I have a laminated Boyd's stock on my 375 H&H Mag. Does it need crossbolts?

In a laminated stocked 375 I sure would install a crossbolt.

Generally speaking, a laminated stock can split easier than dense natural wood. The glue sometimes (usually?) doesn't penetrate through the entire layer and because of the way the grain runs parallel instead of 1/4 sawn, it can split. But a 375 is still below my threshold if the gun is well bedded. Can't hurt anythin to be careful, though.

I disagree that regular stocks are stronger than laminated wood. It is the exact opposite. The laminated is MUCH stronger. And is less prone to cracking.

I do mot see it hurting anything to add crossbolts,,,but a 375HH would not have to have them.

There are several posts here rgarding Ruger M77s and converting th e standard actions to 375HH & even 458 Lott. In at least one of them they had problems with the regular walnut stock spliting .......then swithched to teh Ruger laminate & eliminated the problem

Tensile amd compresseive strength is much stronger, just like plywood. And the strength is consistant from piece to piece but a natural wood stock is inconsistant and can have internal flaws that lead to splitting much easier than laminated. But I specified a piece of dense natural stockwood properly sawn and fitted. Laminates are well known for splitting on big bores because people assume they have superior split resistance and don't take the ususal precautions. They don't.

Wood splits along the grain (barring catastropic failure). Along with the added tensile & comp. strentgh that laminates have........they have they do not have the even grain pattern of "natural wood" that allows a slit to spread. They are more split resistant,So lami's are much better than natural wood in this respect. Especially for a big bore.

I do agree that just because a stock is a laminate does not mean you can ignore good bedding proceedures. And I do agree that you can get very sound walnut that properly bedded will not crack no matter what big bore you choose. But even at that.....make a laminateed stock from the same dense walnut & you will have an even STRONGER stock. Even the commonly available lamis...like the Boyds in the origional post would be at least as strong as the best , most solid, homogenius walnut.

Throw into this equation that most people who want a custom walnut stock go for lots of figure & beauty...........but in the same breath loose strenghth & stability. The lami is far superior.


If you do not want stocks to crack, properly bed them.......and go with a laminated stock. I would have no reservations about using a boyds stock bedded, even without cross bolts, in a 375 HH.

Cross bolts, if improperly done do more to promote cracking, than preventing it. So just like poor bedding an otherwise adequate stock, it is not a sure thing.

All this said, I still prefer the beauty of a natural wood stock over a laminated stock. And the stock my big bore M70 is being made with is a straight grained, 1/4 sawn chunk of Turkish Walnut. But my 458 will be made with a laminated stock. Because it is cheaper than thecorrect type" of natural walnut. More consistent & less prone to warping. I love the stability advantage of laminates. It is the perfect "working gun" stock.

We'll have to agree to disagree on the splitting issue. The indiviual layers are spun off the log just like veneer and the grain is parallel to the long axis. For gunstocks, these layers are then glued up parallel to each other, not alternating grain like plywood. The weak axis of this structure runs parallel with the bore of a rifle.

Now look close at one and you'll see the dark bands on a honey colored stock are actually dyed resin between the layers. And it doesn't penetrate the full thickness of the wood; just sets between them. If you doubt that, just see how fast an unfinished laminate soaks up stock finish.

Finally, the wood used for 99% of them is relatively soft and easy to veneer like birch. When the stock accordians in the magazine area, the splitting force acts on those fibers that have no resin reinforcing them and BAM! The thing splits like a piece of oak in log splitter.

The best of both worlds are the thick section laminates like Serengeti. There you have not only a glued-up structure but they start with 1/4 sawn blanks that don't present the grain structure parallel to the axis of the splitting force.

Now if you want to argue that laminates are far less likely to break from a fall off a horse or slammed some other way, I would agree 100% because of the advantages I stated in the earlier post. And they don't warp either; although they can still swell if you don't seal them up.

whether you do them yourself or pay to have them done, installing a crossbolt is cheaper, easier, and better looking than a crack repair