I am considering the purchase of a Remington 700, and am having difficulty with the choice of a specific model. Basically, I am torn betweeen the walnut stock CDL with blued metal and the synthetic stock XCR with PVD coated metal. While I do not plan to hunt in "extreme" conditions, does a synthetic stock rifle make for a better overall field use gun? Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Muggles:
..does a synthetic stock rifle make for a better overall field use gun? ...

Without a doubt it does - always.

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:

quote:

Originally posted by Muggles:
..does a synthetic stock rifle make for a better overall field use gun? ...

Without a doubt it does - always.

Ditto.

quote:

Originally posted by cobra:

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:

quote:

Originally posted by Muggles:
..does a synthetic stock rifle make for a better overall field use gun? ...

Without a doubt it does - always.

Ditto.

Yep. What they said...........yep.

Synthetic stocked rifles are cold, lifeless but efficient tools. Wood stocked rifles are warmer, nicer to hold and look at but make you feel guilty if you abuse them.
I hunt with sythetics when the weather sucks or I'm going to be dragging them through scratchy woods etc.. For other times I much prefer the feel of wood.................DJ

quote:

does a synthetic stock rifle make for a better overall field use gun? Thanks.

guess I'll be the lone dissenter.....There's nothing wrong with a nice walnut stock as a field gun.....nor is it of lesser function...it's a matter of preference and how you handle the gun.

For some the synthetic is the only way to go.....
Not at all for me.

Let me put it another way;

When I hunt with Stainless/Synthetic it's because I need too.
When I Hunt with Blued/Walnut it's because I want too..............DJ

All of my hunting rifles wear wood & all have seen some resonably rough trips. If I were hunting Alaska or African rain forest, I would probably opt for syn.

moisture moisture moisture. can't effect synthetic. neither does temperature. and synthetic won't won't do a split. but then neither would my ex, so maybe that's not a good thing???

Wood to look at,synthetic to hunt with

Walnut preference is a nostalgic affliction. Nothing so terribly wrong about it, just know the truth and to thine own self be true. Let the other guy lie to himself by insisting on walnut. That walnut sure is pretty, and O.K. for show.

Acutally, I have seen an article in a norwegian magazine comparing different types of stocks. There are especially two features that are of interest in this regard, "toughness" and "stiffness".

The conclusion was that one could just as well choose the wood stock over the cheap synthetics. The cheap plastic stocks are not always as stiff at wood and are not easy to do a proper bedding job on. This often results in better accuracy from the wood stocks (when bedded, with a free floating barrel), comnpared to the cheap plastic.

The more expensive syntheticks such as glassfiber are both stronger and stiffer than wood. But still, the laminate wood stocks are also very strong and stiff - though they are often very heavy.

Me? I say life is too short to be hunting with an ugly gun. Sure, if I fall down the mountain while hunting reindeer my beautiful maple stock will be more likely to brake than if I had a synthetic. And yes, I have to put som oil on the stock now and then, but I like taking care of my guns.

Gidday Guys,

When you hunt somewhere as wet as NZ you soon get to love synthetic or laminate.

But damn walnut is beautiful.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

You have to look at it a lot more than you get to hunt with it and plastic stocked rifles are uuuuuuugly!

I do have a couple of generic plastic stocks that I put on a rifle when the conditions are really bad but when the rifle is in the safe or being "fondled", it has a wooden stock on it.

I have several rifles but there are a few particular favorites....

1)My primary varmint rig is a basically stock
Rem 700VSSF in 223Rem, I simply don't worry about it getting rained on.

2)My 1969 vintage ADL 30-06 (originally a 25-06)
that now wears a laminated stock, seems to me that even though I have other rifles, 9-of-10 times I head out the door this is the one I grab.

3)My real prize, a Rem700 in 7mmMag with a Hart barrel, which actually wears a walnut stock
inletted for that #5 profile barrel...
I actually hate the idea of getting it wet.
I hope to stumble into a deal on a takeoff Sendero stock and then I'll display that rifle in the walnut

I have an inch/lb torque wrench and have no problem smearing some acraglass into the sendero stock so the rifle is bedded into TWO stocks.

the CDL stocks look pretty, but...

as for the coating? the only thing better than a stainless steel rifle coated with Zirconium Nitride would be one coated with tungsten Carbo-Nitride (jet black and hard enough to use to sharpen knives on)

AllanD

quote:

Originally posted by Strut10:

quote:

Originally posted by cobra:

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:

quote:

Originally posted by Muggles:
..does a synthetic stock rifle make for a better overall field use gun? ...

Without a doubt it does - always.

Ditto.

Yep. What they said...........yep.

+4, IMO, yes!!

I would choose the rifle that feels the best to you. Handle both of them a bunch. There's nothing better than carrying and using a gun that just feels good in your hands and over your shoulder. I would handle as many different guns as possible, that way you know what is right for you.

