Poll: Wood or composite stock…

[Rigali V]

So getting back into hunting after many years and I am struggling a bit with the "feel" of the new composite stocks, they seem… small, and insubstantial… now mind you I am only talking about the feel of them in the store, have not yet had a chance to fire any rounds through a synthetic stalked rifle… but handling them in store does not inspire confidence in how they will feel when shooting them? Anybody have the same experience, and if so what did you find out? Oh and for you wise guys… I know they still make wood stalked rifles!

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[Andy54Hawken]

I prefer a wood stocked rifle.

I understand that a wood stocked rifle requires a bit more upkeep and such...but I know how to do that...
And the nicks , dings and the like of a well used and well loved hunting rifle , do not bother me.
Abuse and neglect is another story.

As far as how a stock "feels'...well that is very individual...one rifle with its weight and balance , will be quite different in how it feels from one person to another.

Synthetic stocks , just like wood stocks are not equal and of the same quality.
They all vary in just how "good" they are.

It pays in the end to get what you like and what works for you...regardless of what someone else likes.
Andy

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

With the firearms I own, I enjoy wood stock (or various wood furniture) presentation, I have wood mounted on most everything I find tasteful. However I retain all my synthetic furniture in the event Im shooting on a wet weekend with friends, family or by myself.
The over saturation of all the modern synthetic stuff just gets boring.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

There is a world of difference between a basic plastic stock, and one that includes a billet aluminum backbone and pillar bedding. Accuracy in a rifle in part depends on a solid mounting system to the stock and accurately torqued mounting screws, even more so if the barrel is not free floating. I have a rifle that was once very accurate. Then the wooden stock warped for some reason (though it is kept in a climate controlled safe) and it began walking the shots all over the page as the barrel heated up. I had the barrel free floated with little improvement. I then regretfully retired the beautiful walnut stock and added a Hogue synthetic stock with billet aluminum backbone and pillar bedding. The rifle has now returned to its old accuracy and I'm very pleased although I do miss the beautiful stock.

Beauty is as beauty does, I guess. I've learned to appreciate the heft and feel of the rifle now that I can depend on its accuracy once again.

 

[Rigali V]

I prefer a wood stocked rifle.

I understand that a wood stocked rifle requires a bit more upkeep and such...but I know how to do that...
And the nicks , dings and the like of a well used and well loved hunting rifle , do not bother me.
Abuse and neglect is another story.

As far as how a stock "feels'...well that is very individual...one rifle with its weight and balance , will be quite different in how it feels from one person to another.

Synthetic stocks , just like wood stocks are not equal and of the same quality.
They all vary in just how "good" they are.

It pays in the end to get what you like and what works for you...regardless of what someone else likes.
Andy

Everson!?! That is my old stomping ground!

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

There is a world of difference between a basic plastic stock, and one that includes a billet aluminum backbone and pillar bedding. Accuracy in a rifle in part depends on a solid mounting system to the stock and accurately torqued mounting screws, even more so if the barrel is not free floating. I have a rifle that was once very accurate. Then the wooden stock warped for some reason (though it is kept in a climate controlled safe) and it began walking the shots all over the page as the barrel heated up. I had the barrel free floated with little improvement. I then regretfully retired the beautiful walnut stock and added a Hogue synthetic stock with billet aluminum backbone and pillar bedding. The rifle has now returned to its old accuracy and I'm very pleased although I do miss the beautiful stock.

Beauty is as beauty does, I guess. I've learned to appreciate the heft and feel of the rifle now that I can depend on its accuracy once again.

^Very true. If I was shooting for accuracy and distance Im not sure Id go with wood.

 

[Member 34319]

I really don't see much new stuff in woods stocks these days. The newest tech is aluminum chassis and composite with bedding. The inexpensive rifles have went strictly to plastic injected molded socks that are of questionable rigidity. Some plastic models have some tech engineered into them to make them more precise even with a cheap injected molded plastic stock, so they aren't all to be discounted. With the new tech gaining ground, there are more and more chassis rifles on site shelves. They are anything but pretty, but the tech works.

