Custom wood vs. Synthetic (Also Fred at Bullberry is #1)

[smoky]

I just spoke with Fred at Bullberry.  It was indeed a pleasure to speak with someone who owns the company yet is genuinely interested in what you are inquiring about AND took time to answer all of my questions.  My exact quote when I hung up the phone was "what a nice guy".  His attitude alone will cause him to get my custom Encore business.

That said, I just want to make sure that the more expensive custom wood is the route I want go on my Encore.  When I say more expensive, I am comparing it to laminate after market stock sets.  There is no doubt in my mind that it will look better and fit better (with the roll over cheek piece).  But all of my other deer rifles wear synthetics (McMillan and B&C), and the reason I got away from wood on those bolt guns was for increased durability and accuracy.  In my mind though, the two piece Encore stock is a different animal and shouldn't be as subject to humidity/temp/wet conditional changes.  Am I correct in this thinking?

Any thoughts and comments on any of the above is greatly appreciated.

Smoky

[ra]

I recently bought a unfinished utility grade Contender stock and forend from Fred.  I applied a dozen coats of tung oil finish and it turned out to be a good looking stock.

  Since the stock is attached solidly to the frame and the forend hangs off the barrel, I don't think you would have a problem with moisture.

  I also found Fred to be a great person to talk to on the phone, but I don't know if he is just so busy or what but everything discussed on the phone doesn't always show up on the finished product.

[Bullseye]

In my opinion the accuracy issue is not an issue between wood and synthetic.  There has been wood stocked guns that have shot good for years, I think it is more an issue of good wood being harder to find and more expensive.

I suppose synthetic might be more durable, but all my guns have wood stocks and some have been hunted with for 20 years and still look good.

Fred makes nice stocks.  But if you have the ability to do a little sanding and finishing I would check out gunstocksinc.com.  Their stocks are very nice also and if you do not see what you want they could probably make it for you a lot quicker and at about 60% less money.  They are nice people to work with also.