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This post reviews the rifle stocks and chassis the best precision rifle shooters were using in 2014. The data is based on a survey of the top 50 shooters in the Precision Rifle Series (PRS). The PRS tracks how top competitors place in major rifle matches across the country. These are the major leagues of sniper-style competitions, with targets typically in the 300-1000 yard range. This is the 3rd year we’ve collected this data. For more info on the Precision Rifle Series and who these guys are scroll to the bottom of this article.

Before I dive into the results, I wanted to share some photos I took during sight-in for the 2014 PRS Championship Match. Every shooter likes walking down the line to see what the other guys are running, right? So here’s a glimpse of the rifle setups of these elite marksmen.

Alright, on to the rifle stock/chassis results! Here is the overall popularity for each brand of precision rifle stock for 2014, as well as how those brands were represented in the previous 2 years.

Manners Composite Stocks was the top brand for the first time in 2014. Almost 30% of all the shooters who finished in the top 50 running a Manners stock. Even more impressive, 7 of the shooters who finished in the top 10 were running Manners stocks!

Here are the Manners stocks that were most popular among this group of shooters. Manners offers a ton of options that allow you to customize each of these models, including an adjustable cheek and folding stock.

Many shooters were running the MCS-T6A model, which has a ton of the most popular features among long-range shooters: long vertical pistol grip with a palm swell, adjustable cheekrest, 1″ Pachmyer decelerator pad, and is able to accommodate large bull barrels. The foreend on the MCS-T6A has a slight taper. Earlier this year I was talking to Wade Stuteville, winner of the 2012 Precision Rifle Series, about a precision rifle build and he recommended a tapered forend to help when shooting off barricades or other improvised rests. Wade said if the forend is tapered, you can use that to your advantage, because you can slide the rifle forward or backwards on the rest to make minor vertical adjustments. However, if the forend is parallel to the bore, you have no such adjustment. The MCS-T4A was also very popular among this group, and is Manners bestselling tactical stock overall. It has similar features to the MCS-T6A, but has a wider foreend (2.5 inches wide) that runs parallel to the bore. Some shooters prefer a wider forend to ride sandbags. It also has a butt hook that can be used to ride bags or control your rifle with your non-trigger hand. There were also shooters who said they were running Manners MCS-T2A, MCS-T5A, and MCS-T1 stocks.

3 shooters were running the new Manners Elite Tactical Stock, which was released earlier this year. Manners has been using carbon fiber in their stocks since the beginning, with their standard composite stocks are made with 35% aircraft grade carbon fiber and 65% fiber glass in multiple layers. But their new elite tactical line features a 100% carbon fiber shell. The strength to weight ratio of carbon fiber is off the charts compared to traditional stock materials. Engineers love it because carbon fiber is 5 times as strong as steel, 3 times as stiff, yet 70% lighter. When Tom Manners founded Manners Stocks in 2001, the 1st stock he developed was actually a 100% carbon fiber stock for 50bmg benchrest competitions. That stock still owns most of the 1000 yard 50bmg records. So this new line of Elite Tactical stocks has been both a throw back to the early days at Manners, and introduced a new level space-age technology to the tactical world at the same time.

Only 2 of the 14 shooters using Manners Stocks chose to go with the folding model. The hinge adds a few ounces of weight, which can become a handicap in this style of competition … although having a folding rifle can be convenient.

Stock Model Approx. Starting Price* Manners Tactical Stock $500 Manners Tactical Stock with Adj. Cheekpiece $650 Manners Folding Tactical Stock $850 Option for 100% Carbon Fiber Fill (Elite Tactical) Add $150

*All prices are as of December 2014, and are ballpark street prices for informational purposes. Prices are subject to change without notice. Contact manufacturers directly for current pricing.

McMillan Stocks had another strong representation in 2014. In previous years, about half the rifles were sporting McMillan stocks, but this year 27% of the top 50 shooters chose Macs. 11 out of the 13 competitors running McMillan stocks were using the McMillan A5 tactical stock. There was also 1 shooter running a McMillan Baker Special stock, and 1 shooter running the McMillan ALIAS rifle system.

