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F T/R Competition First custom F-T/R build, help with stock choice

ballison

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 31, 2013
421
217
Central Pennsylvania
I am in the process of having my first custom F-T/R rifle built, and am hung-up on choosing a stock (call it O.C.D. overload!). I think I've narrowed it down to two. One is an modular aluminum chassis made by Dolphin (very popular in U.K.) and the other is a laminate made by Master Stocks. I was wondering if anyone out there has experience with either of these, positive or negative. I know weight is a factor, but think I will be OK with either. I am also open to other suggestions if anyone has first hand experience. Thanks in advance!

The Dolphin Modular Rifle System

MASTER CLASS Stocks and Shooting Accessories, Inc.
 
Currently shooting a TRG-22 with a Bartlein barrel and Apollo bipod. Have had good success with it so I decided to step up a bit with a custom build. They say when you get bit by "the bug", it bites hard! Guess I'm a perfect example!
 
Ray,

Nice stock and thanks for the info. Need to find out if it will work on a Surgeon action with a integral recoil lug. Looks like this stock replaces the Rem 700 recoil lug with a circular one.
 
I've got a Master Class high power prone. It is very high quality. However, watch the weight if you want to use the F class stock in T/R. It's designed to be used in Open class, and depending on what action/contour/stock hardware you want to go with, it can blow your weight budget. I spec'd one out for a Barnard and a medium palma, and just couldn't get under weight. A lighter action might make it, especially if you forgo things like adjustable butt plate.

I think a perfect TR stock (if you don't want to go the aluminum tube route) would be the butt of the MC F class stock combined with the fore-end of the MC high power prone stock.
 
You are correct on the weight. I am very close with the MasterClass stock. I was hoping to use a 30" heavy varmint contour, but may need to go with a heavy palma. The aluminum stock is about a pound less and I could use either. Was at a match today and think I've decided on the MC stock, and will go with the lighter barrel if I have to.
 
Contact Ray Bowman at precision rifle and tool....he has a laminate F-TR that is as nice as the master class and will still allow you to make weight
 
Talked to him last week, and unfortunately his wood supplier had a fire that closed their plant. His wood is in very limited supply, and he is not selling stocks at this time. Only way to get one is to have him build the gun.
 
Damon,

Just re-read your post again, and that is exactly what I am going to try. See if Alex can shave a little weight off the for-end. Thanks again for your input.
 
Damon,

Just re-read your post again, and that is exactly what I am going to try. See if Alex can shave a little weight off the for-end. Thanks again for your input.

Please let us know what you come up with. I think there is an opportunity for TR-specific stocks in the market. Very few are making dedicated stocks for htat purpose. Perhaps this will spark MasterClass to come up with something. They're almost there. Just need a few tweaks to lighten them up.
 
Please keep us posted on what you end up doing. I'm in the same boat (deciding on a stock for f t/r) and would be interested to hear if Alex can shave a little weight off the F class stock.
 
Please let us know what you come up with. I think there is an opportunity for TR-specific stocks in the market. Very few are making dedicated stocks for htat purpose. Perhaps this will spark MasterClass to come up with something. They're almost there. Just need a few tweaks to lighten them up.

I'm calling him today and will let you know. Just curious, what contour barrel are you using for F-T/R? I was hoping to use a 30" heavy varmint, but that puts me real close to weight. IF I go with a heavy palma, I have plenty of weight to spare.
 
I'm calling him today and will let you know. Just curious, what contour barrel are you using for F-T/R? I was hoping to use a 30" heavy varmint, but that puts me real close to weight. IF I go with a heavy palma, I have plenty of weight to spare.

I've been shooting Open class for the last two seasons (with a converted sling rifle), and just recently (like last week) decided to jump over to T/R. I'm using a medium palma. But that's mostly because I love my Barnard model P and it's a disgusting fat pig. I also like adjustable butt plates due tot he way I prefer to shoot, so those two factors pretty much force me to go with the lighter barrel. If the weight limit were a little higher, I'd go with a 30"+ heavy palma. I don't see many TR setups with anything heavier than a heavy palma.

I originally wanted to go with a heavy palma in the MasterClass F class stock because I wanted to be able to go back to Open with the same setup (less the barrel, obviously). But it was way too heavy for T/R. Even a medium palma was too much given the action and scope I have (I'm using a Nightforce Competition). So I just decided to keep my existing MasterClass high power prone stock and rebarrel it to .308. Even then, I can't fit in a heavy palma, but only barely. With a lighter action, you could probably manage a heavy palma and the masterclass high power prone stock, especially if you don't care about adjustable butt plates.

