Stock Preference Poll
 

You're buying a new rifle. Which would you choose if all three options were available for the gun you want?


THE BRONKO ADDENDUM: :s2: See the three options in the poll box above the thread.

all three options being??? Being a lefty, of all the inlines I've mounted (on my shoulder) I really like the feel of the CVA stocks. And their ambidexterous thumbhole style really fits me well. I can grip it comfortably and hold the rifle very steady.

This was a tough one. I had mentioned in one of the other threads of how I like the looks of the laminate and even wood better but in the end I will choose the good quality synthetic so that's what I voted for.

Semi, I voted for the laminate but it would have to be a thumbhole. :D

A nice recoil pad on any of the three makes for a comfortable range session. Some stocks just feel better than others. I went with a SPS varmint stock on my latest build. Brand new take off for $50 delivered. A good price to see if I liked it. I then and added a LimbSaver recoil pad and had it dipped in a color I wanted. Very comfy!

What ya got stirring? You don't need another gun do you? :lolabove:

My vote reflects my opinion for a durable all weather, all conditions hunting stock.

If it was a wall hanger I would want a nice looking walnut of laminate stock,

I'm with Omega45 on the laminate stock with the thumbhole design . To me both synthetic and laminate stock's over time well get cuts and dents if they get used much a all.
Now you can look at it this way ,you can sand an reseal (oil) a laminate stock or you can dip a synthetic . So that being said, you might as well shoot the stock that is comfortable to you .

I prefer AAA curley maple.... :)

Given a choice, i would choose wood. Laminate isn't too bad. The X7, and the Mountaineer stocks are kinda appealing to my eye. Synthetic just isn't my cup of tea. To me they serve no function. Some say the synthetic is best for hunting in poor weather. Some feel a properly bedded laminate is every bit as weather worthy. I am inclined to agree. Laminate stocks shouldn't warp in wet miserable cold weather. Wood stocks do warp some sometimes. I would rather all my rifles had pretty wood stocks.

The most accurate rifle in my house, has a synthetic stock. I would rather it had a pretty wood stock

I like the looks of wood best but the laminates have grown on me. I like to put a little finish inside of them to make them more weather proof. The synthetics are functional and some of them look halfways decent. They do the job as well.
Art

Like many, I prefer the look of laminate and wood, however, the durability of synthetic is hard to overcome.

I bought a flawless laminate Disc Etreme and put a few nick in it just cleaning it up with slight bumps around the shop. It bugged me so much I bought a synthetic thumb hole off of eBay for every day use and have the laminate in bubble wrap. I know it's silly but every nick irritated me.

I like the looks of the laminate stocks but both my TC Omega & Vortex CB I bought for the price/quality have the synthetic TH stocks so I have grown to like them. Both shoot extremely well for me. I sort of wish my Z5 had the RealTree cammo like the cb.

I love laminated stocks and voted that way, but deep down I know the wiser choice for hunting is the synthetic.

I like the looks of nice piece of maple or walnut over a piece of plastic. I do admit the laminates look nice but I wonder about their durability and glues coming unglued over time. A good piece of wood will last a lifetime and the character and patina of a hundred year old rifle has no other peers.

HA

Me too! Like that 'character and patina' part.

Myself, i highly doubt the glue in a laminate stock will fail any time soon. It is plastic after all, isn't it?

Are you really sure. It seems to me that a laminate stock is ever bit as resistant to swelling, contraction, etc., as a synthetic stock. Right or wrong?

synthetic stock for me on inlines. Maple or walnut on sidelocks. Even beech on a sidelock looks great IF you redo the stock yourself LOL.

I am with you on that Ron, the glue should be less likely to fail than the wood itself. The changing grain directions in the layers of wood make a laminate stock strong and quite stable.

I prefer the looks of a laminate stock. Most synthetic stocks just look cheap to me, especially the camo ones. My omega has a laminate stock and when I bought my Endeavor the first thing I did was buy a laminate stock for it and sold the synthetic one. Laminate adds more weight but it doesn't bother me one bit.

I have a few LAMINATED Stocks and never had a problem with any of them. There so pretty you can even SLEEP with them and not feel guilty.;)

Well............um..............as long as the barrel isn't in it.

I prefer wood but nobody puts them on inlines anymore that I know of.

The one time I would take a Synthetic is with the recoil cushion TC makes it works well for me on certain guns with a 140 grain BH load which it shoots with minute of angle accuracy. I only wonder if this is an idiosyncrasy of my Endeavor or if all the Endeavors prefer that heavy a load with certain bullets because there are some like the 250 Deep Curl with shoot quite well with 110 or some with 120 grains.

Most all my guns are working guns! A good all weather stock is important to me... :fighting0007:

A Model M240:



Saying that, I do like a good fine wood grain stock.

My Kimber 84m in .338 Federal:



Laminated stocks are fine, but heavy. They do look good though. Don't have a rifle with a laminated stock, I do have this handgun though:

My G2 Contender, with a .375 JDJ:

I like laminate

I like laminate for most uses. But if I was going on a long mountain hike I would consider synthetic both for the weight and to save it from getting beat up too bad.

