Samson: Foundation’s Fully Featured Competition Stock

Featuring more weight and buttstock adjustments, Samson is the latest addition to Foundation Stocks’ competition line. This stock has a completely different vibe than other Foundation micarta stocks – watch and read on to see the rifle I built to match!

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About the Foundation Samson

John-Kyle Pruitt explained that he takes pride in being heavily involved in the worlds in which his stocks are used. He and his family travel to and compete in between 15 and 18 PRS matches a year, always watching and listening to find ways to make their products better.

Austin Buschman Shooting the Foundation Samson

The Samson was born out of these experiences. Several U.S. shooters ran the Samson at the International Precision Rifle World Championship, including 2024 Champion Austin Buschman. (Austin Orgain finished second with a Foundation Centurion.)

From Foundation Stocks:

The Samson provides the competitive shooter with an easily tunable system that still delivers a shooting experience no other system offers. As so many can be heard saying after the first shot in a Foundation – “It’s just dead!”

Key features of the Samson:

- 4-way adjustable recoil pad.
- Buttstock bolt in weight system (4 piece – 11oz total brass)
- Stippled grip with ambidextrous thumb shelf.
- Integrated 15 1/4″ ARCA Rail ( 3lb 2 oz brass / 16 oz aluminum)
- 4-piece side weight system with 8 flush cups/ Sikes Clutch locations ( 4 piece – 30oz brass / 4 piece – oz aluminum)
- 4″ Three Position Micarta Barrel Bridge
- Stippled forend
- Stock forend bolt in internal brass weights (6 piece – 6oz total)

Current lead time is 2-3 months!

Details:

Action Inlet: Aero Solus, BAT TR, Bighorn Origin, Bighorn TL3, CDG, Curtis Axiom, Curtis Valor, Curtis Vector, Defiance Anti-X, Defiance Deviant, Defiance Deviant Elite, Defiance Ruckus, Defiance Tenacity, Impact 737R, Kelbly Atlas Tactical, Kelblys Atlas Tacticals, Lone Peak Fuzion, Mausingfield, Remington 700, RimX, Surgeon 591, Templar V2, Terminus Apollo, Terminus Zeus, Vudoo V-22

Detachable Bottom Metal Inlets: Hawkins M5

Action Configuration: Left Handed, Right Handed

Grip Style: Centurion Grip, Genesis 2 Grip

Insert and ARCA Material: Anodized Aluminum (+$0.00), Brass (+$125.00)

Finish: Natural (+$0.00), Dark (+$75.00), Coyote (+$75.00) (Formerly Distressed), Dark Distressed (+75.00), Premium Black Micarta (+$200.00)

Foundation offers a variety of inlets for short actions and long actions, with medium actions coming soon.

The Samson has more “bling” than other Foundation stocks, with brass or aluminum weights in the side, a forward-assist bridge, and different stippling.

Different finish options allow you to further customize the aesthetic.

It also has an adjustable recoil pad (ARP) that supports both vertical and horizontal movement.

Like other Foundation Stocks, the length of pull can be changed using spacers. Four brass weights hide beneath the cheekpiece — shooters can decide which ones they want to use.

A similar set of weights lies in the forend as well.

The Samson is available with a Centurion grip or Genesis 2 grip, making it an easy transition for shooters accustomed to those stocks. Both grips come with stippling and an ambidextrous thumb shelf.

Included standard with each Samson is a full-length ARCA rail. This heavy brass rail actually fills the Anschutz rail cavity, placing more weight in a neutral balance point.

The same rail is available in Aluminum as well, making the stock three pounds lighter. “Dimple points” at the front of the ARCA rail allow for the addition of one or two half pound weights.

About the Build

I decided to build a 6.5 Creedmoor using a BAT Hammerhead action and a barrel blank from Southern Precision Rifles/Bugholes.

I wanted to see just how well these barrels could shoot, so I got to work chambering on my Precision Matthews PM-1440HVT-2. Building on a variable-speed lathe is an absolute delight.

About the PM-1440HVT-2

The Precision Matthews PM-1440HVT-2 is a great gunsmithing lathe, with the following stand-out features:

All Taiwanese built with Japanese spindle bearings
2.055″ thru-spindle capacity
Available cast iron ultra-rigid base
Variable Speed drive

If you’d like to know more about the PM-1440HVT-2, check out our full overview HERE.

About the Build Continued

This build went especially smooth—after dialing in the breech end of the barrel and getting one point perfectly true, I didn’t have to angle the barrel at all.

This meant that the barrel blank was drilled straight and true from Bugholes. I cut the barrel to 26” and threaded the end ⅝ x 24”. (This is essentially the same process I follow for our UR Custom Rifles in Foundation Genesis 2 stocks.)

Upon first seeing the Samson, I knew I wanted to Cerakote the barrel gold.

I sprayed it in the Built American DSBE-1500 spray booth before placing it in the BAE-0200 oven to cure. When the barrel was finished, I torqued it onto the Hammerhead action and laser engraved the appropriate details.

The final step was securing the rifle in the stock.

With the stock held securely in the rock vise, I was able to easily reach the action screws and install the Hawkins Precision M5 bottom metal.

Shooting

I added an Area 419 Maverick suppressor and Element Optics Nexus Gen 2 before quickly zeroing the rifle at 100 yards.

Longshot’s Ranger greatly expedited this process.

The Samson absorbed practically all of the recoil, making it easy to stay on target for successive shots.

I was thrilled to be able to go to the ridgeline after some rain this week and engage some of the steel rockchucks from D-M Targets scattered across the terrain.

John-Kyle made a first round impact on Harold at 1,390 yards.

We utilized a combination of factory ammunition and some hand-loads. I took some time to further develop a load and achieved a 0.320” five-shot group at 100 yards.