September 23, 2010
By J. Scott Rupp
If you hunt in all kinds of weather and insist on top accuracy, check out Hogue's OverMolded replacement stocks.
A soft synthetic rubber "skin" is applied to the strong, rigid fiberglass stock during the injection molding process, and the heat and pressure of that process cause the rubber to bond chemically, mechanically and permanently to the stock.
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The result is a stock that is quieter than standard synthetics and is, at least to me, more comfortable to shoot. The "cobblestone" textured finish provides an excellent gripping surface that won't harden with age and is nearly impervious to solvents and other gun chemicals.
I recently installed one on a Remington 700 BDL in .280. It was a straight drop-in job that took me a whole three minutes. This Remington was always a good shooter, but thanks to the full-length 7075 aluminum bedding block (one of two options--pillar bedding is also available), it shoots even better now. Groups shrank from a range of 1.25 to 1.75 inches, depending on load, to 1.0 to 1.5 inches.
OverMoldeds have a flatter fore-end profile than the OEM stock (the company calls it a varminter style, but it doesn't feel that wide to me) and a comfy palm swell grip.
The full-length bedding-block version did add eight ounces to the rifle when compared to the old wood stock, but balance was still excellent.
$280 (800-GET-GRIP)--J. Scott Rupp
