Okay, in 10 days I am delivering the components to the gunsmith for my .458 (conversion from a LH M-70 .300Win.).

Do I go with a wood stock, or the McMillan synthetic?

My .375H&H and .470 Capstick have a wood stock with Monte Carlo treatment. The McMillan is of a 'classic' design. I want the Brockman pop-up peep which uses the Talley bases.

What say you, oh mighty sages of the big bore DGRs?

The rifle will be used mostly on bovids, perhaps a lion someday.

George

George

You should go with a good piece of stick with good grain going the proper direction. Wood always feels so much better than synthetics. Plus, when you mount a rifle w/synthetic stock to your shoulder, you get that boink sound from the non-wood stock. Wood is just so much nicer and warmer feeling.

Depends on you. I really enjoy the beauty and feel of wood. But I have one synthetic stocked rifle. I find I carry it much more than I should because I hate to get a fine wood stock damaged. If you can sleep at night with a scratch on a nice wood stock-- go for the wood! If you are like me-- and it bugs you to the point you lose sleep. Get a synthetic to drag through the brush, they can not get any uglier. Scratches might even improve the look!

I probably wouldn't qualify as a "mighty sage of the big bore DGR's" but I'd be goin' with wood. I've got more than a few rifles and shotguns and only have a total of three synthetic stocks. One is a beater Mauser, a beater Mossberg duck gun, and a beater 22 single shot. To me wood is warm and friendly, synthetics (although extremely forgiving and functional) are cold and impersonal.

Go with synthetic... you can always buy a wood grain paint roller from Home Depot


honestly.... wood

When I took my RSM with it's purty wood elk hunting a couple of years ago, the leather sling I had decided to unlatch itself and my rifle hit the gravel. When it happened, I was shocked for a bit but got over it as it is a true ding from being a shooter. I got over it in a second and a half.

Wood. It's quieter. Don't worry about getting it scratched. A hunting rifle is a tool.

A brand new Estwing hammer is dollar-for-dollar one of the best looking manufactured objects out there, IMO, but a 20-year old Estwing hammer without a scratch on it is simply evidence it's owner spent $15 (or whatever they cost back then) unnecessarily.

H. C.

Synthetic.....a Mcmillan. Wood is pretty and makes a good campfire. It soaks up moisture and warps, it gets gouged and scratched. My rifle is a tool, and I want the zero to stay the same despite indavertent hard knocks and harsh weather. Wood is all right for stay at home rifles, and I love the classic, warm beauty of fine wood....but like Buckeyeshooter mentioned, scratching up a stock would bug me......so again.....Mcmillan. And with Rick Bin's talents with the air brush, who says synthetic has to be ugly?

I swing a hammer for a living. Estwings are great, I've got a few of them. But I'll tell ya what, the difference between steel handles and wood is very pronounced. Steel handles gives a sharp jolt to the hand and arm, wood handles result in a much softer jolt. Trust me on this one, I've been pounding nails for a long time and there is a difference.

Plastic might be practical, but it sure is not much to look at. But neither are Winchester factory stocks. I would either spend $500 on a good stock blank and do it right, or settle for a coke bottle stock.

Go for the wood. A nice freshly cut stock looks great, but the stock with scratchs comes with stories. The well beat up wood stock is part of a big bore, without one the classical feel vanishes. A big bore is a classical rifle to me, reserved for barrel bands, red recoil pads, and a wood stock.

Sevens

I like nice wood but I feel one needs one synthetic stocked rifle in there kit for shitty weather. Just my thought however.

Wood, it looks nicer for starters. I also feel that it's more springy which I think makes a slight difference in felt recoil, even if minute. Feels better, looks better and is just better full stop in my opinion.

M82A1

Well, it looks like wood is the favorite here. The McMillan would have saved me a few bucks (no need for additional recoil lug or accoutrements), but it's only money, right?

Now the follow-up question:
Does anyone here use the newer Classic LT stocks with a large caliber, say .416" or greater, and iron sights?

My .375 and .470 have the older 'Monte Carlo' stocks, which I find very comfortable to shoot. I have two M-70s with the newer Classic LT stock (this .300Win., and a 7mmSTW), and they feel fine too, but they don't recoil much and they don't have iron sights.

George

I am in the midst of the same question. I am putting together 2 M70 in .375 H&H. I am looking for new or nearly NIB M70 to re-barrel. I want to use the existing stock and fit it to myself and sons. Only thing I can find are SS in plastic stocks. I just can't bring myself to shoot a plastic gun - no matter the logic or the weather. There are SS/plastic M70's out there, but I am holding out for the classic feel of wood and blue.

George:



Here is the stock for the 458 I building for myself. Wood cost me about 100 quid (not bad). Dense piece of black walnut.



Dropbox Blackburn bottom metal, double Talley crossbolts, two screw rear swivel, barrel band front swivel, trap gripcap (for show).



Metal is original pre-64 M70 ( weep, weep) recontoured 25" barrel with front sight and quarter rib added. All feeding and metal work done by Penrod.



I'm stocking and engraving it. :



Oh, I almost forgot. It does have an addition recoil lug added to the barrel.

This is the wood I had on my .458 win mag:




Another alternative:

Roger,
That is very a nice stock. Alas, I have no skill with metal OR wood.

Dan,
I remember that rifle. Gorgeous marble figure. Didn't go with iron sights on that one, eh? I wonder if I should bother with them on my .458. I never use them, personally.

George

George, I used to just skip the irons, but now I like the idea of them more than I used to. The chance that I would use irons in North America is very slim. The chance that I would use them in Africa is much higher, although if I were not hunting buffalo, hippo or elephant, the chance of my using irons is still extremely low.

Good wood, properly laid out and properly cured is as good as any plastic stock...All my stocks are wood and have been hunted world wide and without problems other than accidents and I have seen synthetics warp too close to heat like in a car or by a fire so?????stuff happens.

If I ever have to hunt with a gun that looks like a kitchen utinsel, then I will quit the game of hunting...

A rifle to me is thing of joy, pride and love of labor, it is utility at its utmost and a thing of beauty, a piece of art that functions, not a tool...and each and every ding and scratch is a memory of a good time past, it too is beautiful and for those that cannot see that and appreciate it, then I feel sorry for them, it is their loss not mine......and in this opine I will never change.

If I lived in a clime where my gun lived in a dog sled and it rained great gobs, or in a rain forest, I might own a laminated stock with a built up finish and perhaps stainless steel, but that gun would never hold a place in my heart....

Hi Ray,

With ALL due respect, and that is quite a bit, I have to say that I'm surprised you feel SO strongly against synthetic stocks and/or stainless barrels. We all have preferences and tastes, but to say that an S/S gun isn't worth shooting and you'd rather just not hunt at all?

I'm not looking to start a fight, just surprised at how vehement you're statement was. Something I might be missing is how appropriate Synthetic is for a big bore.