Wood or synthetic for my first hunting rifle?

R

Rustle in the Bushes

New member
So I was pretty sold on a wood/blued rifle combo. Until I went to the range yesterday and got rained on, then imagined being out for 2 days like that and having to worry about my wood rifle messing up. Should I just properly treat the wood and stfu?

I noticed the sako a7 has a pretty nice synthetic stock....convince me?
 
So I was pretty sold on a wood/blued rifle combo. Until I went to the range yesterday and got rained on, then imagined being out for 2 days like that and having to worry about my wood rifle messing up. Should I just properly treat the wood and stfu?

I noticed the sako a7 has a pretty nice synthetic stock....convince me?
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A bit of rain doesn't hurt as long as you wipe down the rifle when you get back to camp. If your at home, open the action and let it completely dry near by the fireplace.

I don't really like synthetic stocks unless it something like a Mcmillan or HS precision.

I've heard of some people applying a coat of wax to the wood stock. That would help the stock be more resist in wet weather.

I have rifles with synthetic and wood stocks, but if it's raining hard then I call it a day or don't bother hunting until it lightens up.
 
Wood and blue are not water soluble.

I have spent days out in the rain. Each gun that I had with me survived.
You can make rain sleeves for your rifle, if that helps.

With a synthetic and stainless gun you still have to clean it out after it gets wet because not all the metal is stainless.
 
I wouldn't really worry about a wood/blue combination. That's the way rifles came for a long time before tupperware was added to the mix. A little rain isn't a problem. My hunting sticks are in synthetic stocks because of the habitat I hunt. Swamps, bogs, briars, thick trees etc aren't kind to the finish of a gun.
 
Get what you like,If you really like it you'll take care of it. Aint that hard.
 
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I wouldn't really worry about a wood/blue combination. That's the way rifles came for a long time before tupperware was added to the mix.
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Rifles came that way for years because with the technology of the day that was the best option to weatherproof a gun. Chet Brown and Gale McMillan didn't invent sythetic stocks just for the fun of it. They did it because for the entire history of firearms shooters had experienced problems with guns POI changing and with stocks splitting and cracking. If these problems never existed, there would have never been a reason to search out a better alternative. Well today we have one. I say use it'

I responded to your thread on The Firing Line. Just for others to read here I'll cut and past that response here as well.

I bought my 1st synthetic aftermarket stock in 1982 and haven't hunted with wood in 30 years other than an occasional trip with one of my leverguns. Even the cheap plastic stocks are much stronger and stable than any wood stock and at least as accurate despite their flexibility. The cheap stocks are no lighter, but a quality aftermarket stock can knock 1/2-1 pound off the weight of your rifle.

The biggest advantage is stability. Waterproofing a wood stock is an excercise in futility. You won't suceed, and even if you do 10%-20% of any stocks weight is made up of moisture trapped inside the stock. When the wood is kiln dried they leave that much moisture in the wood. Any less and the stock would be so brittle it would break like a matchstick.

Even if perfectly sealed this internal moisture will expand and contract as environmental conditions change causing the rifles point of impact to change. You don't have to be hunting in the rain. As seasons change there will be changes to your stock with it setting in your safe, in your home. Zero your rifle in August at 500 ft above sea level then take the rifle out in November and hunt at 7000 ft above sea level and you may well find that the rifle still shoots 1" groups, but that the 1" groups are 3" to the left of where they were in August. If you never travel to hunt, and the humidity is low and pretty stable where you live this is less likely to happen. But the greater the swings in temperature, humidity and altitude, the more likely you are to have problems.

Point of impact changes are the biggest problem, but I have seen wood in rare cases split and crack because of environmental changes. A hunting partner once noticed a 1/2" long crack in his stock directly behind the trigger guard on a rainy morning. By lunch the crack extended all the way to the grip cap and was almost 1/4" wide.

My personal motvation for a quality synthetic is weight reduction. I went on my first backpack hunt in 1977 and back to the same place in 1980. Made up my mind then that I wouldn't be going back into places like that again carrying a heavy rifle. I was just out of college and broke. It took me 2 years to save up the money, paid more for the stock than the rifle, but it reduced the weight by almost a pound and made the gun much more consistently accurate. I have only recently retired that gun, but all of my serious hunting rifles now wear McMillan Edge stocks that are considerably stronger and lighter than wood.
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I have both type rifles - synthetic stock and stainless metal and wood/blue. The synthetic/stainless is much easier to maintain, though there isn't really much difference. As to what jmr40 said, I agree with most of it, but disagree with the statement that even a cheap synthetic stock will be better than a wood stock. That is just plain incorrect. Synthetic stocks are fine, and sometimes even great, but don't buy or stay with a soft unstable wiggly cheap one. If, however, you want a cheap synthetic stock, just drive over to me in central Texas and you can have one for free. Fits a Ruger 77 short action.
 
then imagined being out for 2 days like that and having to worry about my wood rifle messing up.
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That statement tells me that you're alwasy going to doubt a wood stock. Buy the rifle with the synthetic and you'll never have to worry about it.
 
