Wood or Synthetic stock?

[BJE80]

What do you prefer these days? If you are buying a new rifle what kind of stock would it be?

I used to be a wood only guy but have transformed into prefering synthetic stocks now.

 

[Satchmo]

Cosmetics=Wood Performance=Synthetic

 

[foggy]

I like wood best for normal hunting. A GOOD synthetic is nice for weather and weight on a mountain gun. Cheap plastic stocks......not so much.

 

[BJE80]

I like wood best for normal hunting. A GOOD synthetic is nice for weather and weight on a mountain gun. Cheap plastic stocks......not so much.

I should of added that. We should only consider quality wood vs quality synthetic. Not cheap crap.

 

[wiscwhip]

My preference has always been towards wood stocks. I do not own a synthetic stock on any of my current firearms and the only way I would is if I were to buy a rifle strictly for out west. In that case, I would look for something in a Stainless/Synthetic combination. Be aware that the lighter weight of a synthetic stock could have an affect on recoil. I can see where it would be a good choice for waterfowl as well, but I have seen many wood stocked Remmy 870's and Mossy 500's that have been used as "boat oars" over the years with no ill effects, as long as one properly dries everything out at the end of the day. Sorry, call me nostalgic or whatever, but there is something about a nice wood stock that makes a gun, a gun. To me, that plastic, no matter how "nice" and high quality it is, just takes away from the overall aesthetic qualities of the firearm. Picture a beautiful old Winchester Model 101 with a black plastic stock...ummmm.....NO!

 

[foggy]

I should of added that. We should only consider quality wood vs quality synthetic. Not cheap crap.

My Kimber sports a (Bell and Carlson?) stock. It's really nice and really seems to soak up the recoil too. On a hunting trip, having stainless and synthetic is a good thing. One less detail to worry about.

 

[tooln]

I'm old fashion, wood.

 

[leexrayshady]

wood for deer, synthetic for waterfowl.

x 2

 

[NWWI]

Wood looks better to me and feels warmer in the hand. I can't get into synthetic, they just look cheap.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

Depends on the intended application of the firearm. If I were to get a really special firearm...say the first rifle for my son...it would most likely be wood..aesthetics and character would play a big part in that decision..it has to be a memorable gift. In this case I will be handing down a rifle...he will be the fourth generation to carry this rifle in the field...it's a wood stocked gun needless to say.

But synthetics certainly have their place and don't bother me in the least....but really cheap synthetics are terrible in feel, form and function.

 

[wklman]

I like a synthetic for hunting down here in az. There's way too many rocks that eat up wood stocks in short order to walk around with a pretty gun. Up in mn I keep an old winchester pre-64 model 70 in .270 for deer hunting with a wood stock. it's a little beat up but shoots better than I can hold.

 

[Da U.P. 'eh]

I, like some others, used to be wood all the way. Now I have several synthetic stock guns and I have acquired a taste for them. I guess I like 'em all !

 

[j-bird]

Wood is nice, but if you want something to beat on I go synthetic - especially in wet conditions. I have used my waterfowling gun as a paddle before.

 

[SD51555]

Cosmetics=Wood Performance=Synthetic

Bingo.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Almost all my guns are synthetic.
I think it would be cool to get a nice walnut stock deer rifle an wood burn a deer track in it every time I kill a deer with it. I have a stamp that goes to a wood burner that is a deers hoof print. Be one hell of a conversation peice in 40 years

 

[biglakeba$$]

Waterfowl I would never own a wood stock. They just get too beat up.

I have purchased several rifles with synthetic stocks and taken the stocks off to replace with a wood or laminate stock.
I sell the synthetic ones on Ebay and a friend of mine is quite handy with wood stocks.

I bought a 700 ADL with a Leupold VX1 scope from Gander in Forest Lake a few years ago for $300 if I remember correctly.
Took the crappy synthetic one off, and got a pepper colored laminate stock from Boyds. By the time I sold the synthetic and bought the lam stock, I was right around $350 total investment in a gun. And it looks great now.
My buddy glass beds every one as well.

I give him the guns and he takes care of all the fitting and bedding of the stocks for nothing other than a few drinks..... Its quite a good deal. :)

 

[wiscwhip]

:cool:Pretty sure we'd all prefer to have bedded stocks if it were only going to cost us a few drinks. Lucky dog!

 

[Native Hunter]

I love the feel of wood, but have warmed up to synthetic stocks on rifles as long as they are built good and sturdy. One I really like is the heavy spider-web stock that came on my 25-06 Remington Sendero.

One thing to check for in a wood stock that doesn't have the barrel floated is this: Shoot the gun in various weather conditions and make sure the POI isn't shifting as the stock varies in moisture content. The varying pressure can shift the POI.

I read an article once where a guy had a 308 bolt action that moved as much as 14 inches at 200 yards with different weather conditions. The gun was a tack drive, but the POI would shift between hot and cold weather. That is an extreme case, but he wanted to use an extreme case, because that was the subject he wrote about in the article. Personally the worst I have ever seen moved about 5 or 6 inches, but I've also seen some that didn't move at all. Sealing a stock on the inside to prevent moisture absorption will help a lot, and its easy to do.

And as others have said - I love a glass bedded stock for improving accuracy.

Good Luck - Steve

 

[Jim Timber]

I love the looks of AAA claro walnut more than just about any other wood out there, but I can't bring myself to shoot those guns.

Give me a high quality synthetic so I can roll in the mud like I'm supposed to with my weapon.

 

[shawnv]

I have guns of each kind and like them both and at the same time, I've held wood stock guns I haven't likes the feel of and the same for synthetic. I find each model to be somewhat specific like trying to find a pair of shoes to fit what you like.