Hey guys! I'm in the process of singling out a "Safari" rifle to used to hunt big game (well, bigger than the whitetails that I am used to) and have been looking at Ruger's Hawkeye in .375 Ruger. My question is, am I better off to purchase one with a synthetic stock if I also decide to hunt in locations like Alaska and Scotland. I certainly don't want a stock that will warp, but anything but wood almost seems blasphemic on a nice hunting rifle...

Question:
If you were to purchase a single rifle to hunt all over the global in varied terrain, climate, and weather conditions would you get one with a wood or synthetic stock?

Choices:
Wood
Synthetic

 

I scored first for synthetic.
No contest.
3 Reasons:
1. Reliability
2. Reliability
3. Reliability

Get the African and put it in a synthetic stock.
You can still have the pretty walnut to take to social affairs.
Since when was a factory .375 Ruger Hawkeye, or any custom rifle in .375 Ruger, too uppity for synthetic?
Yes, it is a wonderful all-arounder, and the .375 H&H eats its dust!

to be put in a better perspective. I would suggest the following. If you were a sane individual, who voted against obama, you would piece a nice piece of walnut. If you valued your rifle and enjoyed shooting you would pick a nice piece of walnut. If you are not a homo, you would pick a nice piece of walnut. If you needed something rough and scratch to rub your butt with after a dump, you would pick a synthetic. I of course am not prejudiced.

butchloc,
You scored wrong on all your supposed suppositions. You are making wit like you insert suppositories, with a piece of walnut, eh? Got wood?
Nostalgia and extended pinky fingers are best reserved for hobby fun and tea parties.
I thought the question was about the ideal African Sheep and Elephant Rifle.

butchloc: +1 !

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
to be put in a better perspective. I would suggest the following. If you were a sane individual, who voted against obama, you would piece a nice piece of walnut. If you valued your rifle and enjoyed shooting you would pick a nice piece of walnut. If you are not a homo, you would pick a nice piece of walnut. If you needed something rough and scratch to rub your butt with after a dump, you would pick a synthetic. I of course am not prejudiced.

Very good and I didn't vote for Obama (I am a certified tin-foil wearing Ron Paul guy), but I am just afraid of that beautiful walnut twisting in the humidity...

If it was a pure Africa rifle wood all the way, but for what your talking synthetic for sure!

Ron Paul: A bit too creepy for me, but certainly a lesser evil than what we got.

The rifle I hunted with the most had a synthetic stock.I always felt that the natural feel of wood was something that I was missing.To me,wood is natural and is as much as accurate as synthetic.

3.5

Pay butchloc no mind. He's my client and I can tell you in confidence or not he is quite disturbed. He also believes a rifle needs 2 barrels to be effective so that should tell you something.

Oh! I voted for synthetic. 22 years in Alaska taught me that walnut is about as practical on real hunting rifle as.........

Mark

While I know the synthetic will weather and wear better as well as keep point of aim, I couldn't ignore the beauty and extra weight of wood. Properly floated and bedded, a wood stocked rifle should offer good utility along with classic good looks.

First of all forget one rifle. What you need is an African battery and a North American battery and a rifle or two to carry to Asia and such. African rifles have wood. I have carried a sythetic to Zim but would have prefered walnut. Just happend to be a caliber I wanted to carry. To me, showing up in Africa with a synthetic stocked rifle makes me feel like a bastard at a family reunion. I hate to see some of these TV shows with plastic stocked rifles on safari. However, they are highly practical in wet weather areas like Alaska, etc.. Don't get me started on the TCs. Sometimes I feel like if I see another TV show with someone hunting with one I will lose my lunch. But I digress. You really need about a dozen rifles. Don't believe me? Ask each person on here how many he has in inventory right now. The average will be pretty high. There is no way you can have just one, so don't try. Pick a good synthetic stocked rifle for general use, then get another in a larger caliber. Then get an African battery. Trust me you will be much happier. But not satisfied. Ever.

The critical factor is time. Are going to Alaska for a month or a week.

Wood can weather bad climatic conditions for short periods of time.

I own no synthetic stocks and I am not opposed to them but I doubt they are somehow provably superior when used by the AVERAGE sport hunter.

my whitworth .375 wears the original wood stock when it goes to Africa and a Bell & Carlson glass stock when it goes to Alaska- best of both worlds and the glass stock was only about $150( of course, that was about 15 years ago when i bought it). most times lately, however, i just rent a camp rifle-BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!!!

Synthetic, a rain soaked hunt in Canada several years ago taught me the value of stainless steel and fiberglass. I have a lot of wood stocked rifles because I am a sucker for walnut and blued steel but my primary hunting rifles all wear synthetic stocks.

