PLAYING THE STOCK MARKET

I was on an African hunt with a .404 Jeffery set up over shooting sticks with a wildebeest bull nearly 200 yards away. My PH, Cornus du Plooy, gave the green light. I broke the trigger, heard the bullet’s impact and, after recoil, saw the bull fall. “It’s a good rifle, that,” Cornus commented. He certainly wasn’t wrong.

That particular rifle—a Heym Express by Martini—was stocked perfectly for my frame. The Express’ stock is designed by famed gunsmith Ralf Martini, and that’s among my favorite stock designs ever produced. After that first experience with that .404 Jeffery, I got to thinking long and hard about what makes a proper rifle stock.

I admit that, until I held some of the finer British and European rifles, I was woefully ignorant as to the effects of stock fit. There are good features in all designs—but equally many flaws. I’ve my own favorites, and there are some I just don’t like … or perhaps they just don’t fit me well.

At any rate, I started a correspondence with some folks very familiar with stock design, to gather their thoughts. Chris Sells is president of HeymUSA and passionate about vintage-style double rifles and bolt-action guns, as well as embracing modern actions like his straight-pull. Mark Bansner is the head of Bansner & Company LLC, a custom rifle company;