You might get amped about the prospect of adding a new red dot sight or a muzzle brake to your MSR. That’s understandable, given how much they can improve your shooting experience – but a new rifle stock? Some shooters just don’t see that as a legitimate investment or a worthwhile upgrade to their equipment. After all, your rifle came with a stock, but it may not have come with optics, a muzzle brake, or other cool shooting accessories.
However, all that needs to change. The stock you tack onto the back of your rifle is one of the most meaningful parts of your platform, and it directly impacts your shooting experience.
When the stock of a gun fits your measurements properly, it just feels “right,” whereas it will feel like there is something “off” about a poorly adjusted stock. If you swap out your rifle’s stock for a more adjustable model that fits you better, here are some of the direct benefits you may experience.
Improve Length of Pull (LOP) and Comb Height, Improve Accuracy
Length of pull, or LOP, is the length of the stock itself. A shooter’s ideal LOP can be determined from experience, but it is related to the length of their arms and neck in relation to their height.
A rifle with a LOP that is too long for a shooter will feel as if the gun is “too big” overall, and will make it difficult for a shooter to line up the sights, forcing him or her to “lean forward” on the comb in an attempt to get in touch with the rifle.
Conversely, LOP that is too short for an individual will make the shooter feel cramped. Because the shooter’s face will rest too far forward on the comb, it may feel as though the shooter needs to “pull away” from the stock in order to line up the sights or to attain the proper eye relief to use a scope or red dot sight. The barrel may look longer than it is because the shooter’s face may be too high up or far forward on the stock, making it difficult to acquire an effective sight picture.
Comb height that is not well adjusted to the dimensions of the shooter is also very frustrating and can adversely impact your shooting experience. If comb height is too low (a common issue), the shooter may feel the need to lift his or her head off of the stock in order to achieve the proper eye relief or to align the sights. This makes it difficult to achieve a fluid, consistent mount, which can seriously harm accuracy.
All of these aspects of gun fit can be rectified with modular, adjustable stocks. Most modern synthetic rifle stocks – especially those designed for compatibility with modern sporting rifles – are multi-position stocks designed to be easily adjustable to fit LOP to the shooter. Some of them even have adjustable combs or cheek risers that can improve comfort and eye relief, enabling consistent mounts.
Additional Benefits of Replacing a Rifle Stock
While LOP and other aspects of gun fit are the primary reasons most shooters end up replacing their rifle stocks, there are additional reasons that some shooters have for doing so. For example, some rifle stocks are equipped with recoil-reducing features like springs, weights, or high-density foam, or synthetic polymers that can significantly diminish the effects of felt recoil.
Some shooters also replace their factory original stocks to enjoy the durability of modern synthetics. Wood stocks, for example, are beautiful, but they are prone to dry rot, swelling due to moisture absorption, or even delamination. Synthetic stocks suffer no such drawbacks and require almost no maintenance.
Visit MCS Gearup
To learn more about the improvements you can make to your shooting experience by replacing your rifle stock, visit MCS Gearup at MCSGearup.com. Their prices are competitive and they have a wide range of replacement rifle stocks and kits that will make it easy to upgrade your rifle and improve your shooting experience.
If you have any questions, you can reach out to them at 239-848-6757 or via email at sales@mcsgearup.com.
