Laminates work if you seal them properly and the only waterproof finish is the horrible high gloss piled on finish...

I have used plain wood stocks for 50 years all over the world, and wood stock were used for about 200 years prior to my being here, now all of the sudden they don't work anymore?

I admit wood and blue take some extra care but I can live with that, and I also agree that SS and fiberglass are a very desirable option if one uses his rifle day in and day out like a tool...

I hate the plastic and SS stuff, its so cold and non nostalgic, its modern and foriegn to me, I don't want to go there, so I don't...but I have no problems with those who do, just don't try to force it on me, it won't work!

Atkinson

I agree with you I like wood and use them when ever I can (99.9% of the time even in AK)
I recently bought my first synthetic stocked bolt action rifle because it was on sale and I needed a new boat rifle.

Here's one thing that will probably open up a whole new can of worms in that I contend that their are disadvantages with the synthetics.

What I'm talking about is the issues faced when and if glass bedding is needed. The glass compound tends not to adhere to the stock nearly as well when it is made out of synthetics especially injection moulded plastic.

I don't think it's a coinceadence that piller bedding popped up about the time that the synthetics came on the scene. With wood it's not needed at all to insure a good bed and I get a kick out of it when I hear of someone piller bedding a wood stock.

When I bought the stainless synthetic M77 .300 win I fully intended on getting a wood stock for it but after shooting the first group out of the rifle that measured 1/2 inch I decided to keep it the way it was.

quote:

Originally posted by Akshooter:
Atkinson

I agree with you I like wood and use them when ever I can (99.9% of the time even in AK)
I recently bought my first synthetic stocked bolt action rifle because it was on sale and I needed a new boat rifle.

Here's one thing that will probably open up a whole new can of worms in that I contend that their are disadvantages with the synthetics.

What I'm talking about is the issues faced when and if glass bedding is needed. The glass compound tends not to adhere to the stock nearly as well when it is made out of synthetics especially injection moulded plastic.

I don't think it's a coinceadence that piller bedding popped up about the time that the synthetics came on the scene. With wood it's not needed at all to insure a good bed and I get a kick out of it when I hear of someone piller bedding a wood stock.

When I bought the stainless synthetic M77 .300 win I fully intended on getting a wood stock for it but after shooting the first group out of the rifle that measured 1/2 inch I decided to keep it the way it was.

.........


...........................Ak Shooter ;;; I don,t know about [FIBERGLASS] but epoxy ;[STICKS LIKE GLUE]; ........................Marine Tex ,JB Weld .,and ,5 minute Epoxy all have adhered for me .....When I had my Spruce King 458 Win Mag. made , I did the bedding myself which consisted of a big glob of JB Weld placed in the fore end of a canoe paddle stock between the front grip panel cross bolt and the under barrel recoil lug ...........I used Red Chevron grease as a release agent ..... It,s been in that stock for nearly 14 years ...once a friend told me it wouldn,t stick so I worked pretty hard to tear it out of there and it really won,t come out ....I put the barreled action in a Houge Overmold , pillar stock ,, hogged out a place for the under barrel recoil lug , wiped it out with acetone and put the JB Weld to it .. stuck like 3k psi concrete ......Wanted to put it in a new Canoe Paddle stock but could only find Marine Tex to bed it with ........Works great so far ......As a better test I cut the stocks short and JB Welded ,,Pacmeyer Decelerator pads onto the Zytel stocks .....For a while I would grab the pad and lug the rifle around upside down ,,,,pull on them ect .....I have a section of canoe paddle stock that has clear 5 minute epoxy in the web that has been there for 6 years and it still seems like a single piece of plastic ....I cut the sliver off the butt stock with a worm drive saw ..........I can,t hardly live without JB Weld , Marine Tex or Splash Zone .............................The stuff is tougher than twisted cougar poop ..

I do not have one of those quarter inch wide birch strip / Rutland plywood type stocks. I have seen a number of target - varmint type rifles with them at the range. They seem ok, but I gather the more stable they are, the more resin they contain and therefore are heavy.

I have a Serengetti walnut laminate on a stalking rifle. It seems stable from the warpage aspect but it scratches and dings up like an ordinary walnut stock.

I think the Accurate Innovations stocks look good. These have a full length aluminium bedding block / chasis in them. I have a 'normal' walnut stock on a partly finished .375H&H. Looking at the system,

I think the laminate system should be good. I just wished they came in a wider range of stock profiles / shapes. And in 'rosewood' laminate also.

Does anyone have any experience with Obeche wood laminates? Bill McShanes long range target shooting shop website has examples of them. The website makes reference to D'Arcy Echols stocking a rifle in this wood laminate.