Plastic stocks and stainless steel don't do it for me. But a second plastic stock for a trip to Alaska would be a good and not expensive option if you can stand it.

I have a spare 30-06 which I've been telling myself for more than a decade is my "rain rifle" and ought to be changed out for a plastic stock. Haven't been able to force myself. Still use the rifle in crappy weather, in the rain and snow, as I have for 25yrs, still use the same load and the POI hasn't shifted at all in those 25yrs. And that rifle isn't bedded any better than the day it left the factory.

JPK

Rent a rifle??? WTF?

I adore a beautiful piece of wood, who doesn't. But for a one gun 'round the world workhorse, I vote synthetic.

I like HS precision, just because I don't have a McMillan.

One planet, one rifle: Model 70 in .375 H&H.



It's taken everything from Francolin to Elephant.

She's named "BAD GIRL" (Good girls go to heaven, but Bad Girls go everywhere else).

I've lived and hunted in AK for going on 24 years now, and you won't find a single plastic stock in my safe, so you know what my vote is. Frankly, I find the whole "wood is impractical for AK" argument to be a load of crap. Now, is it a PITA, that requires extra effort to pull off....absolutely. But don't tell me it can't be done. You just have to WANT to do it. If you don't want to do it, hey, that's cool too, nothing wrong with the synthetics, if that's what you like.

Jeff

I'm thinking that LRH 270 is right on the money. This idea that hunting in Africa necessitates a dozen rifles makes no sense to me. However, I have rifles in .243, .270, and .30-06---I simply want a high caliber rifle that I can take anywhere and not be under-gunned. LRH has a Model 70, which is great. I've always been a fan of Rugers, so I am inclined towards the Hawkeye. Renting rifles is also a concept that escapes me...how could ever get comfortable with the rifle? Again, you would have no history with the gun, which for me is a big part of the hunt. Thanks for the input guys!

I've got other calibers, other makes, and a few doubles and drillings as well.

It's just hard not to thin the battery to ONE for the long trip. Or ONE plus a 12 ga. And this is almost always the one (I did take a M70 .338 to RSA the first time, but now that I think about it I don't believe I've shot the .338 since I got the .375).

I would REALLY like to shoot a leopard or kudu with my Ruger #1 9,3x74R though.....

Stainless is certainly an option to go with the synthetic, but if you're getting up close in the bush especially on a sunny day you may look into armor coating it. With a stainless or blued barrel that's armor coated with a synthetic stock you have an impervious rifle with low glare.

Brett

9.3 x 74 would be nice in the Ruger #1...I saw that they are making it in the .450-400 Nitro, which would be AWESOME if I could afford the ammo...

quote:

Originally posted by LRH270:
One planet, one rifle: Model 70 in .375 H&H.



It's taken everything from Francolin to Elephant.

She's named "BAD GIRL" (Good girls go to heaven, but Bad Girls go everywhere else).

"Bad Birl" is BEAUTIFUL.....Absolutely PRACTICAL!!

Congrats

There is real application in mountain hunting for a FG stock. It is just lighter (HS Precision withstanding) and you are liable to bust your ass so why risk taking a nice stock. Practically all my plastic stocks are FG Mcmillans. They are well made but what seems to be the downfall is that they are "noisy" in the bush. Any contact with a twig makes a scratching sound and if you are trying to pull a sneak on something this can annoying. You will not have that problem with wood or laminated wood.
Guess allot of years of archery hunting have taught me to be stealthy and FG stocks can be plain noisy.
If I went to an area that was not physically challenging or weather a issue, I really like wood, especially in a close range stalk.
I would say the rifles I own are about 50% FG and 50% wood.

Did you ever heard about a broken synthetic stock while hunting?
But there are many stories of broken wood stocks. Personnally I like wood but while hunting in the middle of nowhere I would prefer plastic.

Because you are purchasing a 'soulless Ruger Hawkeye in 375 Ruger' instaed of the wonderful Ruger Magnum rifle in the classic 375 H+H -- you absolutely must buy synthetic. That leaves more wonderful wood for those of us that want perfection in gun and chambering!!