If you are constantly hunting in cruddy weather and/or saltwater environment, the stainless/ synthetic will probably hold up better. But with proper care, the other gun will do the job also.

I have both types of stocks and each have their own individual positive's and negative's.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

does a synthetic stock rifle make for a better overall field use gun? Thanks.

guess I'll be the lone dissenter.....There's nothing wrong with a nice walnut stock as a field gun.....nor is it of lesser function...it's a matter of preference and how you handle the gun.

For some the synthetic is the only way to go.....
Not at all for me.

Let ME put it another way. There is no doubt that a plastic gun will withstand treatment that would destroy a wooden one. But I have never had to subject a gun of mine to such conditions, and that includes during a period of three years of use of wood-stocked, blued steel arms in Alaska, sometimes at temperatures well below zero F, and also on the coast, where it rained salt spray every damn day!!

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Walnut preference is a nostalgic affliction. Nothing so terribly wrong about it, just know the truth and to thine own self be true. Let the other guy lie to himself by insisting on walnut. That walnut sure is pretty, and O.K. for show.

Bingo.....RIP I think you're exactly on the money here.....I agree.....and so are such chamberings as 404 Jeffery, 505 Gibbs, 470 Nitro, 318 WR, 416 Rigby, 9.3 x 62, and a host of others that have been superceded by modern cartridges.

Some traditions (nostalgic aflictions) truly die hard.....and for that I'm grateful.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

Some traditions (nostalgic aflictions) truly die hard.....and for that I'm grateful.

I like good walnut too, intoxicating as it may be, gotta have some of that now and then, for old times sake. I just try not to make a habit of it.

In extreme conditions, YES..

quote:

I am considering the purchase of a Remington 700, and am having difficulty with the choice of a specific model. Basically, I am torn betweeen the walnut stock CDL with blued metal and the synthetic stock XCR with PVD coated metal. While I do not plan to hunt in "extreme" conditions, does a synthetic stock rifle make for a better overall field use gun? Thanks.

Do you baby your rifles or use them as a tool?

If it's a tool the Synthetic is nice. The Walnut is purty but, will scratch w/ ease.

Also, do you hunt close to your game (woods etc)? Stainless may not be your best friend if the game is close, it is awful bright when camo concealment is needed IMO. You could buy a BDL w/ satin finish and syn stock if you want the ruggedness of a syn stock and the look of a blued bbl. Another good idea would be a matte sps 700 w/ an after market sporter style HS stock.

I've never found blued or matte steel to be much of a disadvantage and I hunt in rain quite often. A quick rub w/ a towel when back at camp and you are good to go again.

Good Luck

Reloader

For me shooting/hunting is a very tactile experience. Wood stocks all the way. Besides, a nick here and there gives a stock character and reminds you of all the wonderful days in the field you have had with it.

If you aren't specifically looking for a rifle for long use in extreme conditions, go for the wood. It is hard for me to become attached to a lifeless synthetic rifle.

I forgot who said it but I think it applies here;

"Life is too short to hunt with an ugly rifle."

How true!

To me the look of a quality synthetic stock like a HS Precision or a MacMillan is just as pretty as a wood stock and turns me on more. Sorta like the difference between good looking country girl rather than a runway model. I have a pre 64 in the cabinet now that is in 99% condition and I can't bear to hunt with it. I had a Browning low wall 22 hornet that was beautiful but I sold it cause I just couldn't hunt with it. Had another beautiful stocked gun but covered it up with Kane chaps.

No, I don't think the Weatherby's, Blasers, Sakos and others who have a quality synthetic are ugly at all. Course, I think my $45,000 truck is prettier than any Lexus also.

Ditto on the Country Gal and the Truck

Reloader

I personally regard a synthetic stock of any kind on a big-bore sporting Mauser about like I regard the guy who shows up at a formal dinner party with a picture of a tuxedo painted on his T-shirt.

Like combat boots on a long-legged blonde.

Basketball shoes under an evening gown.

Flip-flops on a ballerina.

And the same goes for muzzlebrakes, which are not only unspeakably ugly but insufferably rude. The hunting guides and PHs I know rate them right up there with boom-boxes going full blast on a hip-hop station.

Some people say synthetic stocks, muzzlebrakes and other novelties like stainless steel barrels, in all their unsightly splendor, are the way of the future. That’s what a 14-year-old I know says about girls with earrings in their noses and tattoos on their butts.

People who habitually hunt in horrible weather say wood stocks warp and blue barrels rust, potential problems which have been solved quite nicely for the past 200 years by the occasional use of a dry rag or drop of oil.

I think the synthetic/stainless/muzzlebrake guys are paranoid, and they build guns the way they do in the hope that the sheer ugliness of their rifles will frighten the bad weather gods away.

The corollary to that is that the English walnut/blue steel guys get more girls.

