Synthetic or Wood stocks
 

Which do you guys prefer and why.

For me (IMO !)

A rifle is a tool, just like a good adjustable wrech.

I'm not going to keep it in pristine condition, but in good working order.

Sometimes it gets ugly/tough out there...........I don't want to be concerned about scratching the beautiful wood on my new gun.


I do like wood on a "fancy" shotguns though.


Synthetic & stainless steel as a rule for me.


Cleaning your gun is way overrated !!! LOL

Synthetic/carbon fiber for hunting.

Wood to look at.

Hmm.
 

Wood is much nicer to look at, and warmer to the touch. Probably prefer wood just slightly. Easy to mess up a nice wood stock during a hunt.

Synthetic can be much lighter, like the Brown stock I have on my 06. Makes it really nice to carry, and holds it zero year after year in all kinds of weather.

synthetic/stainless is my new go to, id make an exception for african big bores, wood for those and nice!

btw nice synthetics, they do exist.

average wood used on most rifles nowadays to me isn't any nicer than a quality synthetic stock.

I like that synthetics won't swell due to moisture changes etc... how they wear has little influence on me, a rifle is a tool, even a nice rifle with nice wood I never had problems nicking or banging around, a scratch is character of course I don't throw a rifle in the back of a pickup either, kinda baby them in the field actually, but if the stock bangs a tree and scars I care less.

Well for me I like the looks of wood. I too think of a rifle as a tool and if it isn't getting a few nicks n dings in it your not using it enough.
I read that all wood stocks should be bedded,what do you guys think?
Does that hold as true for synthetic stocks as well?
I'm partial to the Boyd laminated stock which I'm gonna replace my synthetic stock on my Rem. 700 with.
I'm reading up on how to bed the stock on the internet and I'm looking to get a book on it.Just a little unsure of myself because I never did it before.it doesn't seem to difficult...........that's what worries me LOL!!

I like the feel of wood but like the utility aspect of a good synthetic stock. I have and use both. I use the synthetic when I know there will be rain and wood for the better days.

call me old-school, but I like the traditional walnut

There are few things in life that I find sexier than a stainless steel rifle bedded down into a Laminate Wood stock...

Besides the looks, laminate wood stocks are very stiff, and VERY resistant to changes in the weather. Wood is warm and natural feeling, MUCH better than synthetic crap. Plus, they hide scratches from "hard use" much better than solid wood stocks.

I have both.

Good synthetics are superior for tough hunting...good wood looks and feels best. Flip a coin. I have both.

+1

I don't own anything with a synthetic stock. I know they are nice and all, but I always have the assumption that they take away the unique feel of a rifle or shotgun.

If my Savage .308 or Remington 870 12GA gets a scratch or ding, so be it. It only adds character and will have a story to tell for years to come.

Both my Marlin 336 & Rem. 870 have plenty of "character" but are in 100% perfect operating order.
I guess some guys like to keep their rifles looking like fine furniture and that's their bussiness but scrathes and dings from use never bothered me

SYNTHETIC AND STAINLESS AND FOR GET IT. That my opinion and that is like having a belly buttons everbody has one. You buy what you want and then you can have your opinion too. Jim

Synthetic for me. I'd rather have a stock that I don't have to worry about scratching up. If I had a really nice wood stock and it got scratched up, that would bother me. I'm just weird that way.

I have both. Its not "one or the other" for me. They both have a place and a use.

I prefer traditional wood stocks for the aesthetics, but i'm open to synthetic stocks if I know i'm gonna be roughin' it in bad weather.

I'm not to sure how much bad weather will effect a laminate or walnut stock,assuming the stock is properly finished.

I have both and I love a beautiful wood stock. There's nothing better looking then a high figured Walnut stock. Most of my hunting rifles are Ruger M77's All Weathers. No matter how careful you are you're going to bang them up. The synthetics are allot more foregiving. I recently got a couple Laminated stocks to put on a couple of my All Weathers. The extra weight should tame the recoil of the bigger calibers on a bench.
I agree guns are a tool but they are also a thing of beauty. For the range I have no problem using a wood stock. For hard use in the field you can't beat a synthetic stock.

I too have both but given the choice I'd take a nice walnut stock any day over a synthetic.

A properly finished and bedded wood stock will not exhibit any of the alleged "horror stories" that we always hear about.

Men have been using blued walnut rifles in places like the NW coast and Alaska for a heck of a long time before stainless and tupperware stocks came along.

+1 here!!!!!!!!

I Love the looks and feel of my Rifles with the wood stocks,I usually take good care of them and watch how I carry and handle them...I've had several of my good Rifles out in good and bad weather,when I get back home or to Camp I dry them off and put them in their holder/carrying case.I have a Remington Modle 742 Semi-Automatic 30-06 Rifle that it over 35 years old..it still looks very nice and only has a small amount of scrapes and dings on it.I may consider buying a Synthetic Stock Rifle if I get a Predator Varmint gun that will be out in mostly bad weather...but then the idea of a CZ-USA American in a .204 with the wood stock is so much more appealing?....got love the beauty of a well done walnut stock! :D