This is prompted by the question of trade-off that arises over ease of maintenance and durability verses the allure of "old school" in our hunting rifle choices. I would be interested in the real world findings of members, especially those that have hunted with both styles of rifles. What are the practical implications of synthetic stocks, stainless steel barrels, etc verses wood stocks, blued metal, etc? What are the pros and cons in this discussion?

I'm a shooter and not a collector. As such, I have modern firearms and minimal interest in aquiring antiques with less than my standard of accuracy.

If I had a gun to look at, it would have blued metal and a wooden stock with a glossy finish and nice figure. Such a gun would be too pretty to hunt with. While I have guns with wooden stocks and blued steel (and I take them hunting) I prefer composite stocks and stainless steel for hunting (they don't look half bad either).

The ultimate test has to be duck hunting - admittedly for shotguns only- where the only gun I will use has to be synthetic stocked.

I did bring a very nice wodden stocked Beretta duck hunting once,but never again.

All of my hunting rifles are synthetic stocks, mainly so I don't have to worry about nicking the stock, the weather etc.

To me a gun is much more than a tool.

It's a tradition of something important. It's a piece of artistry and a source of pride in something more than killing an aniumal. It represents a sense of value and makes a statement of one's personal tastes.

I have no problem with folks that use a gun strictly as a tool. Certainly we have latitude for folks that see this differently! That's fine with me but the tradition of blued steel and satin finished and finely checkered and figured wood is what trips my trigger.

The practical value of stainless guns is far over stated as they still can corrode and look poor but not as bad as poorly cared for blued steel!

As to synthetic stocks; it's often been my wish that I had a second stock for some of my guns just for tough hunts and a synthetic is fine as they can really take a beating and are extremely tough and durable. That said, I rarely have any damage to my wood stocks as I'm careful about their use when hunting.

I guess it boils down to what you bought a gun (or made one) for.....is it merely a tool or is it a lot more than that to you and I certainly fall in the second group.

I use mainly vintage firearms but do not find caring for them onerous.

But then the buttstock of my .450 still has NT wetlands mud on it from 2004.

In Africa, I have used, but found little need for, synthetic stocks and stainless steel. Although I think a jungle hunt in one of the central countries would be an exception (If I ever get to go on a jungle hunt!). A bit of oil has kept rust away from blued metal, despite spray from driving around in boats on the Zambezi. And I prefer the feel of wood in my hands.

Here at home, I would generally prefer stainless/synthetic for a lot of hunting, although I also use blued/wood. As it often rains for weeks non-stop when hunting moose, a synthetic stock certainly makes good sense.

The last thing I worry about with wood stocks is if they get a nick in them. This just gives them more character, and shows that they are used, and not just safe queens.

I don't care for bright or high gloss rifles, but other than that, if it fits the bill, it's good. I would prefer stainless to be blackened!

Use what ever makes you feel good when you carry it. For me it is blued steel and fine walnut done up by a master stock maker. I'll put up with the added maintenance they require over a SS synthetic stocked rifle. For me a rifle is more than a tool such as a hammer, it is tradition.

465H&H

exactually what vapordog said

Blue and wood looks so much cooler but it can be a pain to take care of in rough weather.

I've got my .416 apart on the bench right now and I'm still finding rust from my elephant hunt two years ago!

Generally I've given up and resort to stainless and plastic in nasty conditions and carry the blue and wood guns if I know the weather will be decent.

Kyler

I just bought this:



I think you know which side of this discussion I am on.

If it gets scraped or scratched, so what. It will become part of the history of the piece.

Life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun.

I think the funniest part of hunting or shooting in general is the one question that always pops up.

Does it shoot straight?

I think because I lived in Alaska for so many years and never really went anywhere out of town without a rifle that I really began to appreciate SS/synthetic stocked rifles. Hunts, camping and fishing via boat,airplane, and smowmobile just beat the Hell out of a rifle and often on these trips there really is not time or even a dry place to give a wood stocked/blued rifle the proper care.

I too love the look and feel of a classic stocked walnut and blued rifle. In fact they are one of those things that I just want to possess regardless of practicality but I can't afford beautiful rifles and practical rifle so most of mine are the SS/synthetic variety and to the great chagrin of some friends look like rodents have chewed on them. They do perform flawlessly and I can live with that.

