I am in the process of converting my old 6.5 Swede for hunting purposes.
It will be used primarily for hunting woodland birds under winter conditions with heavy snow cover, when they have to go into the tree tops for pine needles (capercailzie) and birch buds (black grouse) because they cannot get at the undergrowth (last years berries and such).
This position naturally makes them rather wary, so shots are usually long. Useful target area is about 2" across. Shots are normally taken prone from whatever cover you can find. I.e. a kind of sniping game.
The gun will almost certainly get a pair of legs, but I'm not clear in my mind as to what design of stock I should choose.
So I ask you guys with lots of experience in shooting various types of stock what you think would be optimum for this mission.

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Shooting your dinner is nobler than buying it.

Balou,
Out of curiosity, do you plan on re-barreling or maintaining the original 6.5 military barrel? Are you using a scope or the original iron sights? What is the general terrain like?
Thanks!
Bill

Bill!
If it still shoots OK, I will keep the barrel. The gun used to be my fathers, he was an army officer, and I used it quite a lot at the range while in high school. My recollection is that it was a shooter then, but we'll see.
I will stay with the cartridge even if I have to rebarrel. Lots of good high precision ammo for it in these parts of the world.
It will definitely get a scope, targets of that size at those distances don't agree with my eyesight anymore :-(
My problem is what style of stock. Should I go for an american style classic (you know, high comb, parallell to bore), or for something tactical?

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Shooting your dinner is nobler than buying it.

Balou,

Either type of stock should be suitable if properly bedded. The varmint style stocks with flat bottom fore ends are easier to shoot on sandbags, but are not very comfortable to carry all day.

If you plan on carrying the rifle a lot, a nice lightweight sporter stock is hard to beat. If weight is a concern, a synthetic stock may be easiest solution.

If you will be using a scope all of the time, a monte carlo type cheek piece may be best.

I tend to prefer wood, so wood selection becomes an issue with respect to weight. If I want a light weight walnut stock, I would select Claro instead of English or Black Walnut. If you like very fine spaced checkering, English, French and Black walnut are preferred because they are more dense and easier to checker. In a light kicking rifle almost any wood is durable enough.

Hej Balou!
I've done a bit of capercaillie/ black grouse hunting and have some general comments.

I don't really think it matters wich stock style you use as long as you're comfortable with it and it's stable and keeps your rifle zeroed. I personally use the classic straight stock since I think it handles recoil best. When hunting capercaillie/ black grouse you'll will most likely shoot from awkward positions where even the recoil from a 6,5 might be a factor. Further I think it's more comfortable to shoot a straight stock prone than a Monte Carlo stock, as you don't have to raise your head as much.

I don't see any use whatsoever for a bipod in this hunting due to the snow. Use your backpack as a rest.

I am sure you agree with me that skiing in deep snow in december/january is very tough. So I wouldn't make this rifle too heavy either, at most 4 kg/9 lbs all set up.

I don't know what kind of scope you'll use but I'd use a straight 6X (maybe 8X), possibly with target turrets. I know many recommend more power but your target is easy to see against the snow and as long as you can see what you are shooting at you don't need more power, even at longer ranges. Range estimation is much more critical.

That was more answers than you'd asked for but I couldn't resist. What are your ideas about your toppf�gelb�ssa??

Scott and PCH
Isn't this a great place? You can always get the info you're looking for, and often more, that you hadn't thought of yet.
Scott, I definitely prefer wood too, but maybe I will get a laminated one this time, since I will be crawling around in snow with it a lot. Your remark on wood quality will be very helpful on other projects though.
PCH. I've been leaning towards a classic since I started thinking about this project, it was just that looking over a couple of sniper sites, I didn't see that pattern much in evidence, they were mostly all but classic, so I thought maybe they were on to something I had missed.
General specs are normal sporterized Swede, handle turned down, Buehler safety barrel shortened just enough to fit in my safe without disassembly, but not until I've tested and foundit doesn't need rebarreling.
Scope fixed 8x56, since it will do double duty on my 9.3 for pigs in the night. Make of scope as yet undecided as, for the birds I would like a ranging reticle and for the pigs an illuminated one. I have yet to find that combination in a fixed power scope, which I prefer (fewer lenses -> more light transmitted).

I personally use glassfiber stocks but wouldn't hesitate to use wood for this application. Weather is most likely below zero and the air is dry so I really don't see any risk warping the stock as you might during the fall with all the rain and so on.

I like your idea with a fixed scope. I've never tried a range finding reticle and I don't miss it either. I think you can range good enough with a #4 reticle. If the range is 250-300 m, it's too difficult for me to hit under field conditions and you can always get closer than that anyway.

I'd say that a good roe rifle would be just as good for capercaillie.

I shot a few black grouse with my 6 BR topped with a Helia 8X56 last year. The big Helia was on the rifle for a hunting trip for roe deers down south in the following week. The scope have a heavy no. 1 post reticle and I didn�t feel comfortable with this kombination when I took it out for the black grouse hunt.

After I had shot three grouse that morning from 100 to 180 m I really had to admit that reticle wasn�t to bad after all. It doesn�t look very precise when you look thru the scope and se the heavy beams of the no. 1 post. The vital area of a Black grouse is not big at all but the post reticle handeled the situation quite well.

I bougth the scope second hand and I would probably not choosen the no. 1 post if I bougth it new. Now I�m really glad I have the no.1 post, it�s very good in low ligth conditions and good enough to hit a small grouse at 200 m.

I normally use a B&L variable scope for the birds when the roe deers are out of seson.

Stefan.