Thumbhole stocks - advantages and disadvantages

ALLHONE hunting knives designed and made in NZ
Fair Hill said:
No offence taken whatsoever caberlash, even in real life I wouldn't be offended too easily. I understand your analogy, but the nucleus of my post was just my personal experience in response to the initial part of the question, if I'm hunting in woodland or any situation where time is of the essence in getting off a shot that counts I'd personally rather have a thumbhole stock gripped in my right hand. In that situation it's probably going to be a one shot scenario anyway.

To be honest even when I'm practicing freehand or off the trigger sticks I just find the the laminate thumbhole stocks more reassuring to use, everyone's different and it would be a boring old world if we all thought the same.

Tóg go bog é.
Click to expand...

Ah, I do see what you mean.

I feel that (with a right handed shooter/rifle) it is actually the left (support) hand that does all the work in terms of 'aiming' (pointing rifle in right direction) quickly.

Perhaps this is down to the fact that my first lesson with a firearm was shooting clays with a shotgun.
 
I have two boyd's thumbhole stocks - one for the .222 and the other for my .308. They are both very comfortable to use and I find them more than handy to mount and get a fast shot off. Only criticism is that the thumbhole palm itself is smooth thus quite slippy so I have bodged my own non-slip improvement with amalgamating tape which has been a great help.
 
I find them very restrictive if shooting out of the truck window or shooting backwards out of a highseat. Use a blaser r93 for hunting and i use rifles with tactical stocks with vertical grips for prone shooting and tactical comps.
 
Most people don't realize that the core issue is not the thumbhole as such but the vertical position of the pistol grip. THIS is what really makes a difference (for better or worse, depending on the situation). For this purpose one might just as well use a chassis style rifle.
The main culprit with thumbhole stocks is that it is either hard or impossible to position the thumb on the right side or on top of the stock (see picture above) where it really belongs in precision shooting.

I am desperately waiting for a Blaser R8 stock following the 2-piece concept of the Ultimate model but which is designed like the Sake S20 competition stock.
 
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Thumbhole design, at least the Lazeroni version, was for shooting kicky calibers prone, it works well in that application, but they’re an awkward sod to carry 2 handed for any extended period because of the strain it puts on your wrist.
They’re a heavy lump too and it can be a stretch to reach the trigger.
For fast deployment and easy carry the standard pistol grip stock is probably a better option.
The thumbhole does look good though....
 
I avoid thumbhole stocks for two reasons, firstly I believe the increased surface contact with your hand just increases pulse and body movement into the rifle. Secondly as mentioned already the thumb is in the wrong position. What good is a thumbhole if the thumb shouldn't go in it.
Even for handling while hunting in rough terrain a more conventional stock is easier to grab/hold from any angle.
My take is that a 1/4" rifle can very easily diminish to 1-2MOA if the stock and hold is wrong.
edi
 
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I had a boyds thumb hole stock on a howa a while back and I find them nicer for rested shooting...I have just bought another thumb hole stock rifle, I don’t feel they would be any faster but certainly more comfortable to hold.

RPA seemed to think they were the way to go for woodland stalking!

regards,
Gixer
 
Rider said:
Most people don't realize that the core issue is not the thumbhole as such but the vertical position of the pistol grip. THIS is what really makes a difference (for better or worse, depending on the situation). For this purpose one might just as well use a chassis style rifle.
The main culprit with thumbhole stocks is that it is either hard or impossible to position the thumb on the right side or on top of the stock (see picture above) where it really belongs in precision shooting.

I am desperately waiting for a Blaser R8 stock following the 2-piece concept of the Ultimate model but which is designed like the Sake S20 competition stock.
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Rider - you are the first person I have read comments from that doesn’t try to say the S20 was a Blaser rip off....and I agree - different system, although they look similar.

regards,
Gixer
 
I had 2 rifles with thumbhole stocks - One I have kept but I sold the other. They were totally different to hold and to shoot with and in my view a thumbhole stock needs to be fitted to you. As has been said a thumbhole stock cannot be used "thumbs up" and is slower to reload if a bolt action (rather than .22 semi-auto)
 
Personally wouldn’t recommend it as you will hang the thumb in the hole on bolt cycle and it will slow you down in my view for follow up

Far better to have vertical pistol grip or traditional grip holding weapon with thumb on the outside of the grip

KkC are very ergonomic (and cheap) which is where I’d suggest looking for light weight handy stalking stock
 
gixer1 said:
Rider - you are the first person I have read comments from that doesn’t try to say the S20 was a Blaser rip off....and I agree - different system, although they look similar.

regards,
Gixer
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The two couldn‘t be more different in my eyes.
 
Surely as someone said up there^^ it's about a vertical pistol grip........ then the question comes as do you wrap your thumb around the back of the grip or rest on the top of the action?..... I bet we all have our foibles.

For me a thumbhole stock/pistol grip is all about leverage and control. My little ratting/rabbiting rimfire is simple enough to point and shoot in quick time, and the thumbhole contributes massively to the steady hold for a lightweight 12" barrel, but when I'm taking steady prone shots with the chassis beast my thumb is at the top/back of the action. .
 
I shoot an R8 with a thumbhole stock once a month and I like the vertical grip but when I reload I'm always hitting my thumb on the top of the stock above the hole. Years of shooting standard stocks make me put my thumb in the same place again and again and the top part above the thumbhole is in the way of where my thumb wants to go. It's a very accurate rifle and very comfortable and maybe in time I'll learn to put my thumb through the hole but...
 
angusb1 said:
I shoot an R8 with a thumbhole stock once a month and I like the vertical grip but when I reload I'm always hitting my thumb on the top of the stock above the hole. Years of shooting standard stocks make me put my thumb in the same place again and again and the top part above the thumbhole is in the way of where my thumb wants to go. It's a very accurate rifle and very comfortable and maybe in time I'll learn to put my thumb through the hole but...
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Sounds like you are getting the worst of all worlds...

try either...

1) leave your thumb in the thumb hole and use your index and middle fingers to operate the bolt.
2) use your thumb and index finger to grip the bolt.

In stealth mode when chambering and the bolt is uncocked, I wrap the thumb around the cocking slide to release the bolt and use index and forefingers to operate the lever. So if you habitually lift your thumb out of the firing position when reloading...try lifting it a bit higher and rest it on top of the bolt rather than on top of the stock?

Alan
 
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