Mark

I have both and appreciate both. I also like engraved, color casehardened guns...some folks get turned off by one or both of those things.
I live and do most of my hunting in Texas so ice, snow and wet is not a normal problem (being a rancher I wish to hell two of the three were!)so it makes little difference about syn. and ss.
Getting in and out of pickups, four wheelers, deer blinds etc...it sure is nice to have the syn stocks so that when you have a brain fart and bump the hell out of your rifle you don't have this big old gash in a beautiful pc. of wood.
In my case...SS is not an issue with me but I sure like glass stocks for my working on the ranch guns.
If I was in the wet and cold all the time...ss and syn would be the ticket no matter how much you appreciate the feel of wood etc. I just don't think the wet would allow the wood to continue to hold the zero that syn. will.
So far both my wood and syn. have survived the number of elk hunts and bad weather encountered there but we are only talking a week at a time of hunting in those conditions.
In Texas you have to wonder what the hell over 100 degree heat inside your parked pickup is doing to your gunstock more than anything else!
An then you get in and turn the AC on high blower.

SS rifles are fugly so I choose not to use them.

I was born and raised in Mississippi not the driest of states, but that said have never had a problem maintaining my firearms. My favorite African rifle is a SS mdl 70 375 in a laminated stock. I have never owned a synthetic stock other than the one originally on the 375. It's maintenence free as it's been in the closet since I took it off the rifle the day I bought it. If anyone wants it they are welcome to it. For what it's worth I feel and shoot better with a good looking gun.I can't PROVE that I just FEEL that I do. All my stocks are wood although a couple are laminated. I'm sure synthetic stocks are very good I just personally don't care for them.

I would rather go for Wood/blue 90% of the time.

Personally the only syn. stock I have is a take off from a rifle I restocked.

I think SS/Syn. have a place and I might get one in the future, but it would be for a specialized need only (Camo stock for varmints, an Alaska Hunt)but I would probably make a wood stock for it too.

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
exactually what vapordog said

I'll second that!

If you take care of your weapon, there is no practical reason to go plastic and SS. I have hunted for 4 decades and own and shoot all types, but prefer wood and blue for nostalgia if no other reason.

I once took a very nice custom stocked, pre-64, 375HH Win to Africa to hunt buffalo. I worried too much about the stock. Since then, it stays in the safe and I take my CZ, or a custom one with a laminated stock.

I just came back from an elephant hunt in Namibia, and used a 416 Howell with a laminated stock. They are as tough and steady as synthetic, but prettier. The synthentic, my 9.3x62 lives in one of those, has an advantage with weight and if you are really in a wet environment.

Pretty is, as pretty does. Pick the one that meets your needs, to include your emotional ones. Kudude

I had all my guns before stainless and synthetics showed up on the scene.

I'm one of those who have a number of both. Got a Ruger #1 with AAA walnut, Frank Hendricks engraving, and beautiful checkering. Yes, it does go hunting, but not when I'm expecting terrible weather. I've got two SS and sythetic stocked rifles. One has been blackened ala Jeffeoso. When the snows and rains are known to be continuous, I take one of them.

Folks anyone who lives in Alaska, can tell you what wet weather is. Mississippi can't even begine to compete, unless you hunt alligators under water!

I love fine wood, and blued steel, but I also want a rifle that shoots where my scope points, and if you hunt 10 days in Alaska's September rain, "14" of them will be in a down pour, and no place is dry enough to get the stock dry, with humidity at 100% for a month, inside the tent, and raining outside. This is why I have two 375 H&H rifles exactly the same, except for the stocks. One is in it's factory stock,for Africa, and the other factory stock is twisted out of shape in my gun room from the Alaska wet, and the rifle wears a tupper ware today, and hasn't changed zero since!

I even was thinking about buying one of Butch's SS, and synthetic stocked double rifles chambered for 375 H&H flanged, about the time he quite making them, and I'd still like to have one of them!

Alaska is the only place I use synthetic stocks, but, there, I think nothing is better! For every place else, I use wood, and blued steel.

In the drier regions there is no advantage to SS/synthetic, unless you're the kind who has a heart attack when his wood gets scratched.

In wet regions, SS, or some other rust-resistant finish, like Gun-Kote, is great, and so is a synthetic stock.

Wood stocks in rainy conditions can soak up a lot of water. I have seen them turn practically white, with the finish virtually ruined. Plus the POI can move all over the place on you.

So, for CAR or Alaska, I would go SS/Gun-Kote or equivalent and synthetic stock. But in dry country, wood and blue steel are what I like. I own both and use them according to climate.

It has already been said but hunting in Alaska more often than not involves long, exhausting hours in bush that is rough, rocky, wet, dirty, often near saltwater and yes, fugly guns that excell in basic performance and not looks make the finest companions here.

However, I do appreciate the gunnutz who are willing to baby a fine weapon on a rough and tumble hunt but I'd much rather put my efforts and concerns toward the hunt and to a much lesser degree my equipment.

