thumbhole sporter stock

[tahoe2]

Anybody got one ? like it? , don't like it ? Recommend it ? Why or why not ?
I have several standard sporters but no thumbhole . what are the advantages ?

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[vwtech103]

I have a Fagen for my Ruger 10/22 & love it. It's all about comfort for me & looks cool also.

 

[Otter]

I had a thumbhole stock Savage 17 HMR I recently sold. It was a good stock shooting off a rest and a bench, but I didn't like it for walking around hunting. It was not as comfortable to carry as a regular stock, nor as comfortable shooting in field positions, including shooting off sticks. This became very obvious one day when we walked about 5 miles through the hay fields shooting sage rats.

 

[Spitpatch]

Otter's relating of his experience is well received. Thumbhole stocks are by very nature more "bulky" (and usually heavier) than sporter stocks, and therefore do not carry as conveniently, nor rise to the mount as quickly as a conventional sporter stock. That is not to say that aficionados of the thumbhole cannot learn to operate them in the hunting field with rapid skill.

If you are considering the thumbhole stock, consider very seriously your purposes for that rifle, and see if you can borrow a rifle so equipped to try for a period of time. Frequently, persons trying it for the first time decide it is too foreign for their accustomed practices of carrying, bringing the gun to shoulder, and such. Less frequently, some fall in love with the concept at first try.

As Otter so well stated, the thumbhole style generally lends itself to bench shooting, or other stationary shooting practices better than usage toward a "walking varminter" or big-game hunting rifle.