How much better are after market stocks?

[PostmanPat]

How much better are well made aftermarket stocks like Macmillan and PSE over original Bergara stocks?

Interested to hear people's thoughts on Value/performance etc

 

[Klenchblaize]

IMHO there are but 3 factors in play:

1. Ergonomics/comfort as applicable to the shooter's preffred 'hold'.
2. Rifle bedding - very likely at extra cost!
3. Aesthetics - I don't just mean materials and colour.

K

 

[Bowland blades]

How much better are well made aftermarket stocks like Macmillan and PSE over original Bergara stocks?

Interested to hear people's thoughts on Value/performance etc

McMilan are absolutely the best Bergara are usable and a lot, lot cheaper. If you buy a costly stock though you should consider bedding it with or without pillars

 

[Shaun Goss]

I’ve been very underwhelmed by mcmillan stocks in the past and don’t really see an improvement over factory. Recently purchased a pse and I can see a great deal of improvements and nice features.

 

[Bowland blades]

I’ve been very underwhelmed by mcmillan stocks in the past and don’t really see an improvement over factory. Recently purchased a pse and I can see a great deal of improvements and nice features.

Factory What though ? I must have owned my McMillan hunter ( they actually directly copied the Sako 75 ) used it a lot over 20 years ( bought it just before my youngest was born) its spotless still no scratches , chips etc . We are all different shapes though so some might not like the fit- i love it and the 75 shape suits me i have a few of them - the Quality on the Mc Millan is spot on !

 

[Klenchblaize]

The only Mcmillan I'd purchase - if I could find one for my S75 Action 111 Varmint - is the Lazeroni Thumbhole. The "humbhole" and cheek weld being the driver.

K

 

[Shaun Goss]

Factory What though ? I must have owned my McMillan hunter ( they actually directly copied the Sako 75 ) used it a lot over 20 years ( bought it just before my youngest was born) its spotless still no scratches , chips etc . We are all different shapes though so some might not like the fit- i love it and the 75 shape suits me i have a few of them - the Quality on the Mc Millan is spot on !

Factory anything.

I’ve had a couple of hunters and a game warden the warden was a nice stock with adjustable cheek piece but not particularly stiff in the forend.

 

[sco_tish]

Staffordshire Synthetic Stocks

 

[Malxwal]

My only reasonable comparison:
Two separate 284w rifles, one in a McMillan A3-5 (Remmy 700 Acton) chucking 180gr, other in PSE E-Tac chucking 184gr. PSE by far the nicer thing to shoot.

 

[Tikkat1x]

here is my take on aftermarket stocks/chassis, and this is just my take, no science, just what iv come to realise,
apart from maybe better fit, looking better, having the latest fanciest/named stock, its all a crock of crap.
and here is why iv come to that conclusion, my 223 tikka t3x super varmint with my home loads shoots between .3 to .5 MOA groups at 100 meters,
iv had the same rifle in a MDT XRS, MDT ORYX, PSE, and a WOOX FURIOSA, and guess what, it shot the same size groups, not really sure how you can improve on an average group size of 0,4"
other than .3" im guilty of it all myself buying this that and the other for whatever reason, but dont kid yourself it will transform your shooting, unless your shooting a bad stocked rifle at the moment,
i see it the same as people who do seating depths at 0.003" a time, unless your rifle is in a controlled environment and nailed down, its absolute bollocks, again, this is just my take on it,

Now, back to my search for a nice looking stock/chassis to replace my perfectly good well fitting factory stock, for no other reason other than cos i want one

 

[Selous]

Stiffness is the main reason I would change a stock. The factory offerings are often too flexible. If you are lucky this doesn’t affect you. If you are unlucky then the point of impact changes between shots on a bipod and shots rested on the fore end. I haven’t seen that with good quality aftermarket stocks like PSE and McMillan. Another factor I would propose is that the PSE E-Tac handles recoil much better than any other stock I have used. @ejg could probably telly you why but I can assure you it is true.

 

[ejg]

There are a few things we at PSE have done different to others in the trade. It is the reason why we started making stocks. What I did not like about rifle stocks was either having a mono material like injection moulded plastic or metal with the same material in critical areas as non critical areas. On some composite stocks it is even worse with the weakest material being where one fits the barrelled action. Peter and myself looked at a composite stocks at IWA back in 2006 or 2007 and decided to make my own. We started by looking at the forces of a rifle when it fires, then how a stock should be ideally constructed to have minimum flex as well as distributing the impulse as quickly as possible into the complete stock. We want the stock to be a part of the action or as stiff as possible connection hence our efforts to use the best bedding possible. Recoil happens in a milli second or two and forces are quite big and sudden. Next was to use Sandwich construction with differing densities which all helps dampen the impulse. Fibers in different directions which all have different speeds of sound on different axis also help confuse impulse which leads to dampening (this is my theory). Every fill material has it's own speed of sound.
We have been making our first Generation stocks since around 2007 and stopped offering these a few days ago. The next Generation stock starting with the Evolution proved to have advantages in the weight saving side and the process leads to a more stable controlled type of production with all the advantages or DNA of our older generation stocks. Has better strength to weight ratio and were tested a few years before we committed to changing the E-Tac to the newer Generation. We have had many shooters try my carbon barrelled 300WM sitting in a 700 gram Evolution stock firing 208gr ELDM. Most could not understand how easy she is to shoot.
The next step was the weight distribution in a rifle especially in the plane around the bore line. This is also part of rifle physics, hence our rifle balance. We are talking about offering complete hunting rifles, bedded, scoped, balanced and zeroed. But we still a bit away from that.

edi

 

[Bowland blades]

Factory anything.

I’ve had a couple of hunters and a game warden the warden was a nice stock with adjustable cheek piece but not particularly stiff in the forend.

that's weird " about lack of stiffness in the fore-end . mine " which thinking on must be around 20 years in my ownership "and its as 100% stiff . Sounds like too much slop , is it correctly bedded or are using it as it came ?