# Stocks



## texaspredatorhunter (Aug 14, 2014)

I love a good quality wood stock on rifles and shotguns. As for riding around in the truck I prefer a synthetic on a rifle but still wood on an 870. I would be pretty pissed if I let my Ruger or Winchester get trashed riding around my front seat. I also won't feel too bad if I paint a synthetic stock for hunting purposes.


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## sneakygroundbuzzard (Nov 1, 2012)

it depends on what type of weapon its for

shot guns,bolt action,lever action and most semi auto rifles i like wood

im old school like that

but for sporter style rifles, a.k.a. AR evil black type rifles

then its gotta be synthetic(and yes you can get them with wood stocks)

im a little harder on my AR type rifles than i am all my other rifles

some of my nice rifles get pampered even while out in the field


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## dwtrees (Mar 5, 2012)

I'm with SGB. I prefer wood also but for the AR, synthetic is the only way to go. Specially the evil black stuff.


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

I really like the looks of wood but find myself with very few of them. Synthetic certainly has its advantages but character ain't one of them. Synthetic is also a bit lighter....I like that, it's my one complaint about AR type rifles. It's why I have the synthetic lowers.


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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

I'm old school and like wood, as long as it's not finished like a show car. But, I don't want hardwood - usually beech - that's stained to imitate walnut. It's not as stable and will cause barrel pressure when wet leading to accuracy issues. It also looks cheap. Those are the stocks I will paint in one way or the other.

I like the practicality of synthetic material, but since synthetic has become popular, some of the stuff is just plain cheap like Savage's B-Mag junk. In that case, laminated wood from Boyd's makes more sense.


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## Rick Howard (Feb 25, 2012)

Visualy I prefer wood. Practically I prefer synthetic.


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## Indiana Jones (Aug 28, 2014)

I prefer wood 99/100. Probably since most of my rifles are military surplus as those are my favorite to collect. For hunting mountains however, my big game rifle is synthetic for weight.

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## bugsanddaffy331 (Sep 21, 2015)

I like the look and feel of wood but I like the durability of synthetic

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## Indiana Jones (Aug 28, 2014)

You could always get a wood stock and just swap back and forth as you see fit. I do that with handgun grips.

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## JTKillough (May 4, 2010)

I've heard that the Ruger American stock is a good example of synthetic engineering and is quite stiff. I say this, but have never really messed with one. Ruger's innovative design implements intersecting trusses into the forend, making it very rigid. Like most here, I love the look of wood, but wood isn't as "consistent". Wood "looks good", weighs more and is not element proof, which can give you trouble with moisture and heat, swelling and twisting. Synthetic is element proof but most factory stocks are cheap and flimsy. If you can get an aluminum bedding block or other type of stiffener in the synthetic, then it will be much better. I have a Remington 30-06, that came with a flimsy Remington synthetic. It shot okay, just over an inch moa as it was, but I wanted to tighten that up. I trying all manner of tricks, but all the stock would allow was just over 1 moa. I changed it out for a B&C carbon fiber and am happy with bug hole groups at 100 and sub 1 inch at 200. If you can push on the forend of a synthetic stock and touch the barrel, it's not a good set-up. It all depends on what kind of accuracy you are looking for and what you plan to do with the rifle. If you want the tightest group possible and an all day walking gun, then go with a good solid synthetic. Wood, on the other hand, looks good.


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## sneakygroundbuzzard (Nov 1, 2012)

Wood is heavier,yes
But this can help absorb some of the felt recoil too

My Tikka T3 has a wood stock and there for has a bit of weight to it, but its never bothered me when hunting.one day I carried it for 18 miles,no problem.

The wood stock looks gorgeous on the gun
Which on turn makes me look good when I am carrying it


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## prairiewolf (Feb 19, 2012)

Some very good points JT !!

The only synthetic stock I have is on my coyote shotgun. When I bought most of my rifles and shotguns wood was the only thing they came with. So I really never had to think about the difference. When I was younger never worried about the weight and now I just aint going to walk miles and miles, lol


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## Agney5 (Sep 28, 2013)

Go laminate, you can get the grain of wood but some color options. Also while not totally impervious to the elements they don't suffer to any extent that regular wood does. Put in some pillars and bed that sucker and you won't be disappointed.


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## knapper (Feb 5, 2010)

I have a Ruger American that has a stock that I am unhappy with due to flex and not free floating, will go to wood or fix this one.


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## azpredatorhunter (Jul 24, 2012)

I prefer a wood stock, it just looks and feels better than plastic... I still buy the steel magazine's but I do have some plastic ones. In my opinion for predator hunting, I don't want to destroy a good lookin wooden stock so a plastic one is fine with me. I have no problem painting a plastic stock and the gun, I just couldn't do that to a nice wood stock and gun.


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