The laminates are nice, solid. The tacticool felt better to me in all shooting positions. I've personally never cared for the thumb hole style. Always too thick or too thin.
Looks like am fal bit. Start with picking a thread pattern and go from there. Easiest way to start process of elimination. The vortex style works very well.
Man that is good news! I have long considered getting one of those for larger ground dwelling critters. I had always been put off by reports of mediocre accuracy from the Magnum though. Glad to see some fixes !