Just wanted to give a heads up to anyone out there looking for a quality stock. I had been asking Tom Manners for years to build a stock like this and was pleased when he called me last February and asked me what I would look for in a hunting stock for his new lineup. Finally at SHOT, I got to put one of the new Elite Hunter EH-1 stocks in my hands! All my rifles are stocked with T2’s from my hunting rifles to my Comp guns. The stock just fits me well. I have tried all the others and they just are not as comfortable. When I built the first 7mm Rogue last year I dropped it into an McMillan A3 I had sitting there. Although the differences are subtle, it makes a huge difference on how they feel. I never did feel quite comfortable behind it. I am a firm believer in having my equipment setup the same so no matter what rifle I get behind, the only thing that really changes is recoil. This allows a guy to practice form and the fundamentals without burning up our high performance hunting rifles.
Now, onto the stock. This particular stock is setup for our Rogue action, LWLR barrel contour, BDL and a 13.75” LOP w/1” pad. It came in at a whopping 27 ounces! The stock are still extremely stiff with the new carbon fiber shell Manners is using, but does require some work in order to run the saddle cheek piece. Since a family friend decided he needed my 7 Rogue after hunting season last year, I had barreled up another one and set it aside until the stock showed up. A couple weeks ago it arrived and I was very pleased. The rifle as pictured weighs in at 10.2lbs without the bipod. This makes for a hell of a portable long range hunting package! I have Trueblue’s 7mm Rogue in the shop now to drop in the second EH-1 that Tom sent out to us. His rifle has a slightly smaller barrel contour and I am guessing it will come in around 9.5lbs with his NF on it. If anyone is one the fence about these new stocks, get one, you won’t be disappointed. This design will be the standard on our LWLR rifle packages.
Now for an update on the 7mm Rogue. I have been shooting the test rifle on and off for the last few months and she is still hammering away. After seeing how my rifle performed a family friend had to have it. I told him I would need it for hunting season last year and then he could take it. I barreled up another Rogue action with all the same specs and set it aside until the stock showed up. Currently we have several in production for customers. The new dies are delayed a little due to the current political times, but should be here by the end of June. For what I designed it for, she is still performing well. Here are velocities for those interested out of the 27” barrel, these are mid range loads:
180 VLD: 3130fps
180 Hybrid: 3147fps
162 Amax: 3278fps
There will be one heading to Texas soon that has a 28” barrel, so I would expect him to run a little faster! I had 180’s right at 3200 with almost max loads, so I will play around with that again and see where max is. H1000 is still the powder of choice although I might revisit Retumbo when the powder crisis is over.
Here are the new rifle specs:
Rogue Action
Broughton LWLR Contour, Fluted, 27" finish, 1-9 Twist
Manners EH-1
BDL Bottom Metal
20 MOA Rail
DE Brake
DE Cheekpiece
NF 5.5-22x50 NP-R1 w/Ultralight rings
R Bros Woodland Camo stock
Matte Black Metal
Chambered in 7mm Rogue
