Are aftermarket stocks worth the price?

[Loper]

I’ll be that guy. Lefty Tikka t3x. Around 6.5lbs, composite stock that actually works very well, and they shoot. $30 for a recoil pad and done.
Living in western Washington with all our rain and dealing with all the wood stock issues, I’ll never use one again.

I’ve certainly considered this option. All my buddies have stainless T3Xs with Limbsavers and love them. A Tikka would definitely be the easy button. However, for some reason I just can’t warm up to them. They just aren’t for me.

 

[Thinkingman]

I’ve certainly considered this option. All my buddies have stainless T3Xs with Limbsavers and love them. A Tikka would definitely be the easy button. However, for some reason I just can’t warm up to them. They just aren’t for me.

Either I or my rifles are too stupid to know that aftermarket stocks are that important.
I have two Tikka T3s that I've owned for over 20 years.
Neither have aftermarket anything (edit-Limbsaver pads on both) and they are just stupidly accurate.
They're light, reliable, easy to carry without stuff to hang up on sagebrush and weeds.
If I had a range queen, I might consider aftermarket but I think the 4x4 truck analogy is accurate.
There is a type of shooter who would no sooner show up without an aftermarket stock and a brake on the barrel than show up without a lifted Toyota with yellow fogs and overland gear tacked onto it.
They just believe they need it.

 

[False_Cast]

Completely depends on which factory stock you’re considering replacing. My T3x lite synthetic stock is completely fine. My Kimber Montana’s stock is fantastic. My Remington 700’s Tupperware could not be ripped off the rifle quick enough when I bought it. That wears a McMillian fiberglass that was worth every penny. I’d not spend that same McMillan money on either the kimber or the T3x.

 

[Loper]

Completely depends on which factory stock you’re considering replacing. My T3x lite synthetic stock is completely fine. My Kimber Montana’s stock is fantastic. My Remington 700’s Tupperware could not be ripped off the rifle quick enough when I bought it. That wears a McMillian fiberglass that was worth every penny. I’d not spend that same McMillan money on either the kimber or the T3x.

It would replace a Browning X-bolt hunter wood stock.

 

[Wilderlife]

A lot for me depends on how the original stock feels. I have one of the original Sako A7's in .300WM and it's copped an absolute flogging in both my hands and the hands of the previous owner. The factory stock started to disintegrate within the last couple of years to the point where it started to feel sticky and I could scrape bits off with my fingernails. I ended up getting a carbon stock from a company in New Zealand - expensive for sure, but I got an industry discount because I write regularly for magazines here in Australia. Despite being lighter, I think the design of the stock actually makes the rifle a bit easier to shoot. That's nice, given a .300WM in a light mountain rifle is usually pretty stiff. I don't have aftermarket stocks on any other rifles and can't see myself switching any of them out either. They wouldn't necessarily benefit in the same way and most of them are more 'classic' than the A7 - Winny 94, Sako L461, Brno model 2, etc. My Wife has a Mauser M18 with a plastic stock and it works perfectly. She couldn't care less about switching it.

 

[Loper]

A lot for me depends on how the original stock feels. I have one of the original Sako A7's in .300WM and it's copped an absolute flogging in both my hands and the hands of the previous owner. The factory stock started to disintegrate within the last couple of years to the point where it started to feel sticky and I could scrape bits off with my fingernails. I ended up getting a carbon stock from a company in New Zealand - expensive for sure, but I got an industry discount because I write regularly for magazines here in Australia. Despite being lighter, I think the design of the stock actually makes the rifle a bit easier to shoot. That's nice, given a .300WM in a light mountain rifle is usually pretty stiff. I don't have aftermarket stocks on any other rifles and can't see myself switching any of them out either. They wouldn't necessarily benefit in the same way and most of them are more 'classic' than the A7 - Winny 94, Sako L461, Brno model 2, etc. My Wife has a Mauser M18 with a plastic stock and it works perfectly. She couldn't care less about switching it.

Good looking rifle, especially with that stock. It sounds like it makes it easier to shoot too. Thanks for the insight.