hogue stocks / other recommendations

S

schloss

New member
anybody used hogue stocks on their rifles? i have one of their grips on my 357, and really like it. hoping to get some comments on their rifle stocks.

i just got my taxes done, and i'm dreaming of putting together a rifle. probably on a remington 700 action, not sure what caliber yet, but not planning on a wildcat. have had thoughts of setting it up on a savage action, just not sure. want something in the 204 to 22-250 area, and something around 338.

any ideas? better options for a stock for the project?
 
I have an overmolded Hogue stock on my 10/22. I really like it for its purpose of a light weight, easy handling stock in any weather condition.
 
i'm not a big fan of synthetic, i just think it feels too cold. i only have one synthetic right now, and the stock is wrapped in an old torn up t-shirt so it's easier on my cheek. hoping for similar results from their rubbery coating.
 
I've got a friend with a 700 Remington in 308 with one of the older Hogue stocks on it. It was very brittle and broke out around the trigger guard. I repaired it with epoxy and it's ok, but I wasn't impressed with it. This is an old stock and I havn't compared it with any new stocks by this company.

That said I prefer laminated stocks over the plastic/synthetic stocks. Just a personal preference though.

I have put a bunch of stocks on rifles and use Richards Micro-fit. They take a little fitting and you do have to finish them, but they've all turned out excellent. They have a load of different styles and lots of different lamanation colors.

As far as caliber I've been shooting the 243 Win for the last five or six years. Before that over 20 years with a the 22-250. Last fall I went to the 204 Ruger for a coyote rifle. I've still got a couple of 243's and they shine when the wind is blowing.

If you go a Savage you know that it's only about a 15 minute job to change out a barrel. I've never owned one, but my hunting buddy has been a "savage" guy for over 20 years and just replaced his old 7mm mag with a new one with the accu-trigger. He's killed a pile of elk and deer with them and they are as accurate as anything I've shot. Both his have the synthetic stocks on them.

I've just always been a blue gun and wood stock guy so I'm kind of biased that way. I've had three synthetic stocked stainless guns, two Ruger 77 mark II's and a Remington stainless 54 caliber ML 700. The Rugers in 300 Win mag and 22-250 had the old "boat paddle" synthetic stocks and the Remington had Remingtons factory synthetic. The Rugers were OK, but the Remington plastic stock was limp as a noodle and you could literally squeeze the forarm tight to the barrel.

If you like the 338 caliber I'd look closely at the new 338 Ultra-mag. All the good things of the standard 338 Win mag plus it shoots very flat for those long shots if needed. I spent five years stationed at Ft. Richardson and my standard AK gun was a Remington 8mm mag shooting 220 grain Seirra Boattails.

I ran a small gunsmith shop for a while back in the mid to late 70's and used Brown precision stocks, but I understand their quality has slipped a bunch. There are some really good synthetic stocks on the market, but I would expect that any you find for under a hundred and fifty bucks are probably injection molded and not layed up fibreglass. I'd stay away from those injection molded stocks, they are darn near impossible to bed. I do know folks that are using the synthetic stocks with the aluminum bedding blocks are haveing pretty good luck.

Well I certianly dumped a bunch on you, sorry about being so wordy. Good luck in your project.

I am really an expert, here's a pix of me to prove it.
Meonagoodday.gif
 
Bob,
What was your experience with Richard Micro-fit? I heard a lot of people saying it takes them at least twice as long as they promised on delivery.

Howard
 
Howard

If they have them in stock usually a couple of weeks. If they have to cut a new stock figure about 8 weeks. I seem to always want something special, such as more wood left on the cheek piece or I always have them inletted 1/16 inch oversize to ease glassbedding so I'm usually in the 8 week catagory.

I've had great results from them even with the fairly long delivery times. The 99 percent inletted stocks are almost a drop in affair.

My next project will be a mannlicher stock for an 18.5 inch barreled Remington model 7 for my granddaughter. This is going to be in a medium grained piece of Claro Walnut. She will be 13 this summer and If I order now I should have it done for the fall hunting season.
 
thanks bob. i, too have a preference for the laminate stock, just didn't want to rule out the synthetic, just have always hated the feel. kind of interested in the stocks that are already set up with aluminum bedding, too. have been considering trying to find a laminate stock for my 308.

my reasoning for 338 over 338UM is its availability around here. i was surprised that i even have a hard time finding 308 ammo here. i found two boxes about a week after i got into the village, and haven't seen any since. haven't seen 338UM around here at all, but the stores carry 338. but, i guess 204 would be a problem, too. i probably just need to learn how to plan ahead better.
 
Quote:
Howard

My next project will be a mannlicher stock for an 18.5 inch barreled Remington model 7 for my granddaughter. This is going to be in a medium grained piece of Claro Walnut. She will be 13 this summer and If I order now I should have it done for the fall hunting season.



Bob,
I'd love to see pictures of that stock when you get it done. That is what I have in mind for my Model 7. The factory synthetic stock is functional but lacks in the aesthetic department.

When you cut mannlicher stock, do you free float the barrel or do you put a pressure pad on the front end?
 
It would make a great stock for the 338. I put one on my 300 mag which kicked like a mule with factory tupperware and the felt recoil was reduced to 30-06 level. I have two and love them, rubber stays rubbery down in the -20's that I know of.
 
mcmillan and be done with it. HS Precision as a second choice. The mcmillan is light and strong and can be made in any colors you wish,..or can be painted in any color you wish. The mcmillan will ALWAYS be worth money on resale,..as will the HS stocks.

Only probelm with the hogues is the lack of bedding area in them. I have Bill Truitt bedding a model70 338win in one right now. He said he would see what he could do,..had to remove a bunch to be able to get to a place where the bedding would be able to adhere to non-rubber surfaces.

for a 100-200yd gun,..then the bedding is a non-issue as accuracy will be sufficient,..but for a custom rifle with a good match grade tube,..I would skip the hogue. I have 2,...but they came on guns I picked up cheap. A model 70 and a model 700 each for $300 delivered with brass and extras.
 
I put the pillar bed Hogue on a short barreled 700 in .300 Weatherby that I used for hunting hogs, except for the muzzle blast it was a joy to shoot. I also have one with the full bedding block that is going on a 700 SA to shoot in hunting rifle matches. I much prefer the feel of the rubber covering over other synthetics, especially in cold weather! Another bonus is that it is very quiet in the brush.

JustC, FWIW I am looking at the full block version right now and see no problem as far as rubber in the bedding areas. I do plan to "skim bed" this one but I will shoot it first in case I don't need to. The pillar model worked great as it came from the factory. It would shoot 5 200 grain Partitions into nice round 1"-1.25" groups at 100 yards. I've never seen a Mark 5 that would do any better so I was satisfied!

Bob
 
BobT, both of mine have the bedding block as well. They do work nicely for shooting using a bull bag too. Mine grabs the suede that the bullz bag is made of, and actually arrests some of the recoil.

When we looked at the areas along side the action, we knew it would need to be scuffed up some to hold the bedding, and there isn't all that much thickness there before the rubber layer starts. Bill did say last week it was going to be easier than he had thought. Soooo, we will see how this stock can hold the 338win after bedding.

I would look at a Boyds semi-inletted stock also if you are a little handy. Some of the colors these guys get after adding a colored stain over top of the colored laminates is wild (ifin ya can get into that flashy thing on a rig)
 
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