How do you all like thumbhole stocks verses traditional designs on Hunting rifles?

Do you find them to be bulky?

Slow to shoulder?

Thanks,

Reloader

I only have one and won't get another unless I become a varmint freak. They weld to your shoulder very solidly but it's a slow process and you have to completely release the grip to get your thumb in position to operate most safeties. Very slow again. From a bench, popping p-dogs I don't think it would matter as much. Also, much heavier than a comparable sporter stock.

i've had a few and for varmits, bench, targets etc.they are alright. The sort of force you to hold the grip at a consistant angle. For hunting, no way, no how, no nutting. But: if you have one in the field and the rancher needs a fence post pounded in you'll have just the tool for the job.

personally i find them to be ugly and ill suited for general use. that being said i have two good friends who swear by them as much as i swear at them.

I've got two issues with thumbhole stocks on a hunting rifle...

First, when I'm hunting, I have the rifle in my hands. One hand on the pistol grip, one on the forend. It's awful tough holding the pistol grip on a thumbhole stock when the rifle is waist high, or at port arms. My hand is more on top of the pistol grip than actually "in place", and rides nicely down in there.

Secondly, I shoot M700s, and it would be a bear trying to release the safety with my thumb, and then replacing my thumb back into the hole. I imagine a M70, or tang safety Ruger, or anything, would be the same.

I *did* shoot a thumbhole Anscutz rimfire back in my high school rifle team days. It worked great, but it was strictly a prone, repetitive, competitive type rifle, hardly a hunting rig.

Good Points, I've never owned one so I was just wondering about their function.

It does seem like they would be alot bulkier than standard stock designs and that they would be alittle slower in a hunting situation.

Thanks,

Reloader

I have a Browning A-bolt Eclipse 308 WIN in a thumb hole laminate stock. I have never encountered any of the problems listed here on this thread. The rifle presents well, and I can manipulate the bolt without any problems.

Personally, my tastes run along the classic lines. Thumbhole stocks look like they came out of a science fiction movie. JMO

I bought a Custom built Model 70 Winchester to match another rifle I had in the same chambering, .358 STA. It had one of the most beautiful custom thumbhole stocks I have ever seen. It was built by a gunsmith for his son with many many hours of work and special appointments. The problem is when I fired the rifle it murdered my trigger finger and the middle finger next to it. It had considerable recoil although it also had a muzzle break and I tried for months to use it but it simply put a beating on my trigger hand each and every time I shot it. I ended up putting an HS Precision composite stock on it that is very good. That is my experience with thumbholes for what it is worth. Good shooting.

I don't have a rifle yet with a thumbhole stock but am considering it for the .338 I am building.

The rifles with such a stock I have seen at the dealer, seem to shoulder very solidly, with a comfortable grip and they seem to provide more support when shooting sitting down. They are ugly as sin, and, according to hubby, not politically correct to use as a hunting rifle, but heck, I am not politically correct either.

I am still ambivalent, as I will be stuck with my decision for my upcoming spring bear hunt.

Marianne this is for you, 57.5" Kudu taken in Namibia in May Rifle is a M700 338 ultra Mag I also dont experience the problems mentioned maybe because been using them for awhile and have quite a bit of them on many different rifles. But I do use both styles of stocks to each his own.

Hope this works first try on the new forum.
Aloha!!!

I've built a few and can tell you that I've liked them as have everyone that has ever used one of them. Varmints.....yes...but as a hunting rifle they do just fine as well. The only complaint is that they jab me in the back with the protruding pistol grip when carried over the shoulder with a sling.

I'm building a .375 ouch and ouch on a thumbhole right now and have no fear that it's not going to be a functional rifle. Those that say different are talking out of turn and without experience.

I much prefer the looks of classic styles and shadowline cheekpieces but the thumbhole is a fine stock for those that like one. Here's a .25-06 on a '98 DWM Argentine action and douglas featherweight barrel.

Hey vapo nice rifle, is your 375 an H&H im building a 375 Ultra with a thumbhole but I think the best looking one that I have has to be my 7mm Stw dont have any pics of it though. Goodluck with your build.

Aloha!

Vapodog, Where did you get that stock? Love that 98 rifle, it's exactly what I want with one exception, .280 Rem instead of 25-06.

Ultramag, Where do you get your thumbhole stocks? Got an 8mm RM Classic I'd like a TH stock for.

The stock is from a blank I had Fajens inlet many years ago. I had several of them inletted and only have one left and I'm setting the magnum mauser .375 in that one.

