Review: Grayboe Renegade stock

Grayboe Renegade stock review

The Grayboe Renegade (above, bottom) is a molded composite stock that is a licensed copy of the McMillan A (above, top) for about half the cost with the Renegade just weighs a few ounces more. Unlike a traditional fiberglass stock with a fiberglass shell, the Grayboe is made from the same material throughout the stock.

Like the McMillan A5, the Renegade offers a vertical pistol grip, butt stock hook, and a total of three sling studs, two in the fore end and one in the rear. The stock shown in this post is inletted for Remington 700 short action receiver with a standard Remington Varmint contour barrel and Badger M5 style bottom metal. Different inlets and camouflage finishes are available depending on your needs.

Unlike the a traditional fiberglass stock with a shell, the molded Grayboe lends itself to customization without the fear of cutting into a shell and weakening the stock. For instance, cutting an adjustable cheekpiece out of the stock and installing KMW hardware into one is simply a matter of cutting the stock and inletting the hardware.

GrayBoe was founded by former Navy SEAL Ryan McMillan. Ryan isn’t a stranger to the stock market, McMillan’s family is known for making some of the finest fiberglas stocks on the market. Ryan sought to lower the price of quality rifle stocks and spent two years developing the proprietary construction process they currently use. According to Ryan, “during that time, we had searched in every place we could find for some company, in any industry, that would give us some insight on how develop this process. We found no company that had anything close, so we did it with nearly no guidance. To this day, the process is so proprietary, we tell the world very little about how we are able to make stocks the way we do.”

You’ll notice the external appearance of the Renegade matches that of the McMillan A5. Even thought McMillan and Grayboe are different companies, they do share a lot of common history together.

Grayboe stocks are molded from an epoxy based composite material. The material and mixing ratios are proprietary to Grayboe. Their materials were tested in a chemical and material engineering lab for strength prior to entering production.

Since rifle stocks are made to be used in all weather I was curious about how the base material responded to the elements. Testing by Grayboe showed water absorption is less than 0.1% after 24 hour immersion and less than 1% after two week immersion and the material strengths and modulii remain unchanged.

I asked Ryan how he felt Grayboe stocks stacked up next to other stock materials, traditional fiberglass and the merging mircarta products. He told me, “traditional fiberglass stocks are heavier, more labor intensive to make, are non homogeneous, which can cause balance and strength issues. They are also susceptible to de-lamination. The same applies to mircarta. Mircarta is a fiberboard like material with only directional or planar strength , is extremely heavy and isn’t the strongest in all directions. Grayboe stocks have high isotropic strength, better shock absorption, homogeneity, balance and durability. Grayboe stock are also much lighter than others in the industry.”

Grayboe offers 3 models of stocks. The Renegade tactical stock, the Outlander hunting stock and the Terrain hybrid. For more information about these stocks and their configurations you can visit Grayboe or Brownells.

I selected a Grayboe Renegade for a custom 6 Creedmoor build. I started with a Remington 700 SPS in 243 Winchester, reset and chambered the factory barrel to shoot 6 Creedmoor.

In addition to the Grayboe Renegade, the rifle is built with the following parts:

For more about how this rifle was built, please see Remington 700 SPS 243 Win to 6 Creedmoor conversion: Budget precision rifle

The gun has a solid feel. By using a Renegade stock, I kept the overall parts cost down on the project. Most importantly, the rifle shot very well, check out the group below I shot with the 107 gr. Sierra MatchKing (SMK)!

My thoughts on the Grayboe Renegade:

Value. The Grayboe Renegade offers shooters the look, feel and functionality of a high end fiberglass stock at about half of the cost.
Accurate. The rifle I built on the Renegade shot well.
Accessibility. A quick look at Brownells’ website shows Renegades are in stock and ready to ship. This is a far cry from the half year wait most of us have become accustomed too waiting for a custom fiberglass stock.
Customizable. The solid cast construction allows greater freedom with end user modifications. If you want to add a cheekpiece with KMW hardware, simply cut the stock and inlet the hardware. You don’t have to worry about weakening it by cutting into a shell.

If you are looking for a new stock for your tactical rifle, the Grayboe is definitely worth a look!