The only thing about the high power prone stock for F clas I would change is the angle of the toe, and maybe level/flatten out the fore end so you can shoot it off bags if you want. But even that would add a little weight. Otherwise, it's a great stock, and works well for it's intended purpose (long range sling shooting).

Either way, I'd leave some weight budget to account for inaccurate scales and things like hardware and wood density variations. It would be a terrible shame to have to start cutting up a masterclass stock to make weight, and you don't want to chop the barrel down.

Also, keep in mind that MasterClass isn't known for speedy work. I found I had to send a few polite notes to make sure things kept on track once the original quoted date had passed. Just know that you're dealing with an artist, not a high volume factory. The six months I was quoted wound up being closer to 10. But I'd use them again in a heartbeat. Alex Sitman is a wizard with wood, and went way out of the way to help me out - my rifle was delivered in the peak of the ammunition shortage and he pulled some strings with some buddies of his to help me track down a box of bullets when there were none to be had.
 
Doan Trevor does good work with wood stocks from what i've heard from other shooters, might wanna check him out, don't know what kinda wait time is involved with stocks from him though.
 
I've been shooting Open class for the last two seasons (with a converted sling rifle), and just recently (like last week) decided to jump over to T/R. I'm using a medium palma. But that's mostly because I love my Barnard model P and it's a disgusting fat pig. I also like adjustable butt plates due tot he way I prefer to shoot, so those two factors pretty much force me to go with the lighter barrel. If the weight limit were a little higher, I'd go with a 30"+ heavy palma. I don't see many TR setups with anything heavier than a heavy palma.

I originally wanted to go with a heavy palma in the MasterClass F class stock because I wanted to be able to go back to Open with the same setup (less the barrel, obviously). But it was way too heavy for T/R. Even a medium palma was too much given the action and scope I have (I'm using a Nightforce Competition). So I just decided to keep my existing MasterClass high power prone stock and rebarrel it to .308. Even then, I can't fit in a heavy palma, but only barely. With a lighter action, you could probably manage a heavy palma and the masterclass high power prone stock, especially if you don't care about adjustable butt plates.

The only thing about the high power prone stock for F clas I would change is the angle of the toe, and maybe level/flatten out the fore end so you can shoot it off bags if you want. But even that would add a little weight. Otherwise, it's a great stock, and works well for it's intended purpose (long range sling shooting).

Either way, I'd leave some weight budget to account for inaccurate scales and things like hardware and wood density variations. It would be a terrible shame to have to start cutting up a masterclass stock to make weight, and you don't want to chop the barrel down.

Also, keep in mind that MasterClass isn't known for speedy work. I found I had to send a few polite notes to make sure things kept on track once the original quoted date had passed. Just know that you're dealing with an artist, not a high volume factory. The six months I was quoted wound up being closer to 10. But I'd use them again in a heartbeat. Alex Sitman is a wizard with wood, and went way out of the way to help me out - my rifle was delivered in the peak of the ammunition shortage and he pulled some strings with some buddies of his to help me track down a box of bullets when there were none to be had.


Thanks for all your input. Think I'm gonna go with a heavy palma barrel. That way I don't need to sacrifice weight anywhere else, and I don't have to clinch my a$$ cheeks when my guns on the scale!
 
I've got a Master Class high power prone. It is very high quality. However, watch the weight if you want to use the F class stock in T/R. It's designed to be used in Open class, and depending on what action/contour/stock hardware you want to go with, it can blow your weight budget. I spec'd one out for a Barnard and a medium palma, and just couldn't get under weight. A lighter action might make it, especially if you forgo things like adjustable butt plate.

I think a perfect TR stock (if you don't want to go the aluminum tube route) would be the butt of the MC F class stock combined with the fore-end of the MC high power prone stock.

Just got off the phone with Alex and am going to use his stock. He must be listening, because he now makes an F-T/R specific model, and it is almost identical to your "perfect TR stock" description. It has an F-Class butt, with a parallel high power prone fore-end. He sent me some pics and they look good.

Thanks a ton for your input!
 
Just got off the phone with Alex and am going to use his stock. He must be listening, because he now makes an F-T/R specific model, and it is almost identical to your "perfect TR stock" description. It has an F-Class butt, with a parallel high power prone fore-end. He sent me some pics and they look good.

Thanks a ton for your input!

That sounds great. I bet he sells a ton of 'em.