What is important to you? YES, YOU!!!

Most of my customs have nice wood, and a couple have stocks by McMillan and H.S. Precision. All are based on Mauser actions except the Remington 660 in the H.S. Precision stock. The McMillan is on an FN Action 30-06 that originally had nice wood but it got broken in a fall. My prettiest rifle is an Argentine Mauser with action by DWM in .280 Remington. probably the fanciest stock I'll ever own but still not a piece of high dollar wood. The rifle gets hunted as do all my rifles.
If I could afford a David Miller or Darcy Echols high dollar custom with really fancy wood, I would still with it. When in comes down to it, it's a tool. A very pretty and expensive tool but nonetheless still a tool. ;)
Paul B.
 
Man! I guess all of you can see what its like for me to make a post after I took my Ambien. It looks like all of you got the question even through my subterfuge. I like HIGHLY reflective and rich bluing along with nice looking wood. I don't like when they advertise that the gun has hardwood but not Maple. Not sure what that gun is made with but its like a blond wood with no wood grains running through it. Ruger 10-22's are like that. That's all I got time for right now. Talk more after work...
 
I do not like a high-gloss finish on a rifle stock. But then, the only rifles that I find interesting are those that I would take hunting. So I like to see the wood, not a reflection from a super glossy finish.
 
I have rifles, pistols and shotguns from utility to beautiful. I tend to gravitate more towards pretty pistols and shotguns than rifles. I want rifles that are the most accurate, and that is rarely blued and wood.
 
I like most guns, including the pretty ones, but I prefer function over form any day.
I for the most part don't like wall hangers, unless it is a piece of history. If you can't shoot em, and accurately, they ain't worth having. Unless of course you can sell them and get one's that are. ;)
 
I have both. Nearing 50, I'm done with plastic, though I did find a deal too good to pass on a Scorpion Evo S1. Mostly because I love CZ.

From here on out my plans are to buy nice heirlooms my kids would be thrilled to get. Dad has been buying plastic - just because he's looking for cheap fun IMHO.

Its gotten to the point if he let me cherry pick 6-10 from his collection I'd let my sister have the rest without a whimper.
 
Have had black/plastic, wood/blued. Rifles and shotguns. No more plastic rifles, all wood blued. Split on shotguns. two each. Favorite to just plink with at the moment: Henry Big Boy Brass in .357. What a hoot! Accurate and ZERO recoil.
 
What I don’t like is gun companies making plastic guns and charging the same price that they used to sell the wooden guns for as if they required the same amount of time and talent. Those stocks are formed in a poly injection machine that probably uses .03c worth of plastic. Then, to add insult to injury, they put a premium on the guns that still have wooden stocks on them. It’s really a pretty good marketing ploy and folks that are desirous of cheap guns enable the whole scheme work. Now, Remington wants upwards of $800 for an 870 that should be selling for around $300. For $300 one can now own a plastic stocked 870 with a finish on the metal my 12 year old son could do with a can of flat black Krylon.
 
I like wood stocks, but have both plastic and wood. The wood goes deer hunting in nice weather, but if it's not so nice, the stainless Rem 700 BDL, .270 in an HS Precision Sendero stock is my go-to rifle. It's about 20 years old, but still puts shots where I want them.

The nice weather rifle is a 700 CDL .270, in a Stocky's Super Walnut. Either rifle shoots under under 1 MOA and both sport Leo 3-9x scopes.

I've shot several deer at less than 30 yards to beyond 300 yards with the first one and a moose at 270 yards with the second. Still looking for a deer with the second one. It's overdue, but I've got that feelin'.
 
My family has a few vehicles. I have a car that I use to commute to work, an SUV that has the car seats, and a truck for when I need to do truck things.

In the same way, I use the appropriate gun for the appropriate job:
- for nice weather hunting: blued steel and walnut/maple
- for rain/snow hunting: stainless steel with fiberglass (no plastic or laminate, yuck)
- for a beater gun: I don’t believe in “beater” guns. I’m still going to use something I like.