I was wondering where / if it is possible to obtain an Obeche wood stock blank for profiling etc?

I have this half remembered thought the wood is lighter than conventional laminates, so reducing the complaint against these types of stocks for a hunting rifle.

I remember seeing a recent picture posting of Gumboot458's stainless barrelled 9.3x64 in a coffee/toffee/walnut coloured laminate. It was rather nice.

The compound that injection molded stocks are made of has a release agent put into the mix. That's a fact and that's why bedding sometimes doesn't stick. Ideally, you should incorporate mechanical locks (holes and undercuts) when bedding these types.

Shell type stocks, on the other hand, are glass (or other type) fibers imbedded in epoxy. No reason bedding won't become "one" with the rest of the stock.

I think my .450 Marlin MXLR would do just about anything needed is Alaska, with the right load.

I use synthetics because it just makes sense. My guns are tools, not jewels. I need them to function properly at the moment of truth and if there is any kind of worry, you might not make the shot you need. Not just because the stock warped, it might be fine, but YOU are worried that it might not be fine.

I used to have a wood stock on my remington 8mm mag and that thing would be all over the target depending on weather conditions. I would have to sight it in during the spring, fall, and winter. There was so much warping in the stock that different conditions affected how it shot. I switched to a synthetic stock and NEVER had that issue again.

Northway,
Factory stocks are pretty much poor quality wood, and for the most part poorly cured..Costs to much to use good wood on them...

I have a 300 H*H and a .338 that have been all over the world, the only place I haven't hunted with them is in the ocean and under a lake!

Not only have they not warped, they maintain there zero year in and year out if I leave them alone and not monkey with them..They are both well laid out and cured Circasian and French walnut, I have owned them for over 40 years I guess and they are dry for sure..

If I lived in Alaska, and was in the weather day in and day out I would probably use a best quality glass stock such as the old Pacific Research (has another name now) because they fit me well and had nice lines...but for a hunt I will just stick with my guns.

well really, the only synthetic and the first is the brown precison, they just dont come any better. they dont do anything weird under any circumstances. but i like a well used wood-blue gun.wood works , it always has. it is pleasing to the eye, and when it has a few scratches on it , it tells of its battles, and reminds its owner of the trips it has made,wood and blue steel, does it get any better??

quote:

Originally posted by jessi:
well really, the only synthetic and the first is the brown precison, they just dont come any better. they dont do anything weird under any circumstances. but i like a well used wood-blue gun.wood works , it always has. it is pleasing to the eye, and when it has a few scratches on it , it tells of its battles, and reminds its owner of the trips it has made,wood and blue steel, does it get any better??

I think a lot of folks who use McMillan Stocks might tend to disagree with you as to which synthetic stock is "better". The question I would ask about Brown is" "better how", and what do other synthetics do that is weird that Brown doesn't do.

No doubt about it, Wood looks nice and feels warm to the touch. But, I am told by those who know, that even under the best of circumstances wood moves in unstable conditions. If it moves enough it puts pressure on one side of your barrel, which will cause unstable accuracy.

Doesn't a synthetic stock scratch as well to remind us of its battles and the trips it has made?

Will pass along my opinions and experiences -

First, I have to agree the plastic stocks and stainless metal are more durable. BUT.

I lived and hunted all over Alaska starting in the late 60s. My main rifle was an M70 300WIN, and I hunted moose and caribou and bear in the Interior for several years - and it generally rained hard during moose season. Apparently I was very, very fortunate not to have lost any game or missed a shot because a wood stock had warped. I was also very lucky not to have a blued rifle disinegrate in my hands due to exposure to the elements. We took care of our rifles - it was part of hunting.

When the stainless/plastic rifles began showing up, I was living in Juneau and saw this as what I HAD to have - all my hunts started and ended on salt water. I bought a few and used them, but eventually sent most of them on their way, keeping only the exceptionally accurate ones.

I successfully used a wood/blued Mark V Weatherby on two Alaska Range sheep hunts - yep, it is heavy and shiny and all that, but it works. It has also ridden many miles in a sled on caribou hunts, been dunked in rivers and rained on, and used on lots of appropriate African game - and has never failed to perform. I guess I have been lucky.

As for the bulletproof bears on Chicagof Island (and Baranoff and Admiralty --), I was again lucky in that we never encountered one that couldn't be taken nicely with a 300 WIN, 338 or 375. We hunted mainly the are between Adolphus and Yakobi, and back into the area at the head of Tenakee Inlet.

In summing up, I would suggest you get a synthetic rig - but only because they are easier to maintain. I'll stick with the real stuff.