This one shown is slated for a new barrel sometime and the .280 is certainly a candidate but the 6.5-06 weighs heavy here as well. Just too many projects right now.

hey vapo - doing a thing like that to a nice piece of wood!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no wonder you got kicked out of minnesota

butchbloc,

quote:

---

no wonder you got kicked out of minnesota

---

yea sure....the home of Hubert Humphrey and Skippy too.....land of Walter Mondale and better yet (the late) Paul Welstone...
Land of 10,000 taxes...er, I mean lakes, and NO FISH!!!!

A place where it's the coldest place in North America in the winter and the air conditioning bills are outrageous in the summer but after all this....the one really nice warm and beautiful day in the fall when you can get out for some squirrel shooting in the woods you discover that your Liberal neighbor has successfully stopped the mourning dove season for another year.

The really nice thing about Minnesota is that there's some really good fishing just north in Ontario, some great deer hunting just east in Wisconsin, some fabulous pheasant hunting just south in Iowa and some excellent duck hunting just northwest in North Dakota and yes.....prairie dogs abound in South Dakota.

Mr Bill,

I have a few from different places, bell and carlson, boyds, serengeti stockworks, tanyard springs I mostly make mine from blanks looking into some maple blanks right now by the way for some projects I have and have a laminate blank from boyds on the way.

Happ Hunting!

The one in the pic. with the Kudu is from Boyds!

This is the sort of stock design that I use myself and recommend:

www.biesen.com

AD

Allen,

quote:

---

This is the sort of stock design that I use myself and recommend:

---

You have GOOD taste.

AD- Beautiful rifles and very nice lines not to mention beatiful wood. Just might pick me up a semi-finished about how much do they run? Maybe i'll put it on my 338 Lapua. Do they do thumbholes also?

Thanks.

UltraMag

UltraMag

Just one word... AWSOME!!!
you go girl!!!

Marianne

quote:

---

Originally posted by UltraMag:
AD- Beautiful rifles and very nice lines not to mention beatiful wood. Just might pick me up a semi-finished about how much do they run? Maybe i'll put it on my 338 Lapua. Do they do thumbholes also?

Thanks.

---

The Biesen style classic style stock is a masterpeice of functional elegance. I think that Rolls Royce will start shipping their cars with Spinner Mags before Biesen will be making thumbhole stocks.
Some people like thumbhole stocks, some people also like Purple Metalflake paint with LED lights surround the bottom of their cars.
I'm with AD on this one..........DJ

DJ- I wasnt implying that I wanted one with a thumbhole but an actual classic stock as I stated in my earlier post I like both styles and they both work good for me. I was just curious to see if they did do thumbholes thats all.

As far as the LEDS and paintjob youre on your own thier buddy...LOL!

I'm not a Biesen client, but I do admire Biesen rifles very much, and NO, they don't do thumbholes! I posted the link to Biesen's website as a convenient way to illustrate what I believe to be the epitome of a properly designed hunting rifle stock.

D'Arcy Echols builds my rifles for me, and his stocks are similar to Biesen's (only better) in that they are of the true American Classic school, which handles quicker and lessens the effect of recoil better than any other stock design, as Jack O'Connor tried to drill into us, and quite correctly, for his entire writing career.

I'm quite certain that Roger Biesen will turn a blank to his pattern for a semi-finished stock project, but you'll have to call him to be sure.....

AD

I have thumbhole stocks on my match rifles. The thumbhole allows the hand to relax and when one becomes familar with the feel then better trigger control.

This is a about sporters and I prefer more the traditional stocks. The thumbhole in a sporter will slow down reaching for the bolt. I would not have one for hunting.



The above Biesen pictures are not that good a quality but I like to look at fine rifles.

Some factory rifles come with classic stocks.


That way you get immediate delivery and don't pay as much. On the other hand if you have plenty of money then spend on what you want.

Here is a picture of top quality rifles.

hey vapo - yep thats minnesota for tough guys living in the middle of it all. and don't forget about wellstone and dayton too.

I built a thumbhole sporter stock for a Remington M700 SS in 338 Winchester years ago. It handled like a dream and killed artic caribou like it was supposed to.

I used a Fajen thumbhole semi-inlet and finished it up myself. It was black laminate, and it was really striking looking on that 338 stainless action.

Recoil was nothing to speak of, since half of it goes to your hand. I used a black Pachmayer decel pad on it and it was perfect.

I often think of building a Remingotn M700SS 338 Ultra on a Boyds thumbhole. Or maybe a 358 Norma.