I know where you're coming from Red.

I've done some tinkering with rifle-stocks in the past few months and have really enjoyed it.

There really is something inviting about a beautiful wood stock that no synthetic piece can match. That's just my opinion, of course.

I also am intrigued with the laminated stock. It's got the feel and touch of wood (because it is wood), but it also has many of the practical aspects of a synthetic stock (impermeable to water, no shrink/swell with humidity).

I do find myself desiring to acquire a rifle that's more well suited for nasty conditions than any of my blued/wood guns. A stainless steel rifle set in a birch laminated stock would do the trick, huh?

For me it's more about the guns than it is about killing stuff, too. I'm quite certain that I'm either a very poor hunter or a very unlucky one. Of my countless (and I choose my words carefully) days spent in the backcountry of NE Arkansas, the only deer I've killed were the ones seemingly dumb enough to walk out in front of me. I have no hope of ever killing a deer with a bow. A deer (or group of deer) have literally every single possible advantage over me in the woods. They can see better than me. They can hear better than me. They can smell me from a mile away (heck, my wife can smell me from several hundred yards, perhaps a deer has 2 miles to sniff me out!). They can run faster than me, jump higher than me, and walk through the woods virtually silent (sometimes).

The only way I will ever kill a deer is with the ONE advantage I can give myself: a projectile traveling ~3000 FPS.

And I take back my previous comment about it only being about guns. That first bite of fried tenderloin with some biscuits and gravy seems to ALWAYS hit the spot!