Welcome to the forum.

I question the Remington as a choice. I really think that the 700 is an old economy design thats fallen into a negative development trend.

I suggest that you look at other brands before you spend.

As to wood vrs plastic I have had walnut work well for me all these years. Finally I got some plastic stocks and they are ok too.

I guess the mauser 98 is passe' also.
I hope you're not suggesting a Savage.

Hey Muggles I vote wood and blued steel. Scorehigh gunsmithing has adjustable pillars for the model 700 and once installed you can remove barreled action from stock dry, clean, oil and reassemble with no change of POI ( I have proven this MANY times ) and your stock should upon purchase be completly sealed anyway ( IE remove action and butt pad and seal all wood ) I love the look of walnut and blued steel but then agian I am an Old Man.

I've got both, about half and half on my rifle collection. I've hunted Canada and the states all the way to the Mexican border in southern AZ.

I've honestly never "noticed" any remarkable change in accuracy regardless of weather.

I'll take either. I like the feel of wood much more though.

I'd go the CDL, then purchase yourself a nice Laminate stock from Boyd's for the times you want a rough cold weather use of the stock.. and just change it.. it is only 3 screws....

Get a synthetic if you think you need one... personally myself.. I accept their functionality and reject their lack of estetic appeal...

cheers
seafire

get the one you like !
Personaly I like wood. Synthetic is more practicle, but the notion that wood stocks are likly to cause you to miss game is prety silly,
I like the CDL reminton fairly well. the new model 7 CDL is cooler still !
...tj3006

Savage 99: I gots to know! What in the world are you talking about when you say "the 700 is an old economy design that has fallen into a negative development trend"?
Be forewarned though that if your ineffective (mostly because of its fogginess and ambiguity!) attempt at besmirching this wonderful Rifle has some specifics to it - then I and about 4 million other Remington 700 owners may just have to take you to task and do you some "lernin"!
For instance - I have recently killed Black Bear, Elk, Antelope, Mule Deer and Whitetailed Deer quite handily with a pair of Remington Model 700's I own! They are splendidly accurate, very reliable and look really good while they are performing in the field and at the range!
Over the last 4 decades of using Remington 700's in the field and at the range I have never had one fail me!
I probably own 35 Remington Rifles in Models 700, 40X and the brand new little brother the XR-100. They are, each and every one, handsome and accurate and reliable Rifles!
Again millions of Model 700 owners may take a sideways smirking glance at your specious (without merit!) remarks regarding one of the most popular and still best selling Rifles ever made!
Explain yourself please - if you can?
Long live the Remington Model 700!

Muggles: I would answer in the affirmative regarding the syntehtic stocks on Model 700 Rifles being a slightly superior (more desirable) model to use even in moderate extremes of weather, temperatures and travel abuses. Year to year, season to season and climate to climate points of impact shifting is virtually eliminated with todays synthetic stocks!
I prefer them anymore.
Best of luck with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Tupperware stocks are as ass ugly as matte scopes. Get the CDL.

You need a couple of rough synthetic hunters and a nice wood one for dry weather etc.

So...................get both

Ugly, I think not

http://www.mcmfamily.com/mcmillan/hunting/sako.asp

http://www.hsprecision.com/pss42.htm

http://www.hsprecision.com/new_phr.htm

http://www.siskguns.com/grand_waputi.htm

http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire_r...00_sendero_SF_II.asp

I started of with an Tikka in the blue with a wooden stock, but after a few seasons of use the finish started to wear (even after oiling), so I sold it to a friend (which I now regret) and went with the stainless / synth version, I felt that the stock was cold and lifeless so I changed to a laminate which I am happy with, has the nice to look at of the wood, and its fairly inert to moisture, a nice trade off.

My next choice is most probably wood / blued steel as a working gun.

Glen

Varmint Guy. I go way back with Remington to 1953 when I got my first new 722-222 along with a reloading outfit. Since then I have bought and sold a few more and currently have a Hepburn thats done well for me in Schuetzen, an orginal 44 revolver and a couple of 40X's. The memories of the matches I used the 6mm in will always be with me.

However for hunting and in particular serious hunting I find that the Remington design is not really progressed but instead suffered negative development.

I grew up in a tool and die shop that my late dad owned and I still have some of the machinery. It's just that that old Remington economy design is not nice machinery in looks or function in my view.

I see a rifle as more of a hammer than a sculpture. All my hunting guns have synthetic stocks. There are several reasons I switched to synthetic. First among them is that the aimpoint won't change after days of sitting in the rain. I do a lot of sitting in the rain hunting in MD and VA.

The range head at my gun club is under a lid. My target stocks are unfancy wood.

All of my guns had wood stocks until about five years ago. They performed very well for me and are still in decent condition. But this works only to a point and for someone who lives in a rainforest or a tent then the SS/Syn. route is a new path of least resistance.