I think I'm through with synthetic rifles!
08-02-2005, 08:20 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location:
Posts: 2,052
I think I'm through with synthetic rifles!
Yesterday I bought the lil 22/250 Savage (11GNS) and lastnight I took it down too the bare wood, got out the linseed oil and began handrubbing everything down both internal and external. The lil piece of wood actually looks very good and has a fantastic, straight grain too it and really woke up once the oil worked into it. I left it under a ceiling fan all night and this morning it looks like an entirely different gun. The lil stock looks like something from Ruger or Browning instead of one from Savage (now if I could just do something with that typical Savage bluing! 
).
I realized then that I am FINISHED with synthetic guns. I have a safe full of guns and this was the 10th centerfire that is in it. 3/4s of them are synthetic "tools" but the wood guns just have so much more character and "warmth" too them. I have found NOS Kane's Gun Chaps for just about all of them now. I doubt I will bother with one for this Savage as it isn't going to be a traveling gun so I doubt it will get knocked around.
My next big game caliber will be a 300WSM and I was deadset on the Abolt Titanium, but after playing around with that wood stock lastnight I realized that I am now back on plans for something like a Abolt White Gold, possibly even a standard Medallion, a new Savage 14 American Classic or my another, which is a question I pose for anyone that might know. Will the new Weatherby Vanguard short actions fit into the old Vanguard Deluxe Custom (look just like the Mk V Deluxe stocks with maple spacers and rosewood caps and high comb Monte Carlo butt) stocks? I know Weatherby just "re-introed" the Vanguard Classic which features high gloss wood and a rosewood cap, but it still isn't as "classic Weatherby" as the old Vanguard Deluxe stocks. I can find shortaction Deluxe stocks here and there, just wandered if they fit (or can be slightly inletted to fit) the new 300WSM versions?
IMHO synthetic guns are no different than a box of allen wrenches or screwdrivers, just tools. An attractive wood gun with nice accents is not only a tool but takes on their own personality and almost becomes a "friend" while in use. Does that make sense?
RA
). I realized then that I am FINISHED with synthetic guns. I have a safe full of guns and this was the 10th centerfire that is in it. 3/4s of them are synthetic "tools" but the wood guns just have so much more character and "warmth" too them. I have found NOS Kane's Gun Chaps for just about all of them now. I doubt I will bother with one for this Savage as it isn't going to be a traveling gun so I doubt it will get knocked around.
My next big game caliber will be a 300WSM and I was deadset on the Abolt Titanium, but after playing around with that wood stock lastnight I realized that I am now back on plans for something like a Abolt White Gold, possibly even a standard Medallion, a new Savage 14 American Classic or my another, which is a question I pose for anyone that might know. Will the new Weatherby Vanguard short actions fit into the old Vanguard Deluxe Custom (look just like the Mk V Deluxe stocks with maple spacers and rosewood caps and high comb Monte Carlo butt) stocks? I know Weatherby just "re-introed" the Vanguard Classic which features high gloss wood and a rosewood cap, but it still isn't as "classic Weatherby" as the old Vanguard Deluxe stocks. I can find shortaction Deluxe stocks here and there, just wandered if they fit (or can be slightly inletted to fit) the new 300WSM versions?
IMHO synthetic guns are no different than a box of allen wrenches or screwdrivers, just tools. An attractive wood gun with nice accents is not only a tool but takes on their own personality and almost becomes a "friend" while in use. Does that make sense?
RA
08-02-2005, 08:55 AM
#2
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location:
Posts: 486
RE: I think I'm through with synthetic rifles!
I have to agree; I think a wood stock just looks better.
There's something about the grain in walnut that is really beautiful to me.
Maybe synthetics are more "practical," but they just don't have any appeal for me.
There's something about the grain in walnut that is really beautiful to me.
Maybe synthetics are more "practical," but they just don't have any appeal for me.
08-02-2005, 08:58 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Olive Branch MS USA
Posts: 1,032
RE: I think I'm through with synthetic rifles!
There's room in my gun cabinet for both kinds. The synthetic variety may not be as attractive to look at, but they arefunctionally superior. To me all guns are tools, no matter how pretty they are. You mention that to you wood stocked guns are almost like "friends". As much as I like and enjoy my guns, I just can't think of them like that.
08-02-2005, 09:15 AM
#4
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location:
Posts: 109
RE: I think I'm through with synthetic rifles!
When I was younger, I liked the feel and looks of wood. However, as I age I realize that a gun (speaking for myself only) is just like a set of tools. My only interest now is practicality/function. Synthetic makes more sense to me.But to those who prefer wood, Ihope gun makers continue to offerguns with wood as an option.
