Author Topic: Wood stock vs synthetic stock (Read 3234 times)

CoffeeInMe · « **on:** March 22, 2009, 03:32:18 AM »

Why do some people get away from wood ? I like the idea of not having to worry about the finish on my synthetic stock or if it gets wet etc...
Is some people getting away from wood because they can warp in time ?
If I have a good hard wood stock that has been glass bedded and the wood has been treated with tung oil then even if it gets soaked in a rain storm then I should be able to get it in the dry and take it apart and wipe it down and it should be fine...right ?
As long as I continue to check the clearance between the rifle and the stock then I should be alright ?
Is this also why people change because they are maintenance free and because a wood stock can warp ?
Sorry for the multiple questions.

CoffeeInMe · « **Reply #1 on:** March 22, 2009, 03:39:25 AM »

I forgot to mention that the rifle Im talikng about for my situation is a .223 caliber.
I want to say that I remember reading or hearing some time ago about where wood stocks get loose in time and dont fit properly. Since Im getting my stock glass bedded and it will have a hard plastic insert for the action screw to tighten against then this should help...true ?
Thanks

Arier Blut · « **Reply #2 on:** March 22, 2009, 03:56:57 AM »

Some wood stocks aren't finished behind the recoil pad either. Just a spot to check for you. I've never really heard of one warping or anything. Wood stocks are said to ever so slightly expand and contract due to moisture with the weather. It could be the moisture already in them. I have heard of groups shifting an inch or so with the weather, but nothing extreme. Not really a lot to worry about if you like wood. The GB will anchor the action pretty well. Just make sure as you eluded to the channel is clear, maybe even a little upward pressure at the end of the forend with foam. Personally I like synthetic. That being said I sincerely doubt my flimsy factory stocks and a wood stock shouldn't be a lot different if you are going through all that trouble of making sure it is right.
Blessings

CoffeeInMe · « **Reply #3 on:** March 22, 2009, 04:45:43 AM »

Thanks Arier Blut that sounds like a positive reply.

jhm · « **Reply #4 on:** March 22, 2009, 05:34:47 AM »

At one time I said I would never own a plastic stock, I figured that the beauty was in the wood and highly polished blue steel, today I own several synthetic stocked rifles, the stocks of today are a much better stock than the plastic of years gone by they fit and feel better, I still love a good looking wooden stocked rifle, and still use several, but I guess I have gotten a little soft in my old age, all have a purpose, I will always be on the lookout for another nice looking rifle. Jim

Dave in WV · « **Reply #5 on:** March 22, 2009, 05:55:03 AM »

My favorite stock material is laminated wood. I have a synthetic "boat paddle" ruger stock on my .243. It's butt ugly but very practical and strong. I started out with the thought to replace it but as time went on I grew to like it for the function. A properly sealed walnut stock shouldn't be a problem.

CoffeeInMe · « **Reply #6 on:** March 22, 2009, 08:07:42 AM »

Thanks for all the help. It does sound like as long as I do my part on maintenance and occasional clearance inspection then I should be good to go. Im looking forward to getting my stock/rifle back and also seeing if my groups are tighter with a stiff wood stock that has been glass bedded vs the flimsy gray synthetic stock that came with it. I was having second thoughts on getting this work done on a wood stock and I intend on keeping this rifle until I die or pass it down to one of our two sons.
Thanks again.

slim rem 7 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 13, 2009, 04:19:07 PM »

yes a nice wood finish is nice.. but for me a gun is a tool for certain jobs i want done.. so which ever gives better function ,would be my choice.. my most accurate is savage cheap stock. my second is cz452 with fairly nice wood stock.. just so it does the job.. pretty is as pretty does.. slim

T.R. · « **Reply #8 on:** April 14, 2009, 02:02:53 AM »

Black plastic stocks have been around for several decades but became popular in the 90's. I find them unattractive and cheap looking.

Walnut stocks have been used in two World Wars by armies of opposing sides. They're durable indeed.

Laminated stocks have many durability qualities that out perform walnut. Some are much more attractive than others.

TR

rickt300 · « **Reply #9 on:** April 15, 2009, 10:59:19 AM »

Synthetic stocks do change dimension in various conditions such as heat, direct sunlight, cold they are just less suceptable to damage from moisture. A properly sealed wood stock is very stable. Early on it was thought that synthetic stocks were going to be lighter than wood, much lighter but this did not turn out to be the case. Some rifles out there probably can't be made wood stocked like the AR15 series. A good point for the wood stock is that it can easily be altered to better fit the individual. Lucky for us synthetic stock designs are getting a bit better. I have rifles with both types of stocks and prefer wood by far.

GRIMJIM · « **Reply #10 on:** April 15, 2009, 11:10:54 AM »

Nothing to me beats the look of blued steel and walnut. But my workhorse guns are stainless with a silver laminated stock.
except my 1187 which is black with a silver laminated stock.

