soarkrebel

Well on all of my wood stocked guns i have put synthetic on. i still have the wood but the syn. takes abuse better. remington factory stocks are cheap enough that on them you can do it affordable. (synthetic) i just prefer synthetic. it all boils down to taste.

fillae

Thanks for all the responses!

I think it will come down to availability and $. A found an a-bolt composite stalker for $519. I'll probably go with that.

Thanks again.

KILLER X

I like wood because it looks good and it feels good to shoot. I my friend has a synthetic on his ruger and wishes he would have got wood.

stubblejumper

Which is more important to you,looks or function?I buy my guns to shoot not to look at and synthetics are more stable than wood.I will not sacrifice consistancy for appearance.

Edited by - stubblejumper on 03/01/2002 14:37:52

rockytop

I agree with all said but would add, don't buy a cheap synthetic stock. Ruger makes or did make a synthetic that is totally worthless. It will flex around the barrel and touch the barrel in different places depending on how you hold it, thus blowing your accuracy all to hell. I now have Hoag pillar bedded stock on my ruger and its a nail driver. With the original ruger synthetic it shot terrible groups. Good luck.

Mainehunter

If you take care of your firearm, that's the complete firearm including the stock, you won't have any of these bad effects from snow or rain. I hunt in the thick woods, in the cold, snow and rain and have never experienced any problems with my wood stocks. I am however one that spends some time on the care of my rifles. If it gets wet and you leave it wet after you get home it can cause damage. I also own only blued rifles. My 1895SS looks almost like it did when it came out of the box on day one.
I don't know about anyone else but I have found that applying some lubricating oil to the stock as well as the steel helps to preserve the like new look. It also seems to minimize the appearance of any dings or minor scratches that you might pick up over the years.
Besides, wood does look and feel better.

REM74

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I much prefer wood stocks, but must agree with Wolf6151 that the synthetics are far more stable and suitable for a practical hunting rifle. However, I am old fashioned, and like to see both wood and steel, rather than polymer and plastic!!

Larry
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I agree 100%.

BOLTACTION

Once upon a time I purchased firearms because of their beauty rather than their usefulness. Boy was I foolish...I was foolish, not other people. It took me a while to realize I should have been more concerned with a rifle's utility. No matter how good it looks, if I can't (or won't) use it because of it's beauty I don't need it. I buy firearms for USE not necessarily their looks. As a general rule I like bolt action rifles with synthetic stocks because in my experience they can take a lot more &quot;abuse&quot; and all things being equal they do assist in absorbing recoil. As strange as this may seem, I prefer wood stocks on lever action rifles. Ha! This shows that opinions are worth a dime a dozen.

Everyone have a great week-end,
Boltaction

&quot;Unless we protect the freedoms we enjoy, we will one day have no freedoms to enjoy.&quot;

Briman

There must be something wrong with my eyes because I can't see owning a gun with a plastic handle. I not only like the look of nice wood but also the feel of it. A few scratches and dings add character. The small loss of accuracy is of no concern to me as I use my rifles for deer and plinking, an 1/2&quot; off at 100 yards isn't going to ruin my day.
If I lived in an area where long range shooting at varmints was common or was into benchrest shooting, then I would probably opt for the plastic.

On the other hand, if you aren't going to spend the extra money for a nice wood stock but opt for the mossberg level barn lumber for a stock, then it makes much more sense to get a synthetic.

sothrdnk

Wood, good wood looks great. With that being said I have to relay a story that made me go to synthetics. I had a rifle built using a mauser 98 action. Everything was redone, shilen barrel, timney trigger, bolt rebuilt and balanced and jeweled, then I had a local stockmaker make a mannlicker stock for it using dark walnut. It turned out beatifull trouble was I didn't have time to hunt with it because I was coaching H.S. baseball and my boys were playing sports and we were buildig cars etc. ( too busy )Anyway I shot it at the range occasionally and it was a tack driver. Finally, about six years ago I started hunting again and took it in the woods, after the first couple of dings I got over being mad. One week I went to Ala. for a hunting trip and wound up hunting 3 days in pouring rain, never saw a deer until the 4th and last day, the rain died down at daybreak and a beautifull 10 point stepped out at about 110 yards, no problem. I held dead on and fired, the buck just stood there looking my way wondering what happened. Anyway, when I got home I set up a target at 75 yards to see where it was hitting, it was over a foot low and it was due to severe wood swelling from the heavy rain. I have NEVER hunted with a wood stock again, I put synthetics on all my guns.

SOTHRDNK