Bell&Carlson A2 stock , opinions wanted

[smoooth]

Hi,

Considering picking up one of these stocks for Rem SA. Are they a comfortable stock to shoot from varied positions or better for prone or bench work?

Anyone out here have any suggestions or experiences?

How do they compare to HS Precision?

Thanks,

Smoooth

 

[blvedere]

I have two, one for my 223 and one for my 6BR. Am building a 30 BR and it will probably have one. Don't think you can beat them for the money. I only shoot them of the bench.

 

[Phil3]

I bought a B&C tactical for a Howa 1500 action. I wanted to just drop it in and go shooting. But I found that the recoil lug was not touching the corresponding aluminum bedding component in the stock. The action was locked into place by the rear tang against the stock. Not good. I talked to custom rifle builder and he said this kind of thing is not uncommon. He is going to bed it for me. The stock looks nice for the money, but my hopes for a drop in fit did not materialize.

Phil

 

[smoooth]

Thanks!

Might stilll consider one for a Remington SA build.

I ended up going with the Choate Tactical as I could not find a B&C for a Savage 116 small shank (old style). It is a good stock for the money and was easily modified to fit my needs. The grip could be set back an inch or so but otherwise I am happy with it so far.

 

[BigDMT]

I bought a B&C tactical for a Howa 1500 action. I wanted to just drop it in and go shooting. But I found that the recoil lug was not touching the corresponding aluminum bedding component in the stock. The action was locked into place by the rear tang against the stock. Not good. I talked to custom rifle builder and he said this kind of thing is not uncommon. He is going to bed it for me. The stock looks nice for the money, but my hopes for a drop in fit did not materialize.

Phil

What you described is "perfect inletting" for bedding and how all stocks should come IMO.

You only want the tang touching the stock in the rear and the recoil lug making contact on the back side when setting a rifle in bedding. The rest of the action should just ever so slightly free float so the bedding can cradle the receiver perfectly and get rid of any imperfections found with the inletting.

Of course the barrel should free float with plenty of breathing room.

If you want the best accuracy you can get from a rifle, you bed it. And who doesn't want that?

 

[Scott Harris]

I have the Bell and Carlson Tactical version with adjustable hardware. My Rem700 SA clone fits perfectly. We really like the stock and use it extensively for F-Class.

 

[NateHaler]

I bought a B&C tactical for a Howa 1500 action. I wanted to just drop it in and go shooting. But I found that the recoil lug was not touching the corresponding aluminum bedding component in the stock. The action was locked into place by the rear tang against the stock. Not good.

You cannot determine whether that is "good" or not until you shoot the rifle. That is always the bottom line. It could be that the rifle will shoot better in this config than after it is bedded. Unlikely, but you won't know unless you shoot it before bedding. As to the idea that the recoil lug isn't engaging the aluminum bedding block, how did you (or the other guy) determine this? And if in fact the rifle doesn't shoot well in the stock as it sits now, then it would be about 10 minutes work to put a small amount of bedding in the recoil lug mortise -- so the rear of the recoil lug (not the bottom or the front) thus makes contact with the bedding block -- and then you'd eliminate one more variable.

But first, you GOTTA shoot the rifle. Conjecture isn't going to do anything but cost you money and worry.

 

[Scott Harris]

I bought a B&C tactical for a Howa 1500 action. I wanted to just drop it in and go shooting. But I found that the recoil lug was not touching the corresponding aluminum bedding component in the stock. The action was locked into place by the rear tang against the stock. Not good. I talked to custom rifle builder and he said this kind of thing is not uncommon. He is going to bed it for me. The stock looks nice for the money, but my hopes for a drop in fit did not materialize.

Phil

I always push the stock forward until it makes contact with the recoil lug, then tighten the action screws while holding it in place. Are you saying you were unable to do this? Usually there is enough fore-aft wiggle room to do this. This wiggle room is what allows the stock to be used with different actions....you can always bed the recoil lug if you want it tightened up for a single action.

 

[BigDMT]

Just bed it like you are planning. No sense in wasting time trying to shoot it as is.

Even if it did shoot good without bedding, it probably would change after enough recoil moves the action around in the stock. So just stick with your plan to have it bedded and don't waste valuable ammo.

 

[chevytruck_83]

very ridgid and comfortable to me. easy to get a consistent cheek weild even with larger objective Scopes that require high rings. before I bought mine I figured... if les baer put them on their bolt action rifles and guaranteed 10 shot
.5 moa.... they have to be good.

 

[its only light]

I have one I used in a savage build, the fit wasn't perfect but nothing a bedding job didn't fix. Very comfortable stock for me. My friend also has the adjustable version and its also a great stock.

Basically you can buy and bed a Bell and Carlson for the same price you get an hs stock for. Which you will probably want to bed the hs also so for the money I like the B&C.

 

[Joe C]

I had one on my AAC-SD. Sold it and got an HS 5R basically because I didn't care for the feel of the BC and prefer the palm swell on the HS.

 

[chevytruck_83]

I think that HS precision is somewhat like a glock. Glocks have there own grip angle which isnt necessarily bad or good. Its love it or hate it preference. With hs precision there palm swells are like that. People that get used to them wont like most other stocks. Do your research on what stocks are built well ex mcmillan, mannars, hs, b&c etc.... Then try to get your hands on them and see what fits you. Personally the a5 adjustable B&C for the money was a no brainer. I was able to shoulder a factory remington that had the exact stock i Wanted. So i knew i Liked the fit before purchasing. Good luck.