 

[titsonritz]

IMO, this is 100% dependent on the gun and how it is intended to be used. My primary hunting rifle is a SS T/C Encore with a synthetic stock and I don't care if it gets beat to snot but there is no way I put a synthetic stock on a Winchester Model 70 or Rigby bolt gun, nor would I on my Marlin lever guns. I would not do one of those cheap and cheesy plastic stock that come out on budget guns like the Ruger American though.

B.T.W. I voted synthetic since there is no "depends" option.

 

[eightyeight mag]

Love the look of classic wood stocks but I prefer a nice Manners carbon fiber stock myself.
I'll pass on the plastic stocks

 

[po18guy]

Not once have I ever been told "That is the most beautiful synthetic I have ever seen."

 

[TTSX]

When you say "synthetic" I assume you mean "plastic" and I'll agree they're generally not my cup of tea. They are, however, light weight and impervious to water. They also help bring the initial cost of the gun down and that can be the difference between being able to afford it or not, even if that's $50.

I'll state that I really enjoy fiberglass with aluminum bedding. Gives the rifle a solid feel but they're spendy.

Wood has it's place for sure. An M1 Garand would feel strange indeed without wood and there is a lot of truth to the warm feeling you just don't get from man made materials. I would personally not elect for a wood stock but I wouldn't turn my nose up at one, either.

 

[Stomper]

That is my old stomping ground!

Whoa, whoa, whoa…. I hold the Trade Mark on that phrase.

Cease & Desist!

 

[Zechariah]

I like em both but wood is cool looking. I have a mix on my hunting rifles. My newer wood BAR on left and A BOLT to the right. If I have wood it gets the beartooth cover keeps from dinging barrel and wood up but I put it on all my rifles now.

 

[Nosferatu]

Not once have I ever been told "That is the most beautiful synthetic I have ever seen."

I had a Manners carbon fiber stock hydro dipped in a walnut looking film.

I have in fact heard that phrase.

 

[DirectDrive]

So getting back into hunting after many years and I am struggling a bit with the "feel" of the new composite stocks, they seem… small, and insubstantial… now mind you I am only talking about the feel of them in the store, have not yet had a chance to fire any rounds through a synthetic stalked rifle… but handling them in store does not inspire confidence in how they will feel when shooting them? Anybody have the same experience, and if so what did you find out? Oh and for you wise guys… I know they still make wood stalked rifles!

OP, the stocks you were handling were most likely low end, OEM stocks.
Tupperware.

Of the more professional synthetic stocks, there is Bell & Carlson and H-S Precision at the entry level.
Then moving up there is :
AG Composites
Manners
McMillan
Grayboe
and others

They are an acquired taste to look at as compared to nicely figured walnut.
But they out perform wood.

 

[titsonritz]

OP, the stocks you were handling were most likely low end, OEM stocks.
Tupperware.

Of the more professional synthetic stocks, there is Bell & Carlson and H-S Precision at the entry level.
Then moving up there is :
AG Composites
Manners
McMillan
Grayboe
and others

They are an acquired taste to look as compared to nicely figured walnut.
But they out perform wood.

^^^That's a fact, Jack.

 

[CountryGent]

Without question wood stock would be the answer personally. But to each their own.

 

[Rigali V]

Whoa, whoa, whoa…. I hold the Trade Mark on that phrase.

Cease & Desist!

Sorry Mr. Stomper! Let me rephrase, "that is my old tromping ground"

 

[Certaindeaf]

Little known fact.
Pipi Longstalkings was related to Longshanks by birth.

 

[Crazyeye24]

I've have both but I prefer a wood stocked rifle if the wood is figured. If not, I could go either way. Wood stocks definitely feel better in the shoulder to me though.