I don't have many rifles,only 20 or so, and most are what I call larger calibers (from 30 on up) and surprise ,not a single one has anything other than wood and that all walnut. I did make an exception on one 375 and one 416Rigby and they have wood laminates. I have found over the years that I shoot better and hunt better with a pretty gun. I actually even hunt with engraved and gold inlaid guns with no problem. They are mostly shotguns so I have not taken any of them to Africa but if I had an African rifle so ornamented I would certainly take it and use it with pride.Of course I'm probably different than most on this forum as I absolutely hate to,and in fact, will NOT hunt in rain and it has absolutely nothing to do with the gun but with me. I have hunted for well over 60 years and have yet to break a gunstock,period. I have fallen and scratched several and while I have been saddened by the occaison it has not been a diaster and actually triggers memories when a I see the scratch. In fact one deep scratch on one of my 375's brings back vivid memories of my first Eland as it was earned by going thru a barbed wire enclosure on top of a hill in the Low Veld in Zimbabwe where the PH and I had gone to try and determine if we could cut of the Eland we were following. We could and did but in going thru the barbed wire,improperly I might add, I fell and scratched the stock. Still use the rifle,just filled the DEEP scratch with epoxy and kept the memories. But most of all I just think plastic stocks are plain UGLI. One old mans opinion of course and I don't really have strong opinions.

Buy the wood, take it off and leave it in the safe, hunt with the synthetic. But as long as you're going to do that, you might as well buy a real rifle.

I have around 60 rifles only a few are not wood. I have 2 rifles (300WM & 375 H&H) I hunt with vertually all the time and both are synthetic. My only wood stocked rifle I hunt with is a 470 NE double barrel.
Hunting rifles are precision tools. Op for the one that will hold up the best.

Life's too short and time in Africa to precious to hunt with an ugly gun.

I would get the African with a wood stock, and have a good synthetic stock fitted to it for Alaska, Canada, and other very wet climates.

I have two 375 H&H Whitworth African exprss rifles. One is in ti's origenal walnut stock,, and the other is in a synthetic for my hunts in Alaska's very wet costal hunts in Sept, and Oct hunts.

I had the one that is now in a synthetic stock in it's wood, for a 10 day float trip hunt on the Mulchatna river. When I left Texas the rifle would print a five shot group in 2" at 100 yds all day long. After 8 days in the rain I soptted a very large caribou at about 200 yds in the open tundra. I got down on my butt, and braced my eobows on my knees, and squeesed off on the bou, NOTHING. Not haveing any dust to fly where the bullet hit, I simply though I had missjudged the range. I haeld a little higer and fired again, NOTHING.

After 4 shots, the bou started walking slowly, so I put the cross hairs against his chest, and fired again, NOTHING. So again I was puzzled and figured he was farther out, and moveing faster than I thought. I placet the corss hairs in the center of his eye, and fired. His hind end went down, but he kept dragging his hind quarters, so I walked up to him and aimed at his neck just in fornt of his shoulder from 30 yds, and fired, the bullet hit him square in the center of the chest killing him. The first shot that hit him broke both hind legs just above the knee, dropping his hindquarters. Gentlemen that is five feet to the right, and three feet low at two hundered yards.

When I got back to Texas, I took the rifle to our local range, and it was indeed,shooting 3.5 feet to the right, and 2.5 feet low,at 100 yds, and twice that at two hundred. When I removed the stock, it looked like it had been made into a corkscrew. It went into a synthetic stock that day, and has not had the scope adjusted in fifteen years sence, and it has been back to Alaska on at least 12 hunts in the rain since, and to Canada, and Africa as well, without porblem!

The other one in wood has been to Africa, and still shoots true after 12 years, also with no scope adjustment.

IMO, anyone who has hunted in Alaska very long and has not had a problem with a wood stock, is either very lucky, or has an exceptional piece of wood on it!

quote:

Originally posted by CaptMike:
While I know the synthetic will weather and wear better as well as keep point of aim, I couldn't ignore the beauty and extra weight of wood. Properly floated and bedded, a wood stocked rifle should offer good utility along with classic good looks.

CAPTMIKE COULD NOT AGREE MORE

Wood. Some of my varmint rifles have synthetic stocks, but my global big game hunting rifles are all wood stocked. Rifles are art to me i.e. balance, feel, and looks.

Wouldn't have it any other way.

I voted sythetic, but as other have stated, buy the wood, replace with synthetic so when you go to Africa you've got wood...

I also have too many rifles -- many more than anyone needs, in fact -- and all are stocked in wood.

In my humble opinion, putting a plastic stock on a rifle is like wearing white tennis shoes with a tuxedo. But what do I know?

Bill Quimby

I also vote for the wood. I have a rifle in wood and a rifle in plastic and like the classic feel of the wood better.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Buy the wood/blued rifle
2. Customize it until it has that African look (barrel band swivel, red recoil pad, ebony forend tip, etc.)
3. Hunt with your rifle until it looks like this:

quote:

Originally posted by ForrestB:

If you do the above three, you can die a happy man.

Synthetics are good; I even own two. But, I like wood better for looks and feel, and I have never had a bad experience with wooden stocks in weather from Asia to northern Wisconsin.

For an African use only rifle-WOOD; in the classic English style and in 300H&H or 375H&H or preferably both.........