I have rifles with wood and synthetic/plastic stocks, and have found the later tend to be the better choice, especially if youre shooting across the whole year, and in any weather.
Ive had wood stocked rifles that shot phenomenally too, but most of those stocks were completely sealed. A couple of those were factory Remington 700V stocks, that werent completely floated too. They had that little "pad" right at the end of the forearm.
These were shot with my 700V in .308 at 100 yards, prone, off a bipod.....
This was shot with my one AR, an Armalite M15A4(T), again, 100 yards, prone off a bipod....
I dont have any pics handy, but I shot some really amazing groups working up loads for my old Savage Scout, with its oft complained about (on the net anyway, it never bothered me) plastic stock, pencil thin barrel, and Scout scope. Used a bipod for those groups too. One 20 shot group (shot over about a half hour), was right around an inch.
I shot a lot of HP, and DCM, military type matches back in the 80's and 90's. I dont normally shoot off a bench, and Im very familiar with shooting with a sling, and in all positions (no slings offhand in matches we shot). Ive qualified expert on a number of occasions, and Ive never shot groups like above (shot some pretty good ones all the same though
), from a slung in, prone position, even with a couple of the same guns above. Ive only shot those size groups, from a bipod, sandbags, or a ruck, and the majority of them were off bipods.
Not all bipods are created equal either, and that has a lot of bearing on what you get. My bipods are all "low" versions. Not the bench version, but something in the range of 6"-9" or so. They need to be reasonable in height, so you get a more natural position. If you have to strain beyond what you would normally shoot without one, youre probably not going to do well with it.
Most of my rifle shooting these days is done with iron or red dot sighted guns, and from field positions, mostly cross legged sitting and offhand (traditional target, and a couple of others). My one AR, and a recent Mossberg MVP, are the only ones that are scoped, and draw blood, and they are usually just critters in the garden and out across the back fields.
Some guns are just use specific type guns, and are set up in the manner they are going to be used. Nothing wrong with that, as long as you stay flexible, and dont get stuck in that rut.