Gun stocks for cold weather
- Thread starter tommy88
- Start date
Carbon fibre composite is probably the best. Planes are made of the stuff and they take -50 C to + 50 in short time... no problem. Injection moulded plastic possibly the worst. I would not cater for anything in wood, no material has disappointed me more than wood over the years.
edi
edi
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
Russian arctic birch stocks are pretty resilient. The trees come from pretty extreme climate zones. Laminate is probably the best bet.
Agree with all of the above, but will add:
Unless there's moisture in the grain of the wood, -20C shouldn't bother a reasonably well carved and finished wood stock.
Bottom of the barrel injection moulded plastic would certainly be worst. But I'd wager that higher quality synthetics would be just fine. -20C isn't really that cold.
Reasonable quality laminate is probably the best best, but some of the real cheapo laminates don't inspire confidence, I wouldn't trust them over decent synthetic stocks.
Total conjecture here but I think I'd prefer free float to glass bedded for extreme cold weather - Just based on the theory of different materials having different heat expansion properties.
Unless there's moisture in the grain of the wood, -20C shouldn't bother a reasonably well carved and finished wood stock.
Bottom of the barrel injection moulded plastic would certainly be worst. But I'd wager that higher quality synthetics would be just fine. -20C isn't really that cold.
Reasonable quality laminate is probably the best best, but some of the real cheapo laminates don't inspire confidence, I wouldn't trust them over decent synthetic stocks.
Total conjecture here but I think I'd prefer free float to glass bedded for extreme cold weather - Just based on the theory of different materials having different heat expansion properties.
I hunt minus -20 to -30, I use wood, synthetic and also aluminum chassis and they all do good in the cold. Never once had anything break because of cold weather. Kind of a lame question if you ask me. They break if they have an accident not because of weather.
Yes, they don't just sit there and break in the cold. Not like a tree splitting from the frost.
But in my experience injection moulded stocks seem more prone to breakage. I suspect they do become more brittle and can fail under stresses that would not be a problem in milder weather.
I recall Ruger paddle stocks in particular being brought into the shop broken in half at the wrist.
But in my experience injection moulded stocks seem more prone to breakage. I suspect they do become more brittle and can fail under stresses that would not be a problem in milder weather.
I recall Ruger paddle stocks in particular being brought into the shop broken in half at the wrist.
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I will offer a dissenting opinion on the fragility of so-called plastic stocks. For many years I carried a Centurion M'17 .300 WM in a Bell & Carlson injection moulded plastic stock. It was the best! Except the trigger guard was too small and I couldn't get my gloved finger in to take a shot at a very nice buck.
A plastic stock, as a generic term, cleans up with a toothbrush. If it gets dropped, meh so what? No one sits in their flannel checked shirt rubbing a loving hand across long chain molecule polymers the way they do over highly figured select hardwood. If it takes a tumble, the rifle gets brush off and back to the job. You haven't devalued it a nickle. And, unlike wood grain, it isn't likely to fracture along a hidden fault.
If the air temp is deep double digits cold, your hands, feet, skin and eyeballs are going to suffer. Yes, you rely on the rifle to do its job, but I suggest put your brain energy into figuring out warm layers and wind protection, not the stock.
A plastic stock, as a generic term, cleans up with a toothbrush. If it gets dropped, meh so what? No one sits in their flannel checked shirt rubbing a loving hand across long chain molecule polymers the way they do over highly figured select hardwood. If it takes a tumble, the rifle gets brush off and back to the job. You haven't devalued it a nickle. And, unlike wood grain, it isn't likely to fracture along a hidden fault.
If the air temp is deep double digits cold, your hands, feet, skin and eyeballs are going to suffer. Yes, you rely on the rifle to do its job, but I suggest put your brain energy into figuring out warm layers and wind protection, not the stock.
Most interesting reading going on.
I always wondered why we had these dark walnut pieces of furniture on my FNC1A1 up in Wainwright, AB winters as well as Ghost River area of AB, north of Banff National Park. Could it be because the tree/wood is somewhat native to the Canadian Shield proximity??
That’s what went through the mind of a very naive 19 year old in uniform. Why couldn’t we have lighter black plastic furniture L1A1s like the Brits in Wainwright had?? Skinnier at the wrist for the buttstroke techniques taught in Battle School.
Fast forward 40 years now and I get to carry what I want to lug around or buy, then lug around in the coyote fields…..
A most interesting discussion. Thanks very much!!
Peace Be The Journey!
Cheers, Barney
I always wondered why we had these dark walnut pieces of furniture on my FNC1A1 up in Wainwright, AB winters as well as Ghost River area of AB, north of Banff National Park. Could it be because the tree/wood is somewhat native to the Canadian Shield proximity??
That’s what went through the mind of a very naive 19 year old in uniform. Why couldn’t we have lighter black plastic furniture L1A1s like the Brits in Wainwright had?? Skinnier at the wrist for the buttstroke techniques taught in Battle School.
Fast forward 40 years now and I get to carry what I want to lug around or buy, then lug around in the coyote fields…..
A most interesting discussion. Thanks very much!!
Peace Be The Journey!
Cheers, Barney
Like others have said, the stocks more or less hold up in the cold if you’re not abusing them. But the cold will be unforgiving if there are pre-existing weaknesses and they’ll be revealed under stress.
It’s the glass optics that tend to fail or are rendered unusable due to fogging when it gets down to -30C or -40C. I learned that the hard way and now it’s simple irons for me in the extreme cold.
It’s the glass optics that tend to fail or are rendered unusable due to fogging when it gets down to -30C or -40C. I learned that the hard way and now it’s simple irons for me in the extreme cold.
A well sealed pillar bedded wooden stock is fine in the cold .Not a big fan of plywood but if you do have one make sure it has cross bolts as they will split with recoil.The weakest part of a laminate is the bonded layers .
I used to make my own laminate for gun stocks ,I would use epoxy and 1/14 birch to make them .They were strong but very heavy. Polymer stocks can be a problem in the cold for sure.
I used to make my own laminate for gun stocks ,I would use epoxy and 1/14 birch to make them .They were strong but very heavy. Polymer stocks can be a problem in the cold for sure.
Interesting question…. I’ve hunted with wood stocks all my life, from 25c above to minus 50c and never ever had an issue with my rifles or the wood stock they sit in!! Wood is good, it is warmer than any other material, it is most likely more “flexible” and most material and will take impact a lot better than most material…
You can't go too wrong with a laminated stock in my opinion although the composites I think will be just fine in the cold stuff as well.
Something else to keep in mind when hunting in the really cold weather and your wearing numerous layers of clothing I personally find my LOP decreases so much that I prefer a shorter compact/youth stock rifle as I find it shoulders much easier than my regular LOP rifles do.
Something else to keep in mind when hunting in the really cold weather and your wearing numerous layers of clothing I personally find my LOP decreases so much that I prefer a shorter compact/youth stock rifle as I find it shoulders much easier than my regular LOP rifles do.
