McMillan A3-5 Stock – This is a combination of the A3 and the A5 stocks. According to McMillan, the lightweight A-3 stock is “the most widely used field sniper stock available.” The A3-5 is the same lightweight stock, with the addition of an A-5 style butt hook. I’ve weighed McMillan short action stocks in both A5 and A3-5, and the A3-5 was almost 1 pound lighter. Compared to the A5, the A3-5 has a slimmer forend, which shaves some weight. But, I was talking to Jim See (placed 6th overall in 2015) about stocks, and he shared one reason he prefers the A5 design is because the wide beavertail forend happens to be about the same width as a 56mm objective lens on a scope. So if he is shooting off a barricade or out a window, he can hold the forend and scope against the side of the window or barricade, and because the stock and scope are the same width … his rifle will be level (if what he’s bracing against is level). Honestly, I don’t know if I’d have ever thought about a little detail like that. I guess that’s why Jim has finished among the top 20 every year … and not me!