Form Carro Stock

Aftermarket stocks have always been the domain of the American manufacturer, but today, due to the increased demand for better and more interesting rifle stocks to fit factory or custom rifles, a new breed of stock maker has sprung up in Britain.

One of these is the Form rifle stocks that emanate from Devon and is headed up by Peter McGregor, who saw a need for a range of stocks to suit the British shooter’s needs for a multi discipline sport.

All the stocks are laminate material at present with options of colour, form, adjustable features, as well as hydro dipping and spray coating. They bridge the gap between pure sporter, target, rimfire and air rifle, with new models being added all the time.

Here, on test, is the Carro stock, which is a lighter weight semi-sporter stock that is actually good for a myriad of disciplines.

The set up

Firstly, Form use only laminated wood for their stocks, which gives a good blend between weather resistance and thus nonwarping that can affect accuracy. You have good durability, as well as better looks than some synthetic stocks. They also lend themselves to modifications, if you need to add the optional adjustable cheekpiece or recoil pad sections.

Form use the finest hard wood laminate from the firm ‘Coloured Wood Product’, based in Finland, who have a good reputation for supplying excellent laminate blanks. These are layers of coloured birch veneers that are hot glue pressed together to avoid air bubbles, voids and ensure a uniform and nonstressed laminate blank. They are available in a variety of colours to please your own preferences.

Form then shape and inlet these laminate blanks on custom built CNC machines that use precise CAD drawn data and tooling software, to achieve accurate shaping and inletting. The final sanding and finishing is all hand done, to maintain the perfect finish and attention to detail. Customers are encouraged to give input into the stocks they require, by choosing a style and then tweaking to their own needs.

The shooter’s ideal spec, dimensions and profile can be fed into the CAD programme to draw a 2D format drawing that can be modified before it is finalised as a 3D profile for stock forming. The use of Form’s own tool paths ensures that the CNC machines are performing exactly to their needs and quality control for a better all-round stock.

The CNC machine Form uses is paramount and is built by CMS in Italy specifically for them as a six-axis machine and that machine is accurate to 0.01mm. This equates to the CAD drawing rendering exactly to the stock you hold– perfect!

Decision, decisions!

At present, you have a choice of:

The Churchill Mk1 is an ambidextrous rimfire stock that has a profiled pistol grip and butt section to give a better finger to trigger alignment. The forend is also slimmed down but lengthened to give a better grip.

The Cruiser, this is a classic thumbhole design and a very versatile shape, so it is at home for stalking as it is for Varminting and complements the slimmer barrel profiles but can take a varmint barrel also. You can specify forend vents and cross bolts, as well as a left-hand version and length of pull alteration only.

The Churchill Mk3 is another thumbhole design that accommodates the varmint and long range shooter well. It has the same profile to the rear butt as the Churchill MK 1 but with a vented, heavier forend for bipod or benchrest use. Rimfire and centrefire use alike.

The Conventater is designed for rimfire users, especially for gallery shooters wanting a compact design with its lower forend and quick target acquisition. There is a forward-facing comb and flat hand support at the rear for when a bipod is used. You can also add an adjustable cheekpiece or recoil pad.

The Cromwell is a thumbhole stock with good weight distribution and a very high comb section that faces forward, whilst you have a slim, classic forend. You have cross bolts added, vent holes and can have adjustable cheek and recoil pad.

Finally, the Crusader is an ambidextrous cheekpiece model for prone or bench rest use, with a smooth rear hook for a secure hold and vertical pistol grip and thumb rest. The forend is good for ‘off the bags shooting’, as it is broader and flatter, aiding in return to battery shooting styles.

Test piece

Now to the version I had on test, the Carro. This is a hybrid stock that blends classic design with modern features. It’s quite light also, as sometimes laminate, although sturdy, can be heavy. It weighs 1.36kg and has an overall length of 790mm. This makes it almost ideal from any shooting position, which is most welcome when a tricky shot is needed out on the hill.

The forend is a little wider and has five vented ports, so provides a good grip as well as accommodating light or heavy profiled barrels. The pistol grip area has an angled rake with four finger grooves and scalloped thumb position for a good off-hand positioning, you can have these grooves removed if you prefer. You also have a thumb cut out for a thumb up position, again for maximising a good, comfortable hold.

There is a smooth butt hook for a comfortable support when shooting off a bipod. This model came with sling swivel studs attached and both adjustable cheekpiece and butt-pad. The cheekpiece is adjusted by a single triangular type button inset into the stock and when pressed this releases, via a spring mechanism, a central pillar embedded into the cheekpiece section. Now the cheekpiece can be raised, supported on twin aluminium pillars, to a height of 1.5-inches. It is very quick and amazingly secure to operate and does allow a perfect scope to eye alignment.

Similarly, the recoil pad uses the same system of adjustment and increases the length of pull from 14-inches to 15.5-inches. It also uses a Limb Saver recoil pad that is suitable soft and very grippy.

This model was inletted for the Tikka T3 series rifles and the inletting was very well-executed and exhibited a good wood to metal fit with some weight saving in the forend with cut outs. I fitted a new Tikka T3X rifle and found the trigger guard now has a small protruding spur at the rear and so I needed to accommodate this in the stock with a small Dremel- no problem! You also have the inletted separate steel recoil pad embedded into the stock forward of the front stock screw hole and across bolt between the too, all bases covered here.

You have a choice of coloured laminates of red and black, Ebony Classic, Camouflage, Royal Jacarnda, Arctic Blue and Black and Walnut Classic and the matt lacquered finish seals the entire stock and inlet area.

Conclusion

Prices range from £325 for the standard model, to £425 for an adjustable cheekpiece, or £550 for fully adjustable, as tested. With the fully adjustable options, I would highly recommend you go this route, as it gets the best out of the design. It’s a perfect blend between light weight, rigidity and ergonomic design and brings the best out of a rifle in terms of handling and performance.