMillan. I am going to point out here that you said NOTHING bad about McMillan; you only said something good about some other(obviously inferior) stock. My purpose here is to warn you that with some here on the fire you are in danger of banishment. What ever you do do not at any time soon say something/anything good about a bullet other that Barnes or the bullet and stock snobs may gang up on you at that point you may be beyond saving.

8mmwapiti

...And, definitely do not say anything bad about a Kimber in 270 Winchester? Or, at least don't let 'em know where you live.

And never, ever, compare a fine custom Mauser or Springfield to a 700 with a multi colored synthetic stock.

8MMWapiti,
You are so right. I've stepped on some "Nosler" toes real regularly and they act as if I was an Obama clone.
I just don't believe in paying for a name when a quality piece of equipment will work wich is the point of the B&C / McSwirlyy statement.
But you are right, the guns snobs get downright offended if your opinion is not based on the price of your toys, and the more toys the better.
I feel so alone.....

Haven't had a McMillan bust on me yet, I have had a B&C take a [bleep] though.

Some think it's 'paying for a name', whatever helps them sleep at night.

Dick Churchley is a very stand up guy. He definately know the product he sells.

SteelHead,
You are correct. Sometimes it is better to pay for a name. Honda comes to mind. The other side of that coin is "you get what you pay for". (sometimes) Is a McSwirly worth the additional cost over a B&C? Depends on the intended purpose. Accuracy? I doubt I'll improve over .5" to make the extra cost worth it. So in that case, No. I currently hunt out of box blinds so the chances of the stock suffering severe damage are slim to none. Worth it, No. If I am ever blessed enough to get to hunt the mountains where bad things can happen...maybe worth it. But if the rifle stock suffers enough damage to render it unusable what condition will the scope be in. The stock brand and durability is therefore rendered a moot issue. Pride of ownership? Of course. However alot of us non-elite simply can't afford to be elite. I've just now upgraded from Simmons scopes to all Leupold. (24x, 12x and two 6x's). Yes, that's right Virginia only four measly centerfire rifles. You see some of the non-elite don't spend every spare dollar to stuff a gun safe with play pretties that can only be fired one at a time. We have to work our way up the elite food chain. We can't be smug enough to run down someone else's choices. 8MMWapiti was right. You can tell when you've offended the intelligencia on this site. Bottom line is: Dead is dead, whether death by Savage or death by Sako. "Live long and prosper" boys. Signed, Happily Non-Elite

Yep, I've seen lots of VA boys in Alaska talking about how good their [bleep] was. That lasted about a week or two.

Course I didn't realize that you don't hunt so you are good with whatever you want to use. Carry on.

Be careful now...

I own more B&C's than I do McMillans.

My point was obviously lost or ignored with your witty reply. I highly doubt the groups was shot solely because the handle was a B&C and not a McMillan but you knew that already.

Steelhead, are you aware of the definition of "boorish".
I guess that hunting in Alaska or 40,000+ posts allows such snobery. No life besides the campfire huh? P.S. The "Virginia" reference is a play on words from a very famous letter; "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus". But I would't expect you to know such menial things.

Greg,
I understood you point. And I appreciate your input. My point was that while McMillans are without a doubt a better stock, the B&C's suffice for my needs now until I can afford to upgrade. 8MMWapiti's point is well taken however as evidenced by the boorish reply of steelhead who thinks that stand hunting isn't hunting. Actually it's more like sniping. But, in our part of the country we are very limited. So, makeshift hunting is better than none at all. Here in the south (Texas) we do have enough manners to respect one anothers opinions (even if they're wrong :-) I guess when I'm elite enough I'll go "HUNT" in ALASKA! Or I may have to stoop to hunting Africa...cheaper don'tcha know.

Wow. I dunno if that's funny or just sad. I would say that Steelie probably enjoys life as much or more than anybody on this site. At least it looks that way from the pictures.

I wiped my ass with two ply [bleep] paper tonight, guessing that really makes me elite from your perspective.

Course it's tough becoming elite spending an entire adult life as an enlisted man, but I still manage.

P.S. You might also want to investigate paragraph breaks, if that isn't too elitist for you.

If that's all it took you probably could have rebedded the factory stock and gotten the same result. Then you could tell us all about the great factory stock.

Careful Toltec, youve got over 11 k posts......you might be setting yourself up as a target.