Wood or synthetic stock
 

Now that I've decided to buy a Browning X-Bolt in a .270, do I want the Hunter or the Stalker? Most of my guns have wood stocks and no problems. My duck gun has a synthetic stock because of the water and mud associated with duck hunting. I like the feel of the wood. FYI, i did contact Remington Arms about a straight stock on the Model 700. Their response was, "we don't make one. Sorry".

I'm not sure I'll ever own another wood stock... aside from some african big bores, 416, 458.

stainless and synthetic is in my future...

of course synthetic stocks vary greatly in quality/aesthetics if you ask me, as far as look, feel, etc...

i really like wooden stocks. even though i have a synthetic. i know a lot of people who have wooden stock for years with no problems. If your afraid about dinging up the wood go with synthetic.

A hunting rifle is a "tool" for me...............save the wood for furniture !

Wood is nice for some fancy rig that you take to the range for the boyz to gawk at. LOL

Tully - just so you know; when you talk about a "straight stock" it is referring to the area where you grip the rifle (with the right hand for "righties").

http://www.ehow.com/how_6822409_chan...lin-rifle.html

So, is that what you mean ?


Or, are you talking about where your cheek makes contact on the stock ?

Sheridan,

By a straight stock, I mean that it does not have a raised cheek piece. My son has a Model 7 CDL that has a straight stock. Most shotguns have straight stocks.

Tully,

"raised cheek piece" which is called a raised comb, looks like this (this one is ajustable).
http://www.browning.com/products/cat...3&tid=254&bg=x


Straight stock (also called English stock), looks like this.

http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/...case-hardened/

See how the stock is "straight" from the bottom of the reciever to the bottom of the butt plate.


That's just FYI.........................I'm trying to help.

Okay, I'm done now !!!

I love the look of wood stocks, and for years it's all I would buy. However, I've come to the realization that I like synthetic stocks on rifles that will see a lot of hard use. I prefer the synthetic over wood that's beat up with lots of finish worn off, which seems to be the case with most rifles I hunt with. If I'm buying something to just take to the range or keep as a safe queen though, I highly prefer wood.

Hmmm... Maybe I'm an "old school" type of guy. I prefer wood stocks on rifles and shotguns. There is just something unique about them and their feel and handling. Also, a wood gun should not be kept as a "safe queen" - unless of course, it's a prized ancient, Winchester .30-30 from around 1935 or something like that. Every ding, mark, scratch, etc... on a wood stock rifle or shotgun has a story behind it.

Synthetic? Eh, no thanks...

I've heard this before and I always wonder, what do you mean?

just feel not as nice? ie like velvet vs sandpaper? personal taste/preference?

or do you mean physically colder/cooler on your hand? because when it's cold out I usually wear gloves...?

I much prefer wood stocks if given the choice. If sealed with the proper finish they are just as weather proof as a synthetic stock. Life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun.

IMO the wood stocks on the X-Bolts are better. I found the synthetic stock on the X-Bolt to be less rigid in the forearm and it also had that "hollow" sound in the butt.

I like both, but probably prefer wood. My main hunting rifle has the original 25yo wood stock it came with. Yeah, its banged up...but it sure has done me well. My next gun will likely have a laminated wood stock, and stainless barrel. I love that combo.

Same here. I have a blued blackpowder rifle that I have to worry about the powder corroding. I bought a TC Encore in stainless and I don't worry about the powder or water.

I have a Browning BAR .30-06 with a wood stock and blued barrel. It is the pretties gun I have but it is a working gun. It doesn't get to hang above the fireplace and look pretty. It has to go out in the field and earn it's keep. :) So it has some nicks and dings but I don't worry about it.

Now I did do something stupid with the Browning a couple years ago. I shot a deer right at dark, leaned the gun up against a tree, attached a drag rope, threw on my pack and headed out of the woods. I hung the deer and skinned and deboned it. Then I went to bed (I hunt at my house).

The next morning I get up and wonder where my gun is. In a fit of fear, I threw on my boots and ran out to the woods and there it was, leaned up against the tree. The worst part is we had an ice storm that night. :s7: So tore the gun down and cleaned and oiled it thoroughly. If it had been stainless steel, I would not have been stainless steel with a synthetic stock I would not have been as worried about it.

Thanks for the imput, Sheridan.

