First and foremost, my rifle is a tool. That means that I prefer to have my stainless synthetic .270, or my stainless blued .300 Win Mag in my hands if I'm climbing mountains, banging the stock into rocks, could put it in a puddle, have it subjected to high humidity or freezing temperatures, etc - oh, and I'd much prefer to carry it across the three or four mountains it'll take to find my elk than a piece of wood. If I get out of the woods at the end of the day and my synthetic stock has a big scuff on it, I feel no guilt about it.

Now, if I were going hunting tomorrow in Georgia with my dad, where I'm going to walk 200 yards into the woods, climb a tree, and sit for a while in the sunshine, definitely give me a beautiful wood-stocked gun in my hands.