{"id":743,"date":"2013-06-14T21:34:23","date_gmt":"2013-06-15T04:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/?p=743"},"modified":"2013-06-14T21:40:48","modified_gmt":"2013-06-15T04:40:48","slug":"my-favorite-stocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/2013\/06\/my-favorite-stocks\/","title":{"rendered":"My Favorite Stocks"},"content":{"rendered":"

When evaluating a rifle for the field, the stock is one of the main features to consider. It doesn\u2019t matter how powerful or the inherently accurate the gun, if the stock is not right the full potential of the gun cannot be realized. I\u2019ll shoulder the rifle and look at it while getting the feel, place my cheek against the comb to get an idea of the sight alignment when I have a scope mounted, I\u2019ll grip the pistol grip to see if it fits comfortably and cradle it in my arms to see how it will carry. There are a few differences between firearm and airgun stocks that reflect the neet to house cocking levers, air reservoirs etc, but overall there exist commonality; their shapes are similar, their compositions are almost the same and they serve the same purpose which is to provide a platform for the action to function on. The basic elements of stock design relate to what material(s) the stock is fabricated from and how the individual components are formed. Traditionally most airgun stocks were made from wood, but over recent years there has been an explosion in the use of synthetic polymer materials, though some designs do incorporate portions of the action metal work or reservoir tank into the stock. Unless a stock is custom built for an individual shooter, the primary objective is to use a basic design with enough flexibility that it can be shaped or modified to fit a range of shooters. It can be argued that today\u2019s synthetics are a more versatile option, as the design possibilities with it are unlimited, the stocks are very strong, and the materials are often much lighter than wood. Wood remains a great option however; it is relatively simple for a skilled craftsman or a machine to shape or reshape, it is very durable, the grain and patterns are often works of art unto themselves, it\u00b9s warm and easy to grip, and the expense can range from minimal to very expensive depending on the shooters requirements.<\/p>\n

Many air rifle stocks today are made from beech. It is a common, inexpensive hardwood that is straight-grained and stands up well to heavy field use. It is light in color and can be stained in a multitude of finishes. Though many different varieties of hardwoods are used, walnut is probably the nicest all around wood for production stocks. There are different grades and qualities to choose from, however make sure that the wood selected to build your stock from has a dense grain and uniform dark coloring. I personally like highly figured stocks, and these are fine so long as the blank is free of knots or other defects.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll give some examples of guns that have stocks which stand out in my opinion;<\/p>\n

Daystate Wolverine<\/a>: the walnut I\u2019ve seen on Daystate rifles is always very nice to truly beautiful. When I look at any of my rifles from this manufacturer it\u2019s hard to believe they were originally thought to be producers of very mundane and plain guns. The Wolverine is a big gun and the sporter \u00a0stock does fill the hand, but what I really like about this Gary Cane designed furniture \u00a0are the recessed scallops beneath the breech that form a thumb shelf and facilitates a \u201cthumbs up hold\u201d. For some reason I feel like I\u2019m holding a English double rifle when shooting this gun. There are other nice touches, like the forearm stipling and the well formed cheekpiece, but it\u2019s a little thing like those scallops that grab me!<\/p>\n

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The Wolverine is a large gun, but the stock is so well designed you don’t realize the size until looking at a picture.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Huntsman is in my view, the most stylish hunting PCP ever built. I love to shoot it, carry it, and look at it!<\/p><\/div>\n

The Daystate Huntsman Classic<\/a> is in my view, the prettiest hunting PCP ever built, both the styling and the wood used. The traditional sporting design is crafted from a beautifully figured Italian walnut; with finely cut checkering that fits my hand perfectly. The forstock has a Schnabel tip and has only the minimum amount of wood to securely house the low profile action, and combined with a well shaped pistol grip gives the gun more of the look of a conventional centerfire than any other production PCP \u00a0I can think of. This is a rifle that I really enjoy carrying while hunting; it has the look, the feel and the performance of the ultimate field gun.<\/p>\n

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The Verminator Extreme is one of the finest hunting rifles around, very ergonomic and a takedown to boot! I’ve been using this gun extensively for over a year now and it’s a mainstay my field guns.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The FX takes the bottle forward design to an ergonomic level I use as a benchmark for this style of gun.<\/p><\/div>\n

FX Verminator Extreme<\/a>: Now this gun represents some real challenges for designers, the air bottle forming the basis of the butt stock, which along with the barrel can be disassembled for storage. I\u2019ve shot a few guns with an air-bottle buttstock, and even the guns I like a lot take some adjustment in hold and shooting posture, but the Vermonator stock is comfortable and I can get a good sight alignment and consistent hold with the well thought-out stock cover that houses the removable bottle. The forestock swells out to fill the hand providing an ergonomic grip; it\u2019s a best in breed representation of this style of stock.<\/p>\n

The FX Royale<\/a> is available as with a very nicely figured walnut stock or as a synthetic stocked gun, which has a similar design challenge to the Verminator, only shifted \u00a0180 degree shift in perspective. The 500 has a 500 cc air bottle incorporated into the forestock. A shelf extends about a third of the length under the bottle to provide a solid and comfortable grip of the shooters forward hand, and the thumbhole stock has a bilateral shelf that cradles the thumb and trigger finger, the trigger guard is incorporated into the stock design.<\/p>\n

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The Brocock specialist is a minimalist dream, everything you need for a fast handling carbine, it is very light and ultra compact.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Brocock Specialist<\/a> is a no-frills compact carbine, with a painted (black) wood stock that really stands out because the minimalist approach has material only where it\u2019s needed and contributes to the lightest and most compact design I\u2019ve used. The stock is has a high profile cheekpiece and is ambidextrous, and the pistol grip completes a design that I shoot better offhand than almost any rifle in my extensive collection.<\/p>\n

So while I have many other guns I like a lot, these examples represent my idea of best in breed for the various categories. \u00a0I have stocks made by craftsman such as Michael Chavka that have turned my plane Jane Marauder into a work of art, and the no-nonsense walnut sporter that Dennis Quackenbush built on my little .451 carbine is the perfect big bore brush gun in my opinion. However, I\u2019ve met very few shooters that haven\u2019t appreciated the furniture on the five fine guns mentioned above.<\/p>\n

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I know I’ve shown this pic before, but I do love the no-nonsense design of the Quackenbush big bores. This is my LA .437<\/p><\/div>\n

Other News<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Been doing lots of shooting this summer, and am lining up a couple more hunts. Heading out to South Dakota next week, going to wreck havoc on the prairie dogs. I\u2019ve been out scanning my new home base in Minnesota scouting for area to hunt when small game season starts up, been seeing lots of rabbit and squirrel. Wish I could hunt turkey with an airgun here; I\u2019m just about tripping over them when I hike the woods.<\/p>\n

Talking about hiking the woods, I\u2019ve never run into the populations of ticks I\u2019ve found here, every time I go out I have to spend several minutes inspecting and de-ticking\u2026. Watch out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When evaluating a rifle for the field, the stock is one of the main features to consider. It doesn\u2019t matter how powerful or the inherently accurate the gun, if the stock is not right the full potential of the gun cannot be realized. I\u2019ll shoulder the rifle and look at it while getting the feel, … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,67,1],"tags":[6,5,57],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-bore-airguns","category-stocks","category-uncategorized","tag-airgun-hunting","tag-daystate-huntsman-classic","tag-fx-verminator-extreme"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":754,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions\/754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}