Stock Model Approx. Starting Price* McMillan A5 Stock $675 McMillan A5 Stock with Adj. Cheekpiece $875 McMillan Baker Special with Adj. Cheekpiece & 3-Way Butt Plate $875 McMillan ALIAS (only available as complete rifle) $7,000

*All prices are as of December 2014, and are ballpark street prices for informational purposes. Prices are subject to change without notice. Contact manufacturers directly for current pricing.

McMillan and Manners combined to represent 55% of the shooters who ended up in the top 50. The remaining 45% were split among a few different systems.

Accuracy International chassis were used by 7 of these top competitors. 5 shooters were using the AICS AX chassis (pre-2014 model), and the other 2 were using the AICS Classic chassis. AI released a whole new lineup in 2014, but none of the shooters were sporting the new models yet. I’d expect to see some in the 2015 results. All 7 of these shooters were running a folding AI chassis.

*All prices are as of December 2014, and are ballpark street prices for informational purposes. Prices are subject to change without notice. Contact manufacturers directly for current pricing.

4 shooters were using the KMW Sentinel Combat Stock, which was designed and developed by Terry Cross, a very accomplished competitive shooter. KMW starts with a McMillan fiberglass stock designed to their specs, then proceeds to customize it with several cool pieces of hardware and peripherals. It is a very meticulously thought-out product.

Stock Model Approx. Starting Price* KMW Sentinel Combat Stock $1,250

*All prices are as of December 2014, and are ballpark street prices for informational purposes. Prices are subject to change without notice. Contact manufacturers directly for current pricing.

3 shooters were using an XLR Chassis. XLR makes a few different chassis models, and 2 of the shooters who finished in the top 50 were running the XLR Element Chassis, and 1 was running the XLR Carbon Chassis. These are designed as a direct bolt-on replacement for most factory rifles “with no gunsmithing required.” Both chassis are adjustable for a customized fit. They have inlets for most rifle actions, but will also cut a custom inlet for no extra charge. They feature a 6061 T6 aluminum billet action block. The chassis includes an integrated detachable magazine system that supports AICS style mags.

*All prices are as of December 2014, and are ballpark street prices for informational purposes. Prices are subject to change without notice. Contact manufacturers directly for current pricing.

3 shooters who finished in the top 50 were using the Desert Tech Stealth Recon Scout A1 Rifle Chassis (aka DTA SRS-A1). This chassis was designed to be the shortest purpose-built sniper rifle in the world. The bullpup configuration and telescoping bolt make it almost a foot shorter than conventional bolt rifles. The compact design shifts weight and center-of-gravity rearward. It is built of high-impact polymers, aircraft grade aluminum, high-strength steels, and durable coatings. The monolithic receiver serves as a full length mounting chassis, eliminating the need for any sort of receiver-to-stock bedding.

Stock Model Approx. Starting Price* DTA SRS-A1 Chassis $3,075

*All prices are as of December 2014, and are ballpark street prices for informational purposes. Prices are subject to change without notice. Contact manufacturers directly for current pricing.

2 shooters were using the J. Allen JAE-700 stock. It was surprising for this to be the first year where this stock was represented. J Allen released the JAE 700 stock in 2012, and is purpose-built for a precision rifle. It features a full-length aluminum skeleton, with painted composite skins permanently attached. It has a hardened steel insert for the recoil luge. It also features an adjustable, quick-detach cheek-piece, and a ton of optional accessories that attach through various flushmount extensibility points like picatinny rails, palmrests, swivels, sling plates and swivels, etc.

Stock Model Approx. Starting Price* Base J. Allen JAE-700 $700 J. Allen JAE-700 with Adj. Cheekpiece $850

*All prices are as of December 2014, and are ballpark street prices for informational purposes. Prices are subject to change without notice. Contact manufacturers directly for current pricing.

