Synthetic stocks on shotguns

That is a good question. If I had to guess I would say the old High Standard Model 10 Bullpup shotgun was the first with synthetic furniture.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

I clearly recall several .22/410 combo's from the 1950's with plastic furniture.......As I remember tho the stuff did not hold up well.

Some of the old Stevens sxs had a plastic stock. I think it was called tenite or something similar.

Winner, winner!

Tenite was a form of plastic offered through the '40's, as I recall. Wasn't terribly durable, either, if I understand correctly.

Tenite shrank and warped over time all depending on temperature's.

The plastic materials are cheaper in cost and cheaper to make, just a molding process.

What the plastic stocks do is turn a well made fine shotgun into a plain knock about tool that is easy to replace just like a broken tool from Harbor Freight.

On the Mossberg 500 the synthetics were lighter than wood.

This means easier carrying.....and pain in a shotgun class.

-kBob

I have a Stevens sxs 20 gauge with the plastic stock. I think they made them as plastics were becoming the answer to everything after WW2. My gun has at least two previous owners that used it often. The stock seems to have held up well over nearly 70 years so I wouldn't question the durability of it.

Sorry fella's but in my humble opinion, all shotguns are supposed to have walnut stocks, won't own one with a "plastic stock".

I have one of those Stevens .22 - .410, given to mea long time ago with a "plastic" stock. Probably was in the mid-60s. My Dad and I located a wood stock and moved the gun to it, and it still wears that stock.

loose noose

Sorry my friend but not all shotguns are supposed to be made with walnut stocks; that's in my equally humble opinion. I have nothing against walnut (really loved it on my O/Us), but most any kind of decent wood or plastic stock works fine with all of my shotguns and are well suited for the job at hand. I especially like the camo plastic stock on my Mossberg 9200 for turkey hunting as well as the plastic stock with a Limbsaver on my Maverick Model 88 shotgun for home defense.

OK I stand corrected, perhaps for duck or turkey.

On the Mossberg 500 the synthetics were lighter than wood.

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Did you weigh the guns, or just assuming plastic is lighter than wood. Some SYNTHETIC materials are lighter than wood, but most of the cheaper plastic stocks are heavier if you are talking about comparable stocks.

FWIW I much favor a synthetic stock over wood, even the cheaper versions and I've weighed quite a few over the years. The difference in most is no more than 2-4 oz and about 50% of the time the plastic version is heavier. Even the expensive $400-$500 fiberglass stocks are about the same weight as wood. You don't see a significant weight difference until you get into the $600 stocks made from Kevlar. With those you'll see 8oz-12 oz difference easily and often more.

Sovblocgunfan said:

Winner, winner!

Tenite was a form of plastic offered through the '40's, as I recall. Wasn't terribly durable, either, if I understand correctly.

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Correct. I had a Tenite stocked 12 ga. 311 from the 40's -kicked like hell!