Fifty years ago, there was no serious discussion about what makes the best rifle stock. There was standard wood for standard-quality rifles and fancy wood for fancy rifles. That’s all changed of course, and today’s rifle shooter can benefit from a much wider choice of materials, from a classic wooden stock through a range of laminates to injection-moulded thermoplastics and even epoxy-bound composite stocks. All have their advantages and disadvantages, but before considering these, it’s worth thinking about exactly what a rifle stock has to do.
Primarily, it provides a means of bringing the barrel and action to eye level and supporting it firmly, comfortably and securely in order that the rifle may be sighted at a target. Secondly, it provides a means of transferring and distributing the recoil comfortably to the shooter’s shoulder. To ensure that it
