Wood gun duck hunters
 

I realize a plastic stock is more functional for waterfowl hunting. I just picked up a walnut browing silver hunter, been on one hunt so far w/ no problems, gun feels and shoots great, gloss blued barrel and silver receiver didnt seem to spook ducks any. I did kinda feel like I had to baby it alot more than my old stoeger 2000.

How many people hunt waterfowl with a wood stock gun? Ever had a problem with the wood swelling?

have only ever hunted ducks with wood stock gun, never had a problem, and I use a browning. of course as long as you are not laying it in water and if the finish gets ruined then refinish, but my gun after about 15 yrs, in great shape.

cool, welcome to the forum. what model browning is it?

I haven't hunted waterfowl since I was a teenager, but my old man has been using the same Remington 870 since before I was born (I'm in my 30s). There is zero finish left on that poor thing, but it still gets meat!

Oh btw, if you didn't know this already, the gun is older than plastic stocks, so his are wood.

I hunt with a wood stocked A5 Magnum from time to time, but the last 3 or 4 yrs I have been using a Stalker and a Cynergy Composite.

A wood stock is ok. Take the time to treat it with boiled linseed oil before the season starts and you won't ever have any trouble with it swelling. Remove the butt pad and coat the end as well. If it is an old gun, put a good coat on it and let it soak in, add another coat or two for good measure. Composite stocks are hollow and can retain water for a long time if not drained after being submerged. Linseed oil is cheap and a quart will last you for years.

If you have the stock shortened on a wood stocked gun, be certain that the raw wood is sealed properly. Otherwise if the butt gets wet the wood WILL swell and it's hard to keep the butt out of the water at all times.

I don't think it's so much an aspect of the feel of the gun but I think it all depends on where you hunt ducks. I love wood shotguns but I would nick, ding and bang one up pretty easily in some of the places that I hunt. My 2 ducks guns I see as tools, I treat them with care, give them love but in the end I won't loose sleep if one(and it has, many times) gets dings on it.

I have a place in Upstate NY where I swear to god at least once every year someone trips on a root under water and dumps their gun, I would have a hard time with that if it was a wood gun. This is just my hunting situation, if I had clear paths to the ponds and nice warm weather where I could justify it then maybe I would consider it.