I like the laminated stocks. It kind of looks like a wood stock but is more stable. They are heavier though.

People have used wood stocks for hundreds of years. You should have no problems.

eye shot · « **Reply #11 on:** April 15, 2009, 12:21:21 PM »

Never had a wood stock break, but have had two cracks in Nylon stocks. I have a 38yr old .17 Rem and the POI has never changed. I vote wood stocks.

victorcharlie · « **Reply #12 on:** April 15, 2009, 03:33:31 PM »

I like wood myself.

Capt Gary · « **Reply #13 on:** April 15, 2009, 04:32:39 PM »

I love wood stocks.....but all my rifles have synthetic. Two Win M70s with McMillian and HS Percision. One Rem. 700 with Brown Percision. Three TC Encores/Pro Hunters all synthetic.
It just makes more sense on a hunting rifle.

Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #14 on:** April 16, 2009, 03:52:02 AM »

Only two synthetic stocks in my safe - my .300 Win Mag, which has the love-it-or-hate-it-but-darn-near-indestructible Ruger 'canoe paddle' stock, and my Remington 870 3-1/2" Super Mag 12 guage that gets used for ducks and geese.

Also two laminated stocks - one on my Ruger M77 MKII VT in .22-250, the other waiting in the wings until I get a barrel on an Interarms Mark X action I picked up late last fall.

Love natural walnut, but for wet work I prefer synthetic or even the laminated. Some of those laminated stocks look really great with the variegated colors. Let's face it - my guns are shooters, not collector pieces. Looks are secondary.

Bart Solo · « **Reply #15 on:** April 18, 2009, 04:35:55 AM »

The reason synthetic (and laminate) stocks are replacing wood, especially at the low end, boils down to one simple truth. Good wood stocks are more expensive than synthetic (and laminate). Good wood is becoming hard to find. Good wood workers are even harder to locate. Laminate wood has become more common not because it is superior to top grade wood, but because it simulates the qualities that just can't be found in the modern forest.

helotaxi · « **Reply #16 on:** April 18, 2009, 10:25:07 AM »

My biggest issue with synthetic stocks are that they "ring" when struck by something. It's a very unnatural sound and exactly what you don't want when stalking game in the woods. Wood and laminates are "dead" sounding and "quieter" for lack of a better term.

Casull · « **Reply #17 on:** April 18, 2009, 12:30:20 PM »

Quote

Walnut stocks have been used in two World Wars by armies of opposing sides. They're durable indeed.

They were used because that was what was available and cheap. I love the look and feel of wood stocks, but look at surplus military arms sales. There are many guns sold with cracked, broken and/or repaired stocks. The synthetics ARE more durable.

Dezynco · « **Reply #18 on:** April 18, 2009, 03:33:42 PM »

Notice also that so many firearms have that matte finish.....

I guess that for practical purposes, a synthetic stock and a matte finish are most practical, but....

I LOVE a pretty piece of walnut and a deep blue finish. It's just so expensive. A synthetic stock and matte blue are just cheaper to produce.

jro45 · « **Reply #19 on:** April 19, 2009, 04:43:44 AM »

I really perfir a wood stock but I own one synthetic stock its on my Wby rifle. I've found that it is as heavy as a wood stock plus it is water proff. It just isn't as pretty as my wood stocked rifles.

Swampman · « **Reply #20 on:** May 07, 2009, 04:48:48 AM »

I just don't care for plastic. It's ugly.

grout-scout · « **Reply #21 on:** May 08, 2009, 10:56:52 AM »

Plastic may be ugly to most of you; but if you have ever slipped and slid down 15 feet of Colorado mountain with nothing but your gun between you and the gravely rock, you'd be happy it wasn't that nice shiney walnut getting chewed up like my synthetic did.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #22 on:** May 08, 2009, 11:10:58 AM »

plastic won't crack as easy as wood , wood looks better to some , plastic is loud if a stick hits it or rubs aginst it . Plastic like wood comes in different grades . Wood is getting harder to get.
Its a Ford vs. Chevy thing . But plastic takes a beating better .

Shiner · « **Reply #23 on:** May 08, 2009, 12:15:57 PM »

I just love a wood stock. I prefer to buy wood stocked rifles because they look better, but if I'm hunting in nasty weather I have a synthetic/stainless rifle that I take and leave my wood stocked rifles at home.

jasonprox700 · « **Reply #24 on:** May 12, 2009, 02:04:11 PM »

I really do prefer wood over synthetic for most of my guns. For my go to deer rifle, I prefer the look and feel of wood. I purchased a cheap ($250 w/Leupold Vari X I 3-9x40) Rem 700 30-06 as a donor gun for a build. I planned on doing a .280 Ackley Improved. I really wanted a tiger striped walnut stock, but MAN!!! I wouldn't be able to touch one for under $500! So I decided to do a 6.5-284 with a synthetic stock. I will wait with the .280 until I can afford the stock that I really want. Both are on hold anyway, my wife and I have our 1st child due the 1st of August.

