I'm planning on a Alaska Brown Bear hunt within a couple of years and was hoping I could get a few opinions on the differents between the two stocks mentioned.

Is it writin in stone to use a Synthetic stock over wood stocks. And is there anything that a person could do to his/her rifle with a wood stock to help pertect it from the elements.

The only rifle that I owen with a Synthetic stock and is stainless is a .300 Rem Ultra Mag.

I also have a 338WM (wood stock) and .378 and .460 Weatherby Mag but they also have a wood stocks.

I appreciate you're help and opinions.

Thanks

Steve

You can still get by with hunting with a wood stock, its not a must have, Hunters hunted Alaska back then with a wood stock and today they still do. Hunting with a wood stock just might require you to do a little more preventive maintenance due our inclement weather here. besides, your shooting it, you know it, your carrying it, and your gonna clean it when done. take the gun you shoot the best for the specific game you are taking down, thats all I can say.

In my opinion the most important issues to consider when selecting a rifle for an Alaskan brown bear hunt are
#1 - familiarity and competence with the rifle
#2 - bullet selection ( TSX, Partition, A-Frame, North Fork, GS and Trophy bonded are all superb)
#3 - caliber ( anything from 30-06 thru .375)

Whether or not it is stainless and synthetic or blued and wood is a personal choice and depends on whether or not you want the slight additional hassle of taking care of your rifle.

In a worst case situatin rain can damage the wood or finish of a wood stock but under normal conditions you will not get so much weather that you will actully go out in, that it will trash your wood stock. The other consideraton is will a wet stock change P.O.I., yes it can but bear rifles of larger caliber and larger heavier barrels tend to be less effected by the weather and a brown bear is a big target.

If the rifle you like has wood and you shoot it well, "bring it".

On the other hand stainless synthetic rifles are pritty bomb proof.

It all boils down to what rifle gives you pleasure to hunt with. I hunted my bear this fall with a double rifle that of course is wood / blue and the only damage it saw was when I dropped the forend while cleaning the rifle at home after the hunt and I got a little scuff on the wood.

Sometimes we make a little too big of a deal about the weather in Alaska.

AKshooter said it all

+2 Akshooter

I will be hunting moose in Alaska with a wooden stocked rifle this year. I used it a few years ago in the Northwest Territories for Dalls sheep. It was relatively new at the time, and going across a shale slide I lost my balance and the stock took a 2" gash on a large rock. That's life. I wish it hadn't happened. It's not a fond hunting memory, but it is a facet of that hunt. The scratch didn't affect anything later in the day when we spotted rams, belly-crawled into position, and ended the hunt. If my Grandkids ask me later where the scratch came from, I'll have a story to tell.

Wooden stock; synthetic stock; surely there are more important things to worry about. (I also don't care what color socks you plan on wearing.)

quote:

Originally posted by 458Win:
In my opinion the most important issues to consider when selecting a rifle for an Alaskan brown bear hunt are
#1 - familiarity and competence with the rifle
#2 - bullet selection ( TSX, Partition, A-Frame, North Fork, GS and Trophy bonded are all superb)
#3 - caliber ( anything from 30-06 thru .375)

Whether or not it is stainless and synthetic or blued and wood is a personal choice and depends on whether or not you want the slight additional hassle of taking care of your rifle.

What Mr.Shoemaker said!!
If not taken care of, a little bit of salt spray will rust/pit your STAINLESS also. The key is Take Care of it every day of the hunt

stainless synthetic for AK. Yes wood and blue work in AK all the time, but stainless synthetic would be better if buying a rifle.

Since it appears you already own the rifle you plan on taking you could put a synthetic stock on it.

You can also put a wax coating on the barrel and wood stock to help protect it from the elements.

It's your hunt, but if it were me I'd try to get a synthetic stock. I'm bias. I had a goat hunt that went south as a result of a wood stock. Yes, it was my fault, but when I went to Alaska grizzly hunting last fall, I had a gun with a synthetic stock. I swore that I would never return without one. I do however agree with the other posters, you have to be familiar with gun. That is the most important thing.

yes , a wood stocked rifle will reliably kill game . But I have seen shots missed because rifles were 2 foot off at 50 yards ...... The 375 Ruger Alaskan is coated stainless steel and a synthetic stock ....That pretty much says it all ........ . Could you try a RamLine ect stock on your rifle for the hunt ?? . You will be suprised how much a rifle will weather on some Alaskan hunts ......

OK here's the deal. Screw them wooden stocks; in wet weather, it will eventually be ruined. I live and hunt here in the rain forrest's of Oregon where it may rain like a bastard for months on end. You have to figure your rifle will be soaked thru and thru during a hunt. A nice wood stock will look like hammered goat F$#@! in a short period of time, and surly shoot to a different point of impact. To most , this may not make much difference, but I hunt year round, and can completly ruin a good piece of wood in 1 year easily. When it rains, I use a plastic or synthetic stock, period!