I feel the same way about guns and cars: I’m going to use the nicest that I can comfortably afford. If I’m going to drive somewhere, might as well be comfortable. If I’m going to carry a gun around in the woods, might as well be one that warms my heart. For me, that means no plastic stocks and no painted-on black finishes on my steel.

But I realize that for every person who feels the way I do, there’s someone who loves their $300 Walmart special and will argue until they’re blue in the face that since it shoots better than my Supergrade Winchester it’s a better hunting tool. And I’m not going to tell them they’re wrong. To each his own.
 
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What matters to me when shooting guns is the relaxing process of it all. Every step in the process is important in accuracy. Its satisfying to watch it all come together. My favorite gun to shoot right now is my ruger 77/357. Shooting 38 specials out of it is a dream. Its not too loud and it recoils like a kitten. Second favorite is my ruger mark 3 bull barrel pistol. It's as accurate as i can be.
 
I have two ‘primary’ hunting rifles. The oldest is a Sako 270 with shiny blue metal and a lovely wood stock. The newest is a Tikka T3 Lite Stainless in 260. Both are marvelously accurate. I use the Tikka more these days, and it’s the ‘nasty weather rifle’ I always wanted. Everything has a purpose.
 
First off let us distinguish between factory injection molded stocks and a quality synthetic hunting stock like McMillan, Brown, High Tech, Manners, and others. They're as night and day different as factory wood/laminate stock and a custom high grade walnut, maple, or other suitable wood rifle stock. I have rifles that range in all the areas above, and really how the rifle looks is secondary.

What's first and foremost to me is, how does it shoot? A rifle can be pretty and all, but if the first cold bore shot doesn't go where I want it then it's a useless rifle. I then want it to group the next 2-4 shots into an acceptable pattern, depending on what I plan to use it for that could be Sub MOA or around 1.5 MOA. Then I need these results to be repeatable time and time again.

If a rifle can't do that then it doesn't matter what it looks like, it won't stay in my safe for long.
 
Ballenxj said:
How would you rate Hogue overmolded stocks?
http://198.57.214.134/main/overview/overmolded.html
My Howa 1500 has one, and the gun shoots sub minute of angle.
Click to expand...

I have nothing against your Hogue stock, but it's a cheap stock same as most factory stocks. Do you have the pillar bedded stock or the full aluminum bedding block? It makes a difference in serviceability when using a bipod or sling. The forearm on a Hogue can/will flex under load when using a tight sling or preloading a bipod. It doesn't mean it's not a functional stock by any means without the bedding block, just you have to be more aware when shooting for accuracy.

My daughter has a Howa 1500 .308 that came with the Hogue stock without bedding block, and I replaced it with the LAW/Bansner stock the Alpine used. What I gained was a much stiffer stock than factory, and her rifle lost nearly a pound of weight. I don't think overall it changed how the rifle would have shot from the bench, but I do believe it will effect how the rifle handles in the field when used chasing elk and mule deer in the mountains of Colorado.
 
For the wood, I like laminate. Can't say why, just do. The metal makes no difference. Blued is nice, but stainless is too. But to the original subject, what really matters most is the gun shoots accurately. Not accurate? Adios!
 
Different stocks for different purposes. Factory plastic gets pulled with the exception of a Tikka T3 stock that shoots just fine offhand. Wide and flat for the bench, pistol grip for prone, high grade wood for things worthy of wood (hand me down stuff). Bed everything that can be bedded.
 
I've handled some of those plastic injection molded stocks this way. First I rough out the inside area where the recoil lug and first two inches of barrel go, then glass bed that area. When that's set and ready to work with I wrap the barrel with a few layers of electrical tape and fill the forearm with some of that insulating type foam that expands and gets hard. Set the rifle in as quickly as possible as it not only expands quickly but gets hard as well.
I also loosen one screw holding the recoil pad and remove the other so I can swing it to one side and squirt the foam in there as well. Be sure to mask off the forearm and butt stock before using the foam as it expands quite rapidly.

The end result is a stock that is almost as rigid as a McMillan and holds up quite well. I still have on Mauser I put in a Butler Creek stock, did the bedding mentioned and then the foam. It's lasted ten plus years so far and is still going strong. :D
Paul B.
 
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