Barstooler · « **Reply #25 on:** May 14, 2009, 02:49:21 PM »

I don't have any rifles with synthetic stocks and I never will.....all walnut and blue steel. I have hunted in aweful weather (snow, rain, drizzel) in Northern Idaho and never had a problem. Of course all my stocks are glass bedded and sealed. But the main reason is just taste...only walnut and blue "looks and feels good" to me.

Barstooler

Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #26 on:** May 15, 2009, 03:45:32 AM »

Quote from: Barstooler on May 14, 2009, 02:49:21 PM

I don't have any rifles with synthetic stocks and I never will.....all walnut and blue steel. I have hunted in aweful weather (snow, rain, drizzel) in Northern Idaho and never had a problem. Of course all my stocks are glass bedded and sealed. But the main reason is just taste...only walnut and blue "looks and feels good" to me.

Barstooler

Since I started elk hunting in 1982, there have been a lot of years where it was raining or snowing or snow was melting and dripping on me from the trees. My firearms have been soaked, dropped in the mud, dropped on rocks, smashed between my ribs and a log when I took a spill from a mule, and generally subjected to various kinds of indignity that I would not want to subject a quality wood stock to. That said, most of those indignities were done to rifles with wooden stocks. As a result, most of my rifles now have "character marks" acquired over the years.

While I prefer the looks of fancy walnut from a purely aesthetic standpoint, I find myself buying more and more firearms with laminate, synthetic or plain walnut (no fore-end caps, etc.) stocks. Since my firearms are hunters rather than collector items, I am more interested in function than aesthetics. Laminate is stronger than real wood and has a much lower propensity to warp. Synthetics like the McMillan stocks can be very strong, stable and light, they take a beating well and are easily repaired - nothing a little filler and a new paint job can't fix.

Plus, I have to admit I really like some of the laminate color schemes and some of the camo paint jobs I've seen on painted synthetics. They may may offend some, but their functionality is hard to beat. The only qualifier is that I'm talking about quallity products, not the cheap, flimsy synthetics offered on some of the rifles available.

IOWA DON · « **Reply #27 on:** May 15, 2009, 05:58:50 AM »

To me a wood stock, with well figured wood, is a thing of beauty. Fiberglass, even if well shaped just is not the same. However, 4 of my 5 bolt-actions have fiberglass stocks (and stainless barrels). The exception is an Anschutz 17 rimfire. I do not what to have to worry about the point of impact changing. Also, bolt actions may be more consistantly accurate, but I prefer a nice single shot with wood stocks when it is usable.

mcwoodduck · « **Reply #28 on:** May 15, 2009, 06:22:00 AM »

I really like the look of wood and have a number of rifles stocked in wood, I have a few laminated stocks, one Kevlar/ fiber glass stock, and a couple of plastic stocks.
In most cases the wood stocks are great and are very beautiful.
I am looking to get two new hunting rifles both in Stainless and plastic for the harder hunting I have been doing lately.
I was a real sad moment when I dented my Winchester M70 super grade stock on a tree while on horse back on my last Elk hunt.
So I am looking to add to my rifle collection a stainless 308 and a 338 WM. as knock around hunting rifles where I will not keep saying stupid frigging horse while looking at my rifle.
I know, no sense having something unless you use it. I still plan to use my wood stocked rifles just not in hard or bad conditions.
I bought a synthetic stocked Benelli for duck hunting in the swamps and marshes for the same reason. The plastic shotgun goes hunting in bad weather or to the swamp but the good looking wood stocks head out to the field for Quail, phesant, and other upland critters.

IOWA DON · « **Reply #29 on:** May 15, 2009, 07:27:16 AM »

There are two advantages of fiberglass stocks I never hear anything about. First, since they are lighter than wood, especially in the butt area, the ballance of the rifle becomes more foreward and is easier to hold steady given the same barreled action and scope. My experience is that weight in the butt area makes a rifle more difficult to hold steady. Second, they used to talk about fiberglass stocks flexing a little which would lessen apparent recoil. I think that was pure bull. I think there is generally less annoying recoil with a fiberglass stock, but for another reason. With any rifle there is weight both above and below the line of the bore. Generally, especially with a wood stock, there is a lot more weight below the line of the bore. Given every thing else being the same weight, with a heavier stock with more drop, the rifle will buck up more during recoil. With a very light, strait stock the rifle will buck less even though recoil enrgy may be greater. However, with less bucky the cheek will not be wacked as hard. My cheek is a lot more tender than my shoulder.