stubblejumper

Guilty as charged.I was typing as I was doing something else and typed wood by mistake.

Pygmy

I knew that.... Hence my ......

I'm somewhat of a duffer as far as rifles go, but I know enough ( and have enough grey hairs) to recognize a poster who knows of what he speaks, and you qualify in that respect...

gmil6184

I used to think plastic stocks looked cool, but in my old age (24 years old, hahahaha) i'm starting to realize that nothing is prettier then blue steel and a wood stock. I the synthetic stocks have lots of advantages but there is something special about a nice piece of walnut.

stubblejumper

If you buy rifles to look at ,pretty may be better for you,but I buy rifles to hunt with,so I will stick to a quality synthetic stock like Mcmillan,which by the way is not made of plastic.

Pygmy

I will not argue againstthe utility of synthetic stocks and stainless steel...

However, I love walnut and blued metal, and IMHO, Life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun..... But that's just me.. One concession I'll make is for laminate...My pet .280 wears a brown laminate stock and I find it rather attractive...It's also less prone to changes from humidiity than a walnut stock..

I've never babied my hunting rifles..On a couple of my wilderness hunts my rifle got soaked every day.. The stock DID swell, but there was no change of impact that I could detect.. That's not saying it doesn't happen, though.. A good coat of automotive paste wax, like Turtle Wax, goes a long way to protect the metal finish ...

However I have no disagreement with the old axiom " Form Follows Function"...

Also, beauty is in the eye of the beholder..A lot of people like the looks of synthetic/stainless , I'm just not one of them...

Bernie P.

One thing to consider is your location/weather.In my area it goes from one extreme to the other every year.

stubblejumper

I have been on sheep and elk hunts where it rained non stop for several days at a time.It's nice to be able to just wipe the moisture off of my stainless barreled actions and mcmillan stocks,and not have to worry about rust or a change in the point of impact.Laminate is certainly much less effected by moisture than walnut,but even it isn't as stable as a top quality synthetic stock.

stalkingbear

Go with the walnut stocked model. It's prettier and will be a rifle to cherish. The sythetic stocked versions are more stable and damage resistant but I look at them as simply tools. The finish is VERY tough on the wood stocked models and they come glass bedded factory. Congrats on your choice!

stubblejumper

Since I buy guns to shoot bullets at targets,and at game,I consider all guns to be tools.A Prettier gun certainly doesn't do the job any better,and even a glass bedded walnut stock is not going to be as strong or as stable as a quality synthetic stock.I would rather have a plainer looking gun that has a consistent point of impact,than one that looks pretty,but is not as consistent.But if your priority is how pretty a gun is,rather than a consistent point of impact,a wood stock might be a better choice for you.

stalkingbear

Well said stubblejumper but look where you live. Down here we can actually have both in same package.