ecomeat wrote:Fergus,
Thanks for the input. I can't miss hearing what the Benchrest world has experienced, but would like to ask this :
How do the numbers of fully metal or aluminum stocks, including the DTA's, the AI's , the many tube guns etc.......manage to be accurate when there is clearly no softer, inner core to absorb ANY recoil or movement ?
I have never fired one, but I am sure that I have read many Internet posts where these rifles can repeatedly shoot bug holes.
Don't get me wrong..........I am hearing what you guys are saying....... but I just can't rationalize in my own mind how a softer "recoil absorbing/vibration dampening core" can be seen as essential, yet these rifle styles mentioned are basically solid metal.
Help me out here !
Tony
Tony
Short answer is that I dont have enough firsthand experience to give a definitive answer - and there are certainly a LOT of nuances at work in these discussions. However I think there are 2 different issues being rolled into one with the question.
Regarding alloy stocks/chassis, etc, they simply dont get used in most classes of short range BR due to weight issues (if nothing else). In longer range BR, a variety of chassis/tube guns, alloy billet stocks, etc do get used and seem to shoot fine. And lets not forget that the most accurate rifles available (BR rail guns) are made predominantly from steal and/or alloys. I think that from those examples, we can conclude that no matter the theory, empirically they work.
However on the issue of a composite shell with no filling, they just flat-out don't seem to work in the arena of ultimate precision shooting sports (in fact when you look at the market - there are virtually no unfilled composites offered that I can see - and I believe that is also telling). I have shot a number of FILLED composite stocks and never had any accuracy issues I could trace to the stock. But running a composite shell with no filling seems to be "a bridge too far" in the precision shooting sports.
So I do not believe you can extrapolate from an alloy/steal stock working well, that ergo a hollow composite shell will work (manage vibration) equally as well. It may be that the stock you are considering will in fact work to your satisfaction. At the end of the day its your money and you get to spend it as you see fit - but I would be very uncomfortable if it were me. I would want to see a few other guinea-pigs with runs on the leaderboard before I invested any money in that stock.