Are wood stocks ever functionally better than synthetic?

steelgray

steelgray

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During WW2, shortages in the availability of dried hardwood stocks were a significant bottleneck, effecting rifle production. Early STG4X guns had problems with malfunctions caused by the swelling of the wood in the buttstock - which interfered with the main return spring. The No.4 Lee Enfield received the post-WW2 MK2 modification because it was suggested that swelling of the wood stock could change the orientation of the trigger and sear - in a way that could lead to inconsistent trigger pulls. These days bench rest types go to great lengths to glass bed their rifles - to overcome accuracy problems which arise from a direct interface between wood stocks and a gun's metalworks.

Nice hardwood makes a beautiful coffee table. However, are wood stocks ever functionally better than synthetic?
 
98k were laminated the best way to go in my opinion. Always looks good unless you get one in a colour that will gag a maggot.
 
Depends on the type of synthetic stock and the quality of the wood. A good wood stock can be more solid than some of the more flimsy tupperware stocks. But even the best wood stock would be hard pressed to be functionally superior to a quality synthetic stock.

But even most injected molded stocks these days are pretty good in the sense that they are durable and stable, often featuring lots of internal cross members to keep things in place. Meanwhile lots of the wood stocks you see today are nothing to get excited about.

Then there are laminate stocks which are technically wood but are more stable than regular wood due to their construction, although lots of people don't like them due to their added weight and chunky plywood appearance.
 
I think 6.5 shooter says it best - wood does have a soul. I can't imagine ever having a meaningful connection with a plastic synthetic stock.

But, if that hippie sh!t doesn't do it for you, i'd favour a wooden stock for the same reason that, as a carpenter, I favour a wooden hammer: it absorbs the vibrations so your body doesn't have to.
 
Wood is good! I never considered a plastic stock, wood and only wood for me! Same with blue metal, and the deeper the better!!
 
In some cases yes, some cases no.

I would favor a well fit and finished wood stock over most injection molded plastic stocks. However, I believe that composite stocks molded of Carbon, Fiberglass, and Kevlar, or combinations of those in most instances produce a more stable platform where temperature and weather variances occur. There are always exceptions, and I think extreme cold is one where the composites may not fare to well. Laminate stocks, no matter how you slice it, are essentially PLYWOOD. They are only as good as the glue used to hold it all together, but then so are the composites...

Wood stocks with cracks or splits can usually be repaired with glue and or screws/dowels etc. Injection molded plastic stocks that are cracked or split can sometimes be glued depending on the type of material used in its manufacture. Composite stocks are probably easiest to repair, if they are solid. Foam core composite stocks would be much trickier. In both cases an epoxy resin or bedding compound of some sort is called for.

If I had to choose a favorite, I guess I'd have to go old school and say wood. It's been used for gun stocks for centuries so it has to be good, Right! Next, and in a virtual tie with wood (for me) would be the molded epoxy, carbon, fiberglass, and or Kevlar composite stocks with pillar bedding. I'm not a particular fan of the Plywood stocks (read laminate) because they have a definite propensity over time to cracking and often warping. Homogeneous wood stocks like Walnut can also have these issues, but I love the look of a well figured grain in a Walnut stock. Laminate, not so much...

The injection molded plastic stocks don't interest me at all. Most have far too much flex in them, and zero character.
 
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Callee said:
I think 6.5 shooter says it best - wood does have a soul. I can't imagine ever having a meaningful connection with a plastic synthetic stock.

But, if that hippie sh!t doesn't do it for you, i'd favour a wooden stock for the same reason that, as a carpenter, I favour a wooden hammer: it absorbs the vibrations so your body doesn't have to.
Click to expand...

One of my friends, a carpenter, suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome. He said he cured it by selling all his steel-shanked hammers and going back to wooden handles. The comparison probably applies to wood vs metal stocked firearms, but I'm not sure about wood vs plastic.
 
Of course it does. It can be shaped however you like on a one off basis.

Aside from that it’s a tough sell.
 
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If I could only have one, it would be wood. Ime a properly finished straight grained wood holds up extremely well in all conditions. Recently been building walnut stocks for my carbon stocked rifles, goods of both worlds depending on what I’m chasing.
 
The question should be, what are you using the rifle/shotgun for? I hunted with wood stock rifles for many years and then found a .300 Win Mag for a good price. It was a Century Arms Model 1917 conversion with a Pattern '14 bolt. The stock was black injection molded plastic. At first I was unimpressed, but then I realized its benefits. Cleans up with water and a wash cloth. Repairs with JB Weld. Scars and scrapes buff off. Soft and noodly on the recoil too. Since then I've had other synthetic stock guns. Can't speak more highly of their good qualities!
 
From some reading - in very old Germany - Grandpa cut down trees that grandson would eventually carve into a gun stock - took decades to get the seasoning the way they wanted it. Synthetic can be oil in the ground one week, and a rifle stock the next week. Up to the user to decide if one product "better" than the other. As far as epoxy bedding - is done on BOTH wood and synthetic stocks for same reason - exact precise fit metal to stock - usually.
 
Well one possible functional problem with synthetic stocks came up while I was working in a gunstore. One brand of gun had a a very "sticky" texture which was great for holding onto the gun but some people with beards called it the beard puller. :D
 
Wood is warm to the touch in cold weather, and doesn't get hot in hot weather, even when the barrel steel is almost too hot to touch.

If you're starting from scratch, wood can be carved into the most esthetically pleasing form. The only synthetic stock I've seen that was on the right side of the ugly borderline is the Kimber Montana.
 
Nicely figured wood stocks are statistically correlated to higher rates of international travel and education, and lower incidences of driving Chrysler group products.

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