# thumbhole vs classic stocks?



## ohihunter2014 (Feb 19, 2017)

Im going to order a boyds stock for my savage heavy barrel which is primarily used for bench and woodchuck shooting prone, bench or sitting. what's your preferred stock and why?

I'm leaning towards the thumbhole because it seems more stable for this type of thing but I'm afraid i will hate it.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

I love my cva accura v2 muzzleloader with the thumbhole stock. it just seem to fit me better than a standard stock. and it seems to be a lot more stable when I'm taking a shot.
sherman


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## redfish1 (Aug 27, 2011)

I have an h and r 20 ga slugger with a thumb hole and I love it !!!!


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## Drm50 (Dec 26, 2014)

I had a 240Gibbs with thumb hole stock, bench style with heavy barrel. I used it for groundhogs
and it was very comfortable to me, off rests. I also had a 222mag 722 standard weight gun, off
hand It seemed ackward to me with scope. I bought a Thumb hole for 870 Slug gun and I liked 
it for both scope and sights. I guess it depends on the individual gun and shooter.


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## MrFurious (Jun 15, 2014)

I much prefer standard or more traditional stocks. Everyone likes the thumbholes because they look nice, and they are very comfortable to shoot from the off-hand position, but I've never liked the idea of having to extract my hand (thumb) from the stock to be able to work the bolt. With a traditional stock it's just a matter of rotating my hand up at the wrist to open the bolt and slide it back.

Here's my latest from Boyds, just to wet your whistle. It's the Heritage pattern in sky blue with walnut forend tip and grip cap, white line spacers, skip line checkering and a little custom laser engraving they tossed in because they like me so much. It's on my highly customized LH Savage Axis in .223 Rem. which is my lightweight groundhog rifle.



















Consistently shoots half minute 5-shot groups at 200 yards with handloads when I do my part.


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## Popspastime (Apr 1, 2014)

A thumb-hole stock offers a more of a natural wrist position, and it doesn't slow me down in the least rolling the bolt.


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## MrFurious (Jun 15, 2014)

Best thing to do is just go to a Cabela's or a good gun shop and ask to handle one. All the thumbhole stocks on Savage rifles are made by Boyds. It's really a personal preference thing and only you will be able to say whether you like the feel or not.


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## ohihunter2014 (Feb 19, 2017)

MrFurious said:


> I much prefer standard or more traditional stocks. Everyone likes the thumbholes because they look nice, and they are very comfortable to shoot from the off-hand position, but I've never liked the idea of having to extract my hand (thumb) from the stock to be able to work the bolt. With a traditional stock it's just a matter of rotating my hand up at the wrist to open the bolt and slide it back.
> 
> Here's my latest from Boyds, just to wet your whistle. It's the Heritage pattern in sky blue with walnut forend tip and grip cap, white line spacers, skip line checkering and a little custom laser engraving they tossed in because they like me so much. It's on my highly customized LH Savage Axis in .223 Rem. which is my lightweight groundhog rifle.
> 
> ...


I thought your screen name looked familiar, I'm on savageshooters.com also. That stocks awesome. With the heritage does it compare to the original plastic buttstock? I'm worried the classic having the cheek piece would throw me off. Is that savage sign copy righted? LOL. sure would like one on my rifle. mine is also a great shooter. 55gr v max handloads shoot a ragged hole at 100yrds.


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## MrFurious (Jun 15, 2014)

To be honest, I really couldn't tell you how it compares to the factory stock as it's been so long since I had one I can't ever remember what they're like (other than they are garbage). The Monte Carlo comb is deliberately higher to give you get a better cheek weld that provides better eye alignment with a scope. Most stocks on factory rifles today have the comb height designed for use with open sights, but nobody puts open sights on their rifles anymore. Drives me nuts! 

The cheek piece on the side really isn't noticeable at all against your face. At the top it's no wider than a normal comb, and it slowly tapers out to where it sticks out maybe 3/8" at the very bottom which is roughly at your jaw line. It also tapers in thickness from front to rear as it blends into the wrist area. As I said, you really don't notice it at all.