Ron I'm not doubting the abilities of a laminated stock, I have them and do hunt with them. There are a few concerns though and this is why a say what I say about the synthetic deep down. 1. You tend to "baby" the laminate more because you simply don't want to scratch or dent it at all. 2. In very harsh weather, the laminates will be affected more by the elements than the synthetic in the long run. 3. Most generally the laminates weigh more than the synthetics. For long hauls this will have a tow on the hunt. Don't get me wrong, I hunt with a laminated gun and love it, I think it is a great gun, but there are a few hangups that make me believe that the synthetic is a more versatile all around stock.

i thoroughly detest Tupperware in all it variations. Most of my guns have walnut stocks. i've hunted in rain, snow, sleet and a blizzard or two. Never had any problem with my walnut stocked or laminated stock guns.

+1 Yep! Yet i love the looks of a fine wood stock but as I said on the first page I prefer good synthetic for hunting in our sometimes lousy weather and physical hunting environment.

I really wish Northern Idaho were flatter and had nice even 50-55* degree weather - no never mind I like hunting the snow.

No, i don't baby my wood or laminate stock.

What i have learned about tools, is the worst thing a tool can endure is disrespect from poor craftsmen.

I have always been hard on tools, but i have always admired, and respected good tool. One can't baby the tool, when one is trying to maximize production for the company.

When i carry a rifle, i don't want to carry a rifle that doesn't feel or look good to me. My rifle hunts. My rifle may be the prettiest wood on this side of Rapid City; even so, it goes with me into the brush. Right or wrong, it is my opinion the finest walnut wants to be used for hunting. My rifle has dings, scratches, and places of no finish. It is pretty to me, and it feels good in my hands. My rifle hunts and kills. My rifle will be stocked with wood, laminate, or synthetic, if need be.

Myself, i will choose laminate over synthetic whenever i have the choice. The laminate may get dinged or scratched, but not because i wish it to. Right or wrong, it is my opinion that laminate is as good in foul weather as synthetic.

Twelve year i hunted damp Western Montana with a solid walnut stock. Many years more hunting the East side of the continental divide of Montana. Not once whilst hunting wet, cold, miserable conditions, did i ever miss an elk, because the stock was warped. Last year i hunted but one day when my rifle stock got soaked. Too bad i can't write, i nailed a big buck that day with a wet laminate stock. Truth is, i didn't see a dang thing to shoot at. Last year i hunted but one day when the rifle stock got soaked; i hunted 50 day when it didn't. Given a choice, i will never again spend a day afield whilst my coat, cap, and rifle are getting soaked.

Perhaps those that pay for a two week trip hunting in Alaska, would be smart to bring along a stainless synthetic rifle. I wouldn't know; i have never done it. However, i admit to wondering how Jack O'Connor managed those many trips to Alaska whilst packing a blue walnut rifle.

That is easy... his rifle(s) were action and full length bedded in fiberglass - essentually a composite stock on the inside - so that barrel heat or ambient temperature heat or cold, water or snow did not move move the barreled action changing POI. And as everybody else has indicated the outside was sealed tight with a finish.

I have an old PO Ackley 30-06 Improved that was done the same way by Ackley himself. If I had a wood stocked hunting stock - it would and did get the same treatment - with a composit not necessary if the barreled action is bedded correctly. It would never have a floating barrel as guns do today.

Remember the pre-64 model 70 the O'Connor used even had a screw way up in the forearm that tied the barrel to the forearm - no movement at all

Keep in mind the oil finish used on rifle in Jack O'Connor day did not provide a 'seal'. Even though the outside of the walnut stock was finished, it wasn't 'sealed'. Them hand rubbed oil finished walnut stock, were pretty, but they were not 'sealed' from the weather.

I voted synthetic.

I love the beauty of a real wood stock, and have owned several examples of nature's ability to create beauty over the years.
I could be "politically correct" and say I'm voting synthetic to protect the destruction of the forest, but in fact I'm sometimes careless and have been known to put a cosmetic blemish (scratch or dent) on a beautiful piece of wood. When this happens it haunts me for days that I was so careless and I'm guilt ridden over it.

With synthetic the material itself looks so lifeless and bland it possesses no real beauty to my eyes, so how is a scratch or dent going to damage it? I can take the synthetic stock to the fields & woods and treat it as rough as I like and it still looks no worse.
It will never look "beautiful". ;)

I voted for a good quality synthetic stock, preferably in one of Mossy Oak's patterns. Im more into durability and ruggedness when it comes to a stock on a ML. Where I hunt it could be snowing, raining, hot or cold, all these conditions ar'nt good for wood or laminantes. Plus I never know where I'll end up the day Im hunting, it coud be in some thick stuff with briars, down a steep ravine, ect and I put my ML through some tough goings. So I need a good synthetic stock to hold up to the elements and all the other stuff It's put through.
At the end of the day and hunt I just wipe her clean and she's as good as new.
(BP)

This is for all of you guys that need a synthetic stock to stand up to the elements. ;)

Lol, that is great.

As long as a rifle doesn't have a cheap plastic bb gunstock.:rant:
My deer rifle wears a hs precision stock so its impervious to the elements, but you can't beat feel and warmth of wood, so i put a laminate stock in my 6br since it is a rifle i shoot the most.