Then there was one shooter in the top 50 using each of the following stocks:

JP AMCS (Advanced Modular Chassis System) – The JP AMCS was designed to bring the ergonomics of AR platforms to a bolt gun. The folding butt stock is fully adjustable, including the cheek piece. It has a tactical grip with palm shelf. The ambidextrous, extended magazine release allows the shooter to perform a magazine change without relinquishing the shooting grip. The chassis is completely machined from 6061 T6 aircraft-grade aluminum with the mil-standard black hard-coat anodizing process. The chassis will accept any Remington 700 right-hand short action, as well as Savage short action rifles. It features QD studs for bipod or sling systems, and is designed to accept the Accu-Shot Monopod system. It uses JP magazines, which will hold 10 rounds of any 308-based cartridge with an COAL of 2.82″ or less.

Stock Model Approx. Starting Price* JP ACMS Modular Chassis $1,100

*All prices are as of December 2014, and are ballpark street prices for informational purposes. Prices are subject to change without notice. Contact manufacturers directly for current pricing.

Remington Defense RACS (Remington Accessory Chassis System) – This chassis was born out of the race for the US military’s Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR) contract, which was a catalyst for a lot of innovation around precision rifle stocks and chassis. In the end, Big Green was awarded the contract for the Remington XM2010 Sniper Rifle System. The Remington RACS is reported to be the civilian production version of the XM2010 and newer MSR chassis. The RACS features a folding stock, with adjustable cheekpiece, LOP, and buttplate height/cant/cast-off. This stock accepts AI magazines.

While several online reports have indicated Remington does plan to release this chassis for sale to civilians … that has yet to happen. In fact, they haven’t released any pricing and it isn’t currently available for purchase through any retailer. There is some speculation online that the price will be around $1,800 when/if it is released. I’ve tried to contact Remington to get the latest update on this, and had yet to hear back from them by the time this went to press. If I do get any info, I will post an update here.

Rock Solid Stocks – Rock Solid stocks are a full one-piece aluminum stock. Rock Solid’s concept is one-piece design with fewer bolts will equate to less failures and more consistent shots. The only screws on it are for the pistol grip, buttstock spacers, cheekpiece adjustment, and action screws. There isn’t a lot of info out there on this stock, but Sin City Precision provides a good review of this stock.

Stock Model Approx. Starting Price* Rock Solid Stock $750

*All prices are as of December 2014, and are ballpark street prices for informational purposes. Prices are subject to change without notice. Contact manufacturers directly for current pricing.

Meet The Pros

You know NASCAR? Yes, I’m talking about the racing-cars-in-a-circle NASCAR. Before NASCAR, there were just a bunch of unaffiliated, regional car races. NASCAR brought structure by unifying those races, and created the idea of a season … and an overall champion. NASCAR identified the top races across the country (that were similar in nature), then combined results and ranked competitors. The Precision Rifle Series (PRS) is like NASCAR, but for rifle matches.

The PRS is a championship style point series race based on the best precision rifle matches nationwide. PRS matches are recognized as the major league of sniper-style rifle matches. At the end of each year, the scores from around 15 different national matches are evaluated and the top shooters are invited to compete head to head in the PRS Season Championship Match. We surveyed the shooters who qualified for the finale, asking all kinds of questions about the equipment they ran that season. This is a great set of data, because 50+ shooters is a significant sample size, and this particular group are also considered experts among experts. It includes guys like George Gardner (President/Senior Rifle Builder of GA Precision), Francis Kuehl, Wade Stuteville, the GAP Team, the Surgeon Rifles Team, shooters from the US Army Marksmenship Unit, and many other world-class shooters. Thanks to Rich Emmons for allowing me to share this info. To find out more about the PRS, check out What Is The Precision Rifle Series?

Other “What The Pros Use” Articles

This post was one of a series of posts that look at the equipment the top PRS shooters use. Check out these other posts:

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