As for the logo, yes it's copyrighted, though I'm working with Boyds trying to get something set up so members of the site can order it on their stock if they would like it. Problem is that since it's a logo they don't want to have it listed as an option on their site when ordering normally like the other options, so we have to come up with a work-around that they can configure in their ordering system such as a promo code or something.

I'm shooting some 50gr bulk BT bullets I got from Midway on clearance last fall. Best guess is they are V-Max's given how cheap they were, but they could possibly be Nosler BT's as well. I actually prefer the Noslers as they have a thicker jacket, but for the price I got these for I definitely won't complain and they're shooting 1/2 minute at 200 yards.


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## ohihunter2014 (Feb 19, 2017)

MrFurious said:


> To be honest, I really couldn't tell you how it compares to the factory stock as it's been so long since I had one I can't ever remember what they're like (other than they are garbage). The Monte Carlo comb is deliberately higher to give you get a better cheek weld that provides better eye alignment with a scope. Most stocks on factory rifles today have the comb height designed for use with open sights, but nobody puts open sights on their rifles anymore. Drives me nuts!
> 
> The cheek piece on the side really isn't noticeable at all against your face. At the top it's no wider than a normal comb, and it slowly tapers out to where it sticks out maybe 3/8" at the very bottom which is roughly at your jaw line. It also tapers in thickness from front to rear as it blends into the wrist area. As I said, you really don't notice it at all.
> 
> ...


thanks for the reply. If you don't mind me asking what BT bullets? I'm using v max now but they are expensive to shoot. cant seem to find anything but midway dogtowns. I guess being on clearance they are long gone.

As for the logo it would even be cool if boyds offered a savage logo instead of incorporating the shooters this way it wouldn't be site copyrighted.

I went to cabelas just now to see if they had any thumbhole stocks and they did not. I held one with the cheek piece and the monte carlo. the monte carlo felt odd to me but it could be because I'm not used to it. I definitely have to get a new stock because one shooting session I can get my hand loads to hit the first hole out of 5 even with FMJ-BT but the next shooting session or even next group its different and I'm thinking its the stock.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

I have a Ruger M77 in .300 win mag that had the black all weather stock and after about 3-4 shot id start flinching and have to put it away. I was talking to some guys at the club, told them the problem and was told to get a thumbhole stock and it'll help with recoil. I ordered a Boyd's thumbhole and Limbsaver recoil pad. took some cutting and sanding to get the barrel to float and attach the pad to make it look factory, BUT let me tell you there is 100% difference in recoil now. I liked the stock so much I installed one on my TC encore prohunter.


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## MrFurious (Jun 15, 2014)

ohihunter2014 said:


> thanks for the reply. If you don't mind me asking what BT bullets? I'm using v max now but they are expensive to shoot. cant seem to find anything but midway dogtowns. I guess being on clearance they are long gone.
> 
> As for the logo it would even be cool if boyds offered a savage logo instead of incorporating the shooters this way it wouldn't be site copyrighted.
> 
> I went to cabelas just now to see if they had any thumbhole stocks and they did not. I held one with the cheek piece and the monte carlo. the monte carlo felt odd to me but it could be because I'm not used to it. I definitely have to get a new stock because one shooting session I can get my hand loads to hit the first hole out of 5 even with FMJ-BT but the next shooting session or even next group its different and I'm thinking its the stock.


As I said, either Hornady 50gr V-Max's or Nosler 50gr BT's. They were listed as seconds, but I've yet to find one with a flaw. I'm thinking they're the same bullets Federal was putting in their American Eagle AE223GTV ammunition as those have a grey BT like these do. 

The V-Max bullets are as cheap as it gets when it comes to BT's, so if you think those are pricey I don't know what to tell you. haha 

As for the logo, there's no issue if I'm giving them permission to use it in that way.


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