08-02-2005, 09:24 AM
#5
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location:
Posts: 2,052
RE: I think I'm through with synthetic rifles!
lol SM I guess it's because I am crazier than most! I have synthetics in 30/06, 7mag, both my muzzleloaders, two of my turkey guns and of course my Warbird. All the others are wood and I find myself increasingly "drawn" too them. I guess it's more a stage than anything. I have been doing this for 20 years now and because I work in the business I guess I am just entering another phase where I am more concerned with certain aspects of the hunt (I think I've heard it called the "asthetics" of the hunt) than I am with all out hardcore pursuit. All my personal goals I have attained, I have P&Y bucks with my bows, a 150+" buck with my gun, a B&C elk, nice mulies and antelope I've taken as well. I don't say that to brag, I just mean that perhaps I have "been there done that" too the point that I am more motivated by now teaching my young kids and others the art and enjoyment of hunting than actually doing so myself. I really don't care if I kill another whitetail buck in all honesty. But the thought of the occasional trip too wherever and more importantly, doing so with my kids... THAT is what I see motivating my future. I'm more pumped about my annual gunhunt in southern MO this fall more because I am going to be using my recently deceased step-fathers 300Wby Deluxe that he left me than I am with the concern that we have taken bucks over 160" on the place and it is a great place and time for my family and friends each year!
The gun thing is partially a desire to collect em and partially a desire to "change up the scenery" every now and then with a new arm. Over half the reason I even bother gunhunting is because I like rifles so much. I would MUCH rather take the animals on "one on one" with my bow than anything in my safe. BUT I so much enjoy a rifle that I continue to use them more for an "individual" reason than because they are a tool and will get the job done. I know I am going on a few more hunts out west before I begin taking my kids out there. But the prospect of going out there with a "classic" beckons me more than taking something like my SS Stalker 7mag/VXIII which I KNOW is more than capable and would probably be the most practical rifle I have for such trips.
I don't know, like I said I guess it's just a stage I am going through. BUT one thing is for sure, it's all still FUN and THAT is the reason for doing it in the first place right?
RA
I have synthetics in 30/06, 7mag, both my muzzleloaders, two of my turkey guns and of course my Warbird. All the others are wood and I find myself increasingly "drawn" too them. I guess it's more a stage than anything. I have been doing this for 20 years now and because I work in the business I guess I am just entering another phase where I am more concerned with certain aspects of the hunt (I think I've heard it called the "asthetics" of the hunt) than I am with all out hardcore pursuit. All my personal goals I have attained, I have P&Y bucks with my bows, a 150+" buck with my gun, a B&C elk, nice mulies and antelope I've taken as well. I don't say that to brag, I just mean that perhaps I have "been there done that" too the point that I am more motivated by now teaching my young kids and others the art and enjoyment of hunting than actually doing so myself. I really don't care if I kill another whitetail buck in all honesty. But the thought of the occasional trip too wherever and more importantly, doing so with my kids... THAT is what I see motivating my future. I'm more pumped about my annual gunhunt in southern MO this fall more because I am going to be using my recently deceased step-fathers 300Wby Deluxe that he left me than I am with the concern that we have taken bucks over 160" on the place and it is a great place and time for my family and friends each year! The gun thing is partially a desire to collect em and partially a desire to "change up the scenery" every now and then with a new arm. Over half the reason I even bother gunhunting is because I like rifles so much. I would MUCH rather take the animals on "one on one" with my bow than anything in my safe. BUT I so much enjoy a rifle that I continue to use them more for an "individual" reason than because they are a tool and will get the job done. I know I am going on a few more hunts out west before I begin taking my kids out there. But the prospect of going out there with a "classic" beckons me more than taking something like my SS Stalker 7mag/VXIII which I KNOW is more than capable and would probably be the most practical rifle I have for such trips.
I don't know, like I said I guess it's just a stage I am going through. BUT one thing is for sure, it's all still FUN and THAT is the reason for doing it in the first place right?
RA
08-02-2005, 10:05 AM
#6
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 62
RE: I think I'm through with synthetic rifles!
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!
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!
08-02-2005, 10:07 AM
#7
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Colorado
Posts: 4,127
RE: I think I'm through with synthetic rifles!
The main advantage of synthetics is not cosmetic - the good ones (McMillan, H-S Precision) will hold zero better than most wood stocks. Butsome wood stocks are quite stable - particularly if glass bedded and free floated. You won't know until you start shooting your wood stocked rifle - and figure out its "personality".
08-02-2005, 11:27 AM
#9
Typical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location:
Posts: 579
RE: I think I'm through with synthetic rifles!
I agree with you. I just cannot stand to get a single scratch on a beautiful woodstock. So I've opted for laminated on most of my rifles. The feel of wood with better looks than a synthetic. You can also get some awesome grain patterns from Richards Microfit and others.
08-02-2005, 12:02 PM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Olive Branch MS USA
Posts: 1,032
RE: I think I'm through with synthetic rifles!
Well Red, it sounds like your priorities are in the right place. I just like to remind folks whiletrying not to be too preachy that people are friends, guns are just things.