Wood and blued steel are traditional and if your rifles are to bring you pleasure as well as just being a tool for harvesting meat, wood and bluing is and always will be dear to your heart.

That said, there is nothign wrong with plastic and staniless either. If the look and feel of wood and blued steel doesn't make your heart warmer than you would probably be better served with stainless and plastic.

There are no "down sides" to a good synthetic stock and to stainless steel as the metal of choise, whereas maintanence of wood and blued steel is just part of firearms care. They are a 'given'.

If we concede to the fact that one of the main purposes of our guns is to delight us even when we are not hunting, then perhaps wood and blued steel is "better".

If on the other hand we concede that we are happier in having a gun that is never something that needs care beyond a bore cleaning now and then, and enough oil to make it slick,---if we delight in the fact that our guns need not "love and care" then stainless and plastic are "better"

It's 100% your call. Either one is just as "good" as the other, depending on which one makes you happier in owning it.

heck........buy one of each.
:)
 
My "go to" rifles are in synthetic stocks, pillar-bedded, and free-floated, and they shoot very well for what they are actually. I have some wooden stocked rifles that shoot fine also.
All in all, it's just a matter of taste, some prefer wood over synthetic, I like them both.
Face it, there are some beautiful rifles that BELONG in wood, and the same for synthetic.:)
 
I prefer wood. With a little care, wood will last a lifetime and on occasional rain shower won't hurt it or a blued gun. Simply wipe it down dry and then wipe it with an oil rag. That is really all it takes.
 
Solid wood looks the best IMO, but laminated wood or fiberglass/carbon/kevlar composite (which are much better than cheap plastic) perform better - stiff and dimensionally stable - not warping or swelling with changing moisture content. McMilan and H-S Precision make high quality composite stocks for common rifles.
 
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I prefer the feel of wood. But if I know the weather will be crappy I will take a gun with poly type of stock. If I just had one rifle it would have a poly or fiberglass type of stock. I have a couple of wood stock guns that are functional but the stocks look like crap from spending time in the field from constantly being exposed to the moisture. (rain, fog, snow)
 
my dads remington 700 with that woodstock, blued finish combo that I inherited as a boy has seen about the same horrible conditions you would expect from a great north hunting rifle. it's seen week long expeditions of snow, -20 temps, high wind, mud, rain, +100 temps(not all in the same trip of course) and it is just as good as the day it was made. it's pretty beat up now but I have become kindof a wood snob lately. wood is heavier and therefore absorbs more recoil than many synthetic stocks. many people claim that they prefer a lighter rifle but I've found that if you can't handle carrying an 8 pound rifle, you probably shouldn't be doing much hunting anymore anyway.
 
Well the way you worded the question I suggest Stainless, and plastic.
I may be wrong and please let me know if I am, but it seems to me that you're worried about the appearance of the rifle.

I'm not going to get into which is better wood or plastic, I just know I like wood.

So find a stock you like for your hunting rifle and go with it.
 
I like (and have) both. I had a gun store dealer friend tell me that the wood stocked rifles have higher resale value so if you trade guns alot you'd be better off with wood I guess.
 
Being from Calif I got to see some of the first synthetic stocks that Lee Six and Chet Brown made and most all my BR stocks were made by Lee after they split. Lee made stocks for Rem and they used them on the 700's later he sold his company to Kelby.

I prefer synthetic but I got one of those www.accurateinnovations.com for a project.
 
Purely from hunting in your part of the world get not only synthetic but stainless steel!

Someone in a drier clime is fine with wood and blued (I lived in S.E. Ak when I was a kid and I know how wet that area can get!)


The problem with wet is it gets UNDER the stock and into places you do not normally access with wiping a gun down.

I picked up a nice old Sako recently, under the barrel had some issues and the sling nut is solid rust (the rest is not nearly that bad and minor enough not to be an issue).
 
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