Choate stock ?

[roysha]

I'm looking at the Choate Ultimate Varmint or the Sniper version of the same stock for a replacement stock for my LA Winchester M-70. Price is definitely a consideration so all the ooh-poo-pa-doo high dollar ones are out of the question. I have read that they are quite heavy which is not an issue since this will be fired virtually exclusively from the bench or a rest of some sort.

Has anyone here direct experience with, or have personal knowledge of, either of these stocks? Your impressions please.

Any other "tactical" style stocks in the $200-300 price range? The "tactical" thing is just an itch that needs to be scratched and then it will in all probability go away but till then is just needs to be satisfied.

[Artful]

I don't have any knowledge of the Winchester one, but two are used by one of my shooting groups - one on a Savage and the other a Remington 700. Both are vocal proponents and love them. The other one that just joined the group
is the MagPul Hunter stock on a Remington 700 SPS. I don't know if they are making them for anything other than the 700 short action.

[Iowa Fox]

I needed a stock for the Specialty Pistol I'm building. I wanted something like the stock that Neal Cooper used to make but I think he quit in about 2012. I looked at all the stocks and aluminum chassis which are anywhere from 300-700 dollars. I bought a ultimate varmint and it weighed 4 1/2 pounds as it arrived from Choate. Last week I gave it the hacksaw treatment and cut the butt off dropping the weight to 2 1/2 pounds. Its supposed to rain here mid week so I'll hacksaw the forearm back, weigh it then take a file to some of my cuts for shaping. For the money they are hard to beat with the full length aluminum bedding block which really fits my action nice, they are a very solid stock. I think the barrel channel is for a 1 1/4 inch barrel straight. One thing the varmint stock worked well for cutting the butt off but I would never buy it for a rifle stock because the grip area feels like **** and I have small hands. Should work well for a pistol though. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the serrations on the bottom of the stock because I know they won't slide the bags like I need. I could go on and on about stocks but simply the stock industry hasn't kept pace with shooting sports.

[Bama]

I have two of Ultimate Varmints and a Choate Tactical but all are on Savage actions. They are heavy but if shooting from bench they are great. The latest one is the Tactical which is almost 2 lbs lighter. The wrist is on the large side but really does good on the bench. It has the same aluminum bedding block as the Varmints. Really hard to beat for money.

[nvreloader]

I have and have used 2 of these stocks,
for rifles in 308 Rem & 30/06 Win calibers,
both were tough dependable stocks and were very easy to shoot,
once set up for the me, they are heavy, work very well for LE work.

Since retirement,
both of these stocks have been shortened,
to use on my SP pistols, a 284/308 stock,
and the newest one is 280 AI/30/06 Win stock,
they are proven shooters..

Tia,
Don

[liliysdad]

The McMillan pattern Choate isnt a terrible stock. The Ultimates, whether Sniper or Varmint, are ridiculously poor. The Magpul Hunter is a much better stock for a little more, as is a takeoff HS Precision from a Sendero, LTR, or PSS. With some shopping, you can probably pick up a Bell & Carlson Medalist for about the same money.

There are much better options.