No more Wood?

[Backcountry sports]

Hi, I'm very new to this so please excuse my ignorance, but are wooden stocks a thing of the past? I know they are still in use, but just about everything and everybody has gone to either a composite or injection molded stock.
I've been reading a great deal because I intend to purchase a bolt action. Mostly target some hunting.
So in my research i have decided that injection molded stocks are not what I want, just the hand paid-up type.
But I love wood... So is wood really that much of a problem?
I like the Winchester Featherweight and Vanguard Sporter....Featherweight is free floated and bedded.
Your opinions are really valuable.
TY, R-Dog.

Try cooper wood stock rifles all set up and free floating

 

[epags]

I just finished having these two built. I'm partial to wood myself.

View attachment 218314View attachment 218315View attachment 218316

He-l of a reloading room LOL. My reloading bench doesn't have half of what I see in the background of your photos.

 

[amyjune]

I fall down from time to time, so all my hunting rifles are composite...

 

[jarnold37]

I like laminated stocks for their ability to not change as in crush and swell. They are strong, as lamination and glue make them very resistant to moisture. Most wood stocks are pretty but under a microscope they are very porous similar to a sponge. If these are glass bedded and sealed, they can be somewhat stable. So many rifles will have loose action screws and this is mainly from the wood crushing, and the barreled action will move more and more after each shot. When a rifle is brought inside from the cold the moisture condenses on the rifle and wood will absorb and shrink and swell. I prefer laminated over all others, even fiberglass, as a skim coat over foam is not a very solid foundation. Bedding compound on laminated on the other hand, is very solid.

 

[asd9055]

While I succumbed to synthetics well over a decade ago, I also succumbed to the idea of a firearm being a tool of "beauty". Since, the I only think of my synthetics as only a tool.
I still get that rush with my well used Flintlocks!!!
View attachment 218360

I love wood. When times were good I was able to acquire some rifles with beautiful wood. Those I only use at the bench or in a blind. On real hunts, I take synthetic.

 

[Chrsm]

Hi, I'm very new to this so please excuse my ignorance, but are wooden stocks a thing of the past? I know they are still in use, but just about everything and everybody has gone to either a composite or injection molded stock.
I've been reading a great deal because I intend to purchase a bolt action. Mostly target some hunting.
So in my research i have decided that injection molded stocks are not what I want, just the hand paid-up type.
But I love wood... So is wood really that much of a problem?
I like the Winchester Featherweight and Vanguard Sporter....Featherweight is free floated and bedded.
Your opinions are really valuable. me thinks it's the GREEN NEW DEAL . It's part of Joes and Cumallover's plan!

 

[R-Dog]

French or black walnut. Wood is warm. And beautiful. Fiberglass is functional but ugly. I will put a well seasoned and sealed wood stock against a fiberglass stock any day of the week. I just don,t like ugly things. A fiberglass stock is like a fat girl. Okay if nobody sees you. Lol. I have never seen a multi thousand dollar holland and holland with a fiberglass stock. I believe the main driver of fiber versus wood is labor. Wood takes sanding and oiling and checkering. HEY. I can build a fiberglass stock and paint it and good to go. When I hunted and lived in Alaska I had french walnut guns finished right and never a problem.

So, no swelling of the

French or black walnut. Wood is warm. And beautiful. Fiberglass is functional but ugly. I will put a well seasoned and sealed wood stock against a fiberglass stock any day of the week. I just don,t like ugly things. A fiberglass stock is like a fat girl. Okay if nobody sees you. Lol. I have never seen a multi thousand dollar holland and holland with a fiberglass stock. I believe the main driver of fiber versus wood is labor. Wood takes sanding and oiling and checkering. HEY. I can build a fiberglass stock and paint it and good to go. When I hunted and lived in Alaska I had french walnut guns finished right and never a problem.

So no issues with swelling of the wood, affecting the accuracy.

 

[Lenny Foffa]

Two Mark v Weatherby Mags Great Wood , Weatherby 22 Great Wood , one Weatherby Ultra light Synthetic stock , which I had Hydro dipped and Made Snow Camo! Win Model 70 Super grade , Fair Wood ! I m h o a Barreled action can be pilar bedded and have a free floating barrel, In a fine Wood Stock and Shoot Very Well ! For me the Exception would be hunting in the heavy Rain of Alaska ! So I have synthetic stocks as a back up for all My Wood stocked Rifles ! If the hunt will be very rough, switch stocks , go sight in , go on your hunt , put the action back in Bueatiful Wood stock when you get home!!

 

[R-Dog]

I have a Rem 700 with a wood stock I bought new in 1964. Free floated the Bbl & hunted. It has dings ,nicks & scars , but is still beautiful to me. Has taken ton's of deer & elk. On a wood stock make sure you seal the wood under the butt plate/recoil pad. Seal the barrel channel & any exposed wood & you are good to go. This rifle is over 50 trs old & the stock is still solid. I also have laminated & synthetic. They all are great as long as they are accurate. Love them all.