I'm opposite...wood seems to be colder to me. Not as cold as aluminum but colder then my synthetic stocks...maybe us guys on the west coast are just a little tougher... :s3:

Good comments.

wood stocks
 

[quote=bigbulls;3889491]I much prefer wood stocks if given the choice. If sealed with the proper finish they are just as weather proof as a synthetic stock. Life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun.[/quote]

+1000

I hunted for about 40 years with my walnut stocked .30-06/.30 Gibbs. I hunted elk with it almost every one of those years in all kinds of weather, and it rode many miles in a leather scabbard on the side of my horse. I hunted with it in Colorado, Montana, and Alaska. The checkering shows some wear, but overall, the stock is still in excellent shape.

I also have over 30 years of hunting with my fancy walnut stocked .257 Ackley. It's been on probably 4 or 5 dozen deer and antelope hunts and a number of bighorn sheep hunts. It's also still in very good shape.

About 10 years ago I broke down and bought a Rem 700 in 7mm Rem mag. It has a stainless barrel and action, and is in a plastic Remington stock. I did take it on one hunt in South Africa, and I have used it on several deer, pronghorn and elk hunts, but I mainly keep it as a backup rifle for wet, and foul weather hunts.

My main rifle now for elk and probably any hunts outside of Montana is a .300 Weatherby that I stocked in AA Fancy walnut. I finished it with over a dozen hand rubbed coats of Tru-oil and I rub it with stock wax before every hunt.

I've also heard that Thompsons Water Seal can be applied over the finish of a wood stock and it will repel water and not damage the finish.

By the way, bigbulls, GREAT AVATAR!!!! :cool2:

Wood to look at, synthetic to hunt with. All of my rifles and shotguns are now synthetic.

I prefer a Wood Stock Gun/Rifle...if I'm going to keep it for many years and take care of it there's nothing nicer looking than a Firearm with great looking Wood on it!My Browning A-Bolt Hunter .243 Bolt-action Rifle has the low luster shine on the wood and a blued barrel,then I put a matte-black Leupold scope on it also,to me a Shiny Rifle isn''t the best thing to take out Hunting if You don't want to show up like a shiny new diamond ring or have glare coming off Your Gun where the Game Your Hunting could very well see it?

If I'm going to get a Rifle/Gun out in the harsh Weather and use it a lot I would highly reccomend a Synthetic Stock.......my Savage Axis XP Camo Rifle is a great shooting Rifle and it see's a lot of rain,snow and cold weather when Hunting for Coyotes,Bobcats and Foxes.

I've been told a Synthetic Stock Bolt-Action Rifle will shoot much better/more Accurate then a Wood Stock Rifle and I tend to believe that...my Friend sighted in His newer Remington Bolt-action 30-06 with the Synthetic Black Stock and I was amazed at how accurate and well grouped the Rifle Shot!

To each their own. But...

And that is why I am a wood stock kind of guy.

I have both and i prefer to hunt with a good composite, especially a good Kelvar/graphite composite that only weighs about 20ozs or less.

On a snowy winter evening I love to sit by the fire and admire the beautiful wood and rich blue on my wood stocked rifles.

When I head out up the mountain it's almost always a stainless / synthetic rifle that goes with me.

My teenage sons and myself are heading to the range in the morning. About an hour ago I pulled 4 rifles out of the safe and laid them on the floor, all were synthetic with matte bluing, borrrring. Wasn't planning on it but I was forced to grab a couple wood stocked beauties just to add character. Nothing wrong with synthetic but something special about nice walnut or even laminate. As I get older, I'm not as worried about the dings and scratches, I say their from "use not abuse".

It depends on the gun. A high end heirloom quality gun usually only comes in wood and that's because a high quality English/French high grade walnut blank to make the stock cost as much as the average rifle. Synthetic stocks on a high end rifle is about as appealing as plastic leather on a Porsche 911, which you can't get for the same reasons as mentioned. I believe in shooting/hunting with all my guns regardless of price. Good walnut is tough and has been the standard from the beginning. Every mark tells a story and only adds to the character. I have no emotional attachments to my synthetic/stainless rifles. They are a tool and that's it. Rifles under $1k can go either way. Cheap rifles are better with synthetic stocks than with a poor wood stock not properly bedded. Good high quality walnut stocks are expensive and need to be done correctly and when bedded correctly they will hold up every bit as good as plastic stocks.

I think part of the problem with wood these days is that unless you are buying a (very) high-end gun, the quality just isn't there any more. I have an old 8mm Mauser that my Grandfather had a custom Monte Carlo stock put on in the 1950s that's still in great shape. I also have an 870 that's 6 years old that hasn't worn so well. So, for my average purchase, I will be buying synthetic (and probably stainless as well, because I haven't been real happy with some of the bluing on my recent purchases).