Me and my 16" AR pattern 308 have been through a lot together and I really love the gun. Unfortunately I have made some choices on this gun that well we're more inspired by style then practicality. Specifically right now I have a lancer carbon fiber rail, and the matching lancer carbon fiber stock. It looks awesome and I positively have a fetish for carbon fiber normally, but I just shot a three gun match with it and well the aluminum butt plate that comes with said lancer butt stock while it looks awesome doesn't feel awesome.

So, I want to make it more comfortable to shoot.  My first inclination is to put some form of Magpul stock on it and by the sorbathing pad for it, but I wanted to check here to see if there are any better options that may be way a little less or help with Kick less.

Would a car 15 rubber buttstock cover fit?

I use the Magpul MOE stock on my .500 Phantom with the .8" recoil pad and do not find the recoil to be all that bad.  I also use the same stocks on the .338 Federal, .308, and .260.  The .470 Rhino has a wooden stock with the Pachmyer Decelorator recoil pad on it and it does an excellent job of reducing recoil but I don't see how you could fit the Decelorator or the Limbsaver to the Lancer stock and have it look worth a damn.

 Since you like the looks of CF, you could have the Magpul MOE Hydro-dipped.  I have two A2 stocks Hydro-dipped in CF, one in black, and one in OD green, and you'd really have to look close to realize they are just paint jobs.

This is an old picture of the .338 Federal (before switching to the Magpul MOE) and while the lines of the carbon fiber do something to muck up the picture on the screen, the forend is CF and in real life the two look almost identical.   The entire butt stock in actuality looks like it does right up next to the receiver, not out on the butt plate area.  
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Other options might be an AGB and/or a brake. I do realize that a brake may not be allowed or desired, and you may be dialed in at minimum gas already.

I am already running  an SJC which the largest brake I am allowed.  Head to head, it seemed just as effective as a JP tank brake - which is too large for some matches.

I am going to take the Lancer buttstock off, and either put it on a 5.56 gun or maybe EE it here, I havent decided.

What I am wondering is how something like an ACE stock (with the thick pad) compares with a magpul/sorbothane combo and if there is something else that will be as or more comfy to shoot.

I have several MOE and ACE M4 SOCOM stocks and the ACE with the thick pad gives WAY more recoil reduction than the MagPul MOE rifle, even with the thicker extended pad.  However, the ACE weighs a ton which is why I have dumped all but one of my ACE stocks.  My 16” HB .458 SOCOM that I usually use for new load work up still has the ACE M4 SOCOM Long stock (rifle buffer and spring) with thick pad for extended sessions from bench during load development.

Also, all 5 of my ACE stocks (3 short and two long) were very wobbly no matter how hard I tried to tighten the clamp.  How I finally got the wobble out was to wrap the receiver extension threads with teflon tape so it would just barely screw on.  That fixed the wobble problem once and for all.

Disclaimer: all of my ACE M4 SOCOM stocks are gen 1 and gen 2 and none newer than at least 12 years old so their design may well have changed.  The company has been sold at least once since I bought mine.

I never really thought of an ACE as a heavy stock...  but I suppose compared to the Lancer CF it probably is...  I am ok with eating some extra wheaties to be able to lift it .

https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/AR_15_Stocks___Weight_refrence_guide/4-545368/

I put a slip on LimbSaver on my .50 Beowulf with a Magpul CTR.  Easy on and off and doesn't require doing anything to the stock.  Really takes the "ouch" out of the recoil.

This combo worked well for me - Magpul SL adj stock + Limbsaver pad.  I am running it on the Genesis Arm 12 GA.



https://www.opticsplanet.com/limbsaver-magpul-sl-stock-recoil-pad.html