TY

 

[epags]

It takes someone with knowledge and effort to grade wood. This person may travel all over the US and possibly the world seeking the finest grain wood.

The wood is purchased is cut into blanks for a given firearm. The best wood is separated for higher-end firearms all the lower grade for lower prices.

Custom made firearms like the ones made in the UK, the wood is hand-shaped and hand carved. Working with wood is a very labor-intensive process.

Polymer stocks or plastics stocks are made by a method called molded injected plastic.

Polymer pellets are melted and injected into several molds simultaneously to create the stocks. Several hundred stocks an hour can be produced in this way. Mass production bring down the cost of a product.

Are wood stocks bad for firearms? Of course not wood stocks have been used in firearms for hundreds and hundreds of years.

The reason for the transition to polymers dogs is partly due to environmentalists who are pushing to save the forest and save the trees. Manufacturers also realize that mass production of plastic stocks can make more money than wood stocks.

So how do you sell it to the hunters who are used to wood stocks on their firearms?

By selling them the idea that plastic stocks are lighter, reduce weight, resistant to scratches, nicks, dents and that you would get on a wood stock.

And you introduce camouflage patterns on the plastic stock which eventually creep to the receiver and barrel.

Do we really need camouflage on rifles? No. It's just another selling point to trap the unsuspecting hunter into spending more.

I have photos of my dad's side of the family hunting in New Mexico during the 1940s and 50s. None of them have camouflage rifles and none of them have plastic stocks on the rifles.

The manufacturers are making a fortune on rifles with polymer stock because polymer stocks are extremely cheap to make yet they're charging us the same amount of money if not more for the same product.

Polymer pellets for rifle stock is a $1.35/ton. So how many rifle stocks do you suppose they can make with 2000 pounds of polymer. And with a method of molded injected plastics how many rifle stocks do you think they can make on a given shift?

Personal preference.

You forgot the loooong time the slabs have to be dried slooooly with the proper humidity. I was blessed to visit (years ago) the Bishop Gunstock Company in Warsaw, MO. In those days they had sheds for drying and 'pantograph' style stock carving machines. Talk about labor intensive. Now they are using CNC machines to duplicate the stock. I would love to see that in action.
Oh yes. All mine have wood stocks (rifles and shotguns) except for two survival rifles (that just look ugly).

 

[RYEWSKY25284]

Hi, I'm very new to this so please excuse my ignorance, but are wooden stocks a thing of the past? I know they are still in use, but just about everything and everybody has gone to either a composite or injection molded stock.
I've been reading a great deal because I intend to purchase a bolt action. Mostly target some hunting.
So in my research i have decided that injection molded stocks are not what I want, just the hand paid-up type.
But I love wood... So is wood really that much of a problem?
I like the Winchester Featherweight and Vanguard Sporter....Featherweight is free floated and bedded.
Your opinions are really valuable.
TY, R-Dog.

if you live and / or hunt in a place where the weather is reasonable consistent it's not that big a deal providing that the rifle has been properly bedded. Meaning, a good quality glass bedding & pillars. Also make sure the bbl is well floated .015 thousands (or the thickness of 3-dollar bills)
I have a nice Remington 700 (wood) bedded like I've stated here.
It's been from California to Montana, Wyo., Tx. and it's never been a problem.
That's the only wood stocked rifle I own. Everything else is composite.

Now, If you want to find a nice used stock, start by going to every gunsmith shop you can.
There you can find nearly anything your heart desires.
This is the graveyard for wooden stock. And, man do they have plenty.

Hope this helps
Steve C

 

[Scimitar762]

I made a 3 piece laminate from Walnut and fiddleback maple. Sent it to a company that had a CNC. They put an aluminum bedding block in it and sent it back. I cut out cheekpiece, made my own adjustable mechanism and bedded stained and sealed the wood with 12 to 15 coats 9f waterlox.

 

[R-Dog]

I like my wood stocked rifles. They look amazing. The only issue I have with them is I got into some nasty weather and got caught in a thunderstorm. By the time I got back to camp I poured a very significant amount of water out of the stock. Fairly certain my stock got 6 ounces heavier after that and the POI moved significantly. My bad weather rifles are in fiberglass stocks. The nice weather guns are in high grade wood

Were you able to restore the wooden stock?.

 

[R-Dog]

I made a 3 piece laminate from Walnut and fiddleback maple. Sent it to a company that had a CNC. They put an aluminum bedding block in it and sent it back. I cut out cheekpiece, made my own adjustable mechanism and bedded stained and sealed the wood with 12 to 15 coats 9f waterlox. View attachment 218370

Wow, nice