About a year ago, I bought my first ever synthetic stocked bolt rifle - a Tikka T3 Lite in 270win. It was on clearance, so I practically stole it. But, as light as it is, and as much as I like how it shoots, I just couldn't seem to fall in love with it because of that black synthetic stock.
Now, I don't think there's anything actually wrong with synthetic stocks; they certainly have their place. In fact, plenty of people actually prefer synthetic on their hunting rifles. And as far as I can tell, the Tikka stock seems to be a quality product. But, I just can't seem to warm up to the thought of pressing a piece of plastic to my cheek when I'm out hunting in the wild - and very non-plastic - Alaska bush. It just didn't seem right.
So, I finally broke down and decided that if I was going to keep it, I'd have to replace the stock with something a bit more ... natural. At first, I was going to go with solid wood, like the furniture on all of my other rifles. But I finally decided to 'go crazy' and get my first laminated stock. It seemed like a good compromise for a rifle that will still have a few other plastic parts (although somehow I don't think it still qualifies as a 'Lite' model).
Well, this is the result. My T3 is now resting contently in a Boyd's 'Classic' stock, in their 'Royal Jacaranda' laminate color. The barreled action dropped right in and bolted up with no issues, and the barrel remains free floated all the way back to the action. I did immediately replace the thin rubber butt pad that comes standard with the Boyd's stock (which probably would have been just fine as far as recoil is concerned) with a thicker LimbSaver unit to give me a bit more LOP. I also swapped the Quake Claw sling from the old stock to complete the package. (I had already installed the Burris Fullfield-E1 3-9x40 scope.)
I think it looks and feels much better than it did with the black synthetic stock. Maybe now I'll actually want to carry it into the back country.
{And I know... it's not a great picture. It's the best I could do from my phone with poor lighting. I'll try to post up a better picture or two later.}
Now, I don't think there's anything actually wrong with synthetic stocks; they certainly have their place. In fact, plenty of people actually prefer synthetic on their hunting rifles. And as far as I can tell, the Tikka stock seems to be a quality product. But, I just can't seem to warm up to the thought of pressing a piece of plastic to my cheek when I'm out hunting in the wild - and very non-plastic - Alaska bush. It just didn't seem right.
So, I finally broke down and decided that if I was going to keep it, I'd have to replace the stock with something a bit more ... natural. At first, I was going to go with solid wood, like the furniture on all of my other rifles. But I finally decided to 'go crazy' and get my first laminated stock. It seemed like a good compromise for a rifle that will still have a few other plastic parts (although somehow I don't think it still qualifies as a 'Lite' model).
Well, this is the result. My T3 is now resting contently in a Boyd's 'Classic' stock, in their 'Royal Jacaranda' laminate color. The barreled action dropped right in and bolted up with no issues, and the barrel remains free floated all the way back to the action. I did immediately replace the thin rubber butt pad that comes standard with the Boyd's stock (which probably would have been just fine as far as recoil is concerned) with a thicker LimbSaver unit to give me a bit more LOP. I also swapped the Quake Claw sling from the old stock to complete the package. (I had already installed the Burris Fullfield-E1 3-9x40 scope.)
I think it looks and feels much better than it did with the black synthetic stock. Maybe now I'll actually want to carry it into the back country.
{And I know... it's not a great picture. It's the best I could do from my phone with poor lighting. I'll try to post up a better picture or two later.}
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