Silly question...

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dullh

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Maybe a silly question, but does anyone hunt with wood anymore?

With synthetic this and stainless that being all the rage, am I the only one who hunts with a blue steel/wood gun? I bought two new Browning X-Bolt hunters in the last 4 months to replace a couple aging Remington's, and was chastised by a friend of mine who happens to be a more experienced hunter than me - telling me those nice stocks would be destroyed in the pine thickets and I shoulda gone synthetic! I don't care, I do not like synthetic, and I always tape up my stocks when I go out anyway.

So am I in the minority or do most still use "old school" blue steel/wood stocks in the woods?
 
Well I presently own 17 rifles, 16 of which are blue steel & wood.

The one that isn't is an AR-15.

But I guess I'm kinda old school too.

rc
 
Yeah I don't own any rifles with synthetic stocks. Nothing against them, but I don't have any. Wood just looks better.
 
I had a synthetic/stainless gun. Just never really liked it. Not becuase of its furniture just wasn't the gun for me. My dedicated deer/pig guns are blue and wood.
 
I truly believe a GOOD synthetic stock far surpasses wood in terms of consistency regarding temperature change and humidity/climate. BUT I still love the feel of a wood stock over a composite one :)
 
I have 2 hunting rifles and both sport wood. One is a 34 + year stock 788 remington and the othe is ware'n a boyds jrs stock for the last 10years. Was a ruger plastic stock.
 
Are you kiddin? Nothing better than wood/blued. Other than EBRs (AR types), I have only 3 rifles and 2 shotguns which are not wood/blued. Two of those 3 rifles have been finished with a special spray-on finish (Rustoleum Natural Stone textured finish), with the 3rd one being black synthetic (give me time). Of the two shotguns, one is synthetic camo, and the other is black. Wood/blued longguns number well over a dozen.
 
Sorry I haven't figured out how to quote in a reply...

"I truly believe a GOOD synthetic stock far surpasses wood in terms of consistency regarding temperature change and humidity/climate."

That's the major argument FOR synthetic with all the people I've talked to around here, and it is a very valid argument. I just felt like I was in the minority because everyone around here (just about) leaves the wood/blued in the safe and take "beater" synthetics out to hunt with. I can't afford to be a collector - if I buy it it's going in the woods with me!
 
dad's Marlin 25 .22lr, dad's Remington 760 .30-06, my Marlin 925 .22 mag, my Savage 111G .25-06, my Mossberg 500 w/ 3 barrels are all blued & wood
 
I love synthetic stocks, far tougher and less weather variable. A wood stock is pretty, but on a hard hunt, they rarely stay that way. I have been on some rather hard hunts.

Too, a wood stock will change POI, I've actually noticed, when sighted in at 80 percent humidity and taken out to the west Texas or New Mexican desert.

I won a .25-06 Remington BDL in a gun show door prize drawing. I traded it for what I really wanted, a synthetic/stainless M7 Remington in .308. I absolutely LOVE that thing! I had been wanting one really bad. I put a Ramline plastic stock on my Savage 110 and improved both the look and the accuracy of that gun, accuracy by 1/2 MOA. Sold the wood stock on ebay for 30 bucks. The wood wasn't that pretty on that Savage. I really like the Hogue overmolded stock I put on my stainless 10/22, also.

My grandpa's old 722 Remington still has its plain wood stock on it and I have a few old .22s with wood stocks, but where I can, I prefer synthetic for actual use.

Okay, I got traditional with the black powder, checkered walnut on a blued octagon Hawken rifle with side lock. I just haven't gotten in to the inline thing. We don't have a special BP season here and, well, I like the traditional look, though it's got a 20" barrel, 1:24 twist for sabot or heavy minie balls, and I've converted it to use small rifle magnum primers for ignition. Oh, and it's chrome bored. Look is one thing, but that thing wouldn't pop reliably with No. 11 caps and pyrodex (hard to ignite). I can't get BP here, only the substitutes, and besides, that primer thingy is more weather resistant. :D

I have another walnut/blued steel rifle I rarely hunt with, but love to shoot, a Rossi 92 lever gun in .357 Magnum. For a bum around rifle, I put a camo synthetic stock on a 20" SKS rifle and modded it with a 5 round flush fit mag and a few other things. The standard issue Norinco SKS stock is fugly to the max and this camo stock adds some class to it. Besides, the LOP on that Norinco stock was about 10", I swear...:rolleyes:
 
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The only rifle own - heck the only gun I own - thats not wood and steel is my Remington 700 ML muzzleloader. Its steel and mossyoak composite.

Everything else is wood and steel (though not necessarily blued, some are stainless)
 
My only plastic is on the waterfowl shotguns. My pig rifle is a Marlin 1895G in wood and blue, and my deer rifle is maple, blue, and loaded from the front.

Okay, fine, I'll 'fess up: it uses caps instead of flint. So sue me!
 
Squirrel gun- wood and blue
backup squirrel gun- wood and blue
duck gun- wood and blue
Tweety bird gun- wood and blue
Fun gun- wood and .....something not blue
Deer gun- wood and blue

Next gun will either be a wood and blue varmint gun or a synthetic-camo duck gun. Only reason for the synthetic there is that can't get camo with a wood stock :)
 
It depends on what I feel like. If I'm gonna be throwing the gun in the truck bed then I'll grab something with a synthetic stock that I don't much have to worry about.

If I'm out on a more leisurely hunt that I'm gonna have plenty of time to put the gun in a case when I'm done with it then I prefer a pretty wood stock.

I love the look and feel of fine walnut but synthetics hold up better to abuse.
 
I'm basically a traditionalist, but Remington did a Good Thing with their 700 Ti. It totals 6.5 pounds with scope, sling and ammo. For that, I can ignore my sense of aesthetics.

FWIW, I've never had a wood stock "walk around" and be a problem. Lotsa ways to avoid that problem. But, granted, I don't hunt in rain forests, either.
 
I've never really cared one way or the other and have considered synthetic stocked rifles, in fact I'm sure I'll own one or more in the future.

But if you looked in my safe right now it'd all be walnut and blued steel looking back at you, so I guess that says something about me when it comes down to buying time so far.
 
I own two rifles, a ruger .30_06 falling block and a 1937 krupp side by side double barrel shotgun(original stock), both with wood stock. There is nothing that compares to a great walnut or rose wood stock. It gives a rifle/shotgun character and tells a story.
 
I can't afford to be a collector - if I buy it it's going in the woods with me!
Click to expand...
Ditto........
If I'm gonna be throwing the gun in the truck bed then I'll grab something with a synthetic stock that I don't much have to worry about.
Click to expand...
You mean care about I assume?

Nothing says RIFLE like blue and wood. Your grandfathers' stainless steel and plastic rifle won't have the character that his blued and wood gun will.
 
I have two rifles with synthetic stocks -- a Ruger 77/22M Allweather, and an M96 Swede sporterized by Kimber.

All my other hunting rifles (I have 9 total) have wood stocks and I hunt them in all weather. One good trick is to take the action out of the stock and