Fancy Wood or Plastic?

[Coyote Hunter]

Check out the Remington M700 .30-06 in the picture below. At the time of this picture, just before the 2009 elk hunt, it was in perfect condition. After opening day, due to a couple slips coming off the west peak of Bear's Ears mountain, it had multiple scars in the stock, action, barrel and scope. So much for newness...

The bottom rifle in the above picture is a Ruger MKII .300WM I picked up on the cheap when Sportsman's Warehouse was dumping their inventory of "boat paddle" Rugers. It also has some dings but they didn't hurt near as much. :grin:

The rifles below are a Ruger MKII .338 WM I had built from parts and a used Ruger MKII .30-06 that wore a laminate stock when I acquired it.

Nice wood is nice but I won't pay extra for it.

 

[EOD Diver]

Hope I didn't ruffle too many feathers. We don't get too much moisture down here in NM, so my opinion is more than a little biased. Considering it rained 5 out of 6 days in the Pacific Northwest when I visited, I'll probably wind up with a B&C Medalist stock for my beloved Legacy. Last thing I need is to mess up my wooden darling that shoots under .5". I'll see what I can do about posting some pics of my pre-64 .270 Win., but prepare to be underwhelmed. Like I said, she looks like any ol' pre-64 out there. She's got talley one piece mounts and a Leupold 3x9 MK AR scope, and that's about it. But, I love her like no other....
Joe

 

[SJB358]

Joe, that pre 64 sounds nice to me!

 

[DrMike]

Joe,

You didn't ruffle my feathers. I'd say that 90% of my rifles wear wood stocks. It has a warm feel to this old codger. I have no difficulty building a rifle with a blued barrel, either.

 

[nvbroncrider]

I love a wood stocked rifle as well nothing looks better. But there is a place for a synthetic as well. The laminates in particular I have a soft spot for they are just beautiful, but are also more practical as well. Each rifle has a unique story to tell and each mark adds character, but I believe a rifle is a tool and shall be used. I don't like the idea of having a safe queen. That is just a shame. I wish someone was selling a good looking laminate stock for the Pre-64. As is it might end up wearing a high quality synthetic, but it will be functional and will serve its purpose none the less.

 

[Guy Miner]

Check with Joel Russo about a laminated stock for your pre-64 rifle:

http://www.russoriflestocks.com/

 

[DrMike]

He does have some beautiful stocks displayed. They would enhance any rifle.

 

[dragger201]

I've seen some beautiful wood stocks, had a couple that were nicely figured, but nothing exotic. But the nicest/prettiest wood stock I had was on a .338WM Ruger. And anytime I went out in the woods, that thing went with me. And that thing took a beating. Seems I did a refinish on that thing once a year. When the composites and laminates were available that was a blessing for me. I've never been a collector of anything..........what toys I got I play with..........and I like to play hard.

 

[Elkman]

I am a "synthetic" stock guy, here is one of mine. Snow wet, ice etc are not always woods friend.

View attachment PIC_0016.JPG

 

[dragger201]

I am a "synthetic" stock guy, here is one of mine. Snow wet, ice etc are not always woods friend.

Hey Elkman, that looks like a "business" stick and like you've been taken care of business.

 

[Elkman]

dragger, Hey Elkman, that looks like a "business" stick and like you've been taken care of business

.

To me function is also beautiful. The rifle as been worked over a little, shoots 1/2 inch groups and loves to hunt elk. !

 

[jmad_81]

I recently got a quote for a "nice" wood stock for my 375R from a well known stock maker, I was shocked at how much money it could cost for a stock that was just "a nice piece of wood, not a really good piece of wood". A guy could spend over $1,000 bucks on a wood stock pretty easy it sounded like. Makes me think twice about going with a laminate or a McWoody for half the price.

 

[nvbroncrider]

I recently got a quote for a "nice" wood stock for my 375R from a well known stock maker, I was shocked at how much money it could cost for a stock that was just "a nice piece of wood, not a really good piece of wood". A guy could spend over $1,000 bucks on a wood stock pretty easy it sounded like. Makes me think twice about going with a laminate or a McWoody for half the price.

I've seen that as well. It's not hard to spend that on one. I think I'm gonna go that route anyways for the Pre-64 or a Micky one or the other. Check out scopeusout.com those are some sweet stocks. If I had the experience tools, time I wouldn't have a problem doing the work myself and would probably only be out $600 or so.

 

[DrMike]

I started to reshape the stock on a Browning Eurobolt about ten years ago. At that time, the cost of reshaping the stock would have been almost as much as a new wood stock. Reshaping was between $800 and $1000, whereas a custom wood stock would have begun at about $1500. I let the rifle go and bought a Model 70 Featherweight.

 

[trsmith1818]

Wood all the way for me. I love the feel and the weight, and the warm look of work is one of the nostalgic things that draws me to firearms