re: "....short narrow butt.." my first 458 was a whitworth express. great looking rifle, like it had come straight out of H&H 75 yrs earlier. weighed dead on 8#. barrel was same outside dia as their 375. recoil was brutal (and it split the stock into the wrist by the 3rd shot). i finally added 1.5# of lead fore and aft and that helped but i got rid of it. next one was a post-64 m70 african and it weighed only 8.25#. but recoil was of no consequence. it was still there but there was no pain of any sort associated with it, just movement. but they had massive wide butt's and a full thick comb with a cheekpiece that genuinely accomplished something rather than a flat pancake scabbed on for appearance's sake.
i'll agree abt the m94 being a singularly obtuse rifle to shoot. LOP is too short, butt too skinny and besides that is too muzzle light to hold steady easily. now the model 64 on the other hand...
roger