There is a spectrum that spans all the way from "look but don't touch" to nothing more than just a tool that serves a purpose. All have their place and a hearty salute to everyone's favorites. May they serve you well!

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
Wood stocks in rainy conditions can soak up a lot of water. I have seen them turn practically white, with the finish virtually ruined. Plus the POI can move all over the place on you.

If you want to know how much the POI can change,read!

After 8 days of hunting in Southeast Alaska, north of Lake Illiamna, with a Whitworth African Express 375 H&H, that was dead on at 200 yds when I got off the bush plane, We spotted a good bull caribue walking accross in front of us at what was measured later, as 250 yds, in the open tundra. He stopped, broad side to me, and from a sitting position I placed the cross hair about 4" below the top of his back in line with the back of his front leg, and fired. He didn't move, I held the cross hair on top of his back, and fired again, he still stood there. On the tundra no dust will fly where your bullets are hitting the ground, so it is imposible to walk a bullet to where you want it. The Bull then decided to walk while grazing, and They walk a lot faster the most folks think, so I placed the hairs just above the middle of his neck to lead him. I fired, and still nothing. With my last shot in the rifle,I placed the crosshair dead on his eye, with his head up, and errect. makeing the lead 3 feet in front of his heart, and 2 feet above it, and fired the rifle. This time I cut meat, but it was when the bullet broke both his hind legs, just above the knee. That rifle was shooting 5 feet to the right, and 4 feet low, at 250 yds. all from a soaked stock that warped so badly that is is still twisted 20 years later in a dry closet! The rifle went into a synthetic as soon as I got home from that hunt, and hasn't changed zero again in all that 20 yrs, and 18 more trips to the Alaska rain.
The rifle's steel is blued steel, but that can be taken care on a daily cleaning, and oiling, but that wood was a spounge, that only God could have fixed!

Synthetic has it's place, be assured of that!

I find most synthetic stocks to be too slippery. They are made out of oil after all.

I consider using stainless and or synthetic stocks to be the easiest choice in all of hunting.
I have used S/S for 18 years.
They may not win a beauty contest, but they will keep their zero, and keep a guy hunting in any weather that Mother Nature can throw at you.
Show me a guy that would paddle his canoe with a wood stocked rifle.
KC

I use both, but prefer blue steel and walnut.

jim

Well guys, you could always try this....






The stock is black walnut with ebony, but has been saturated, and the finish built up with a high grade of boat builder's epoxy, inside and out. The action is completly bedded with the same epoxy with a hard filler added. The barreled action was sent to Hotflash Blueing Co and was given the KGI Gunkote polymer finish instead of regular blueing.

This rifle finish is tough as nails. You'd have to really mess up bad to scratch it down to the wood. And except for a few pieces of steel innards, It's compleletly impervious to moisture. This I know for a fact because I built a cedar strip canoe back in '91 and it's still looks great. I banged that canoe into more rocks than I care to admit but that epoxy has never failed and hardly shows any wear.

Notice that this rifle uses a ghost ring site and has no scope. I built this rifle after I spent a week in really nasty weather during a Wisconsin Deer season. It was damn near impossible to keep my scope clear in snow and freezing rain. I actually lost a chance at a pretty decent buck because my action froze and I couldn't get my safety clicked off.

If you are willing to think outside the box, this is a good way to go.

Elmo

P.S. Hey KC

If I had to...I could paddle my canoe with this rifle. It's built wtih the same stuff

500 grains does have a point about most synthetic stocks being slippery. I've taken masking tape and cut out what would be a checkering pattern, then sprayed those areas on the grip and forend with a paint from Brownell's. Now there is texture and no slipping.

quote:

Originally posted by prof242:
500 grains does have a point about most synthetic stocks being slippery. I've taken masking tape and cut out what would be a checkering pattern, then sprayed those areas on the grip and forend with a paint from Brownell's. Now there is texture and no slipping.

Many synthetic stocks nowadays have a rubbery material in the grip and foregrip. Sako does this and there are others as well.

If you like the heft and feel of wood. A laminated stock is an excellent compromise. These stocks have excellent strength and are far more stable in extreme environments.

Elmo,

Touche!

Guys

Thanks for the contributions so far. For what its worth, I think everyone is right. I like the functionality of stainless/synthetic, but the look of wood/blued.

So, as has already been alluded to, does this lead to an affective middle ground of some of the modern finishes and a laminate stock? I know this will not appeal to the purists, but a gun-cote type of finish in something like a Serengeti stock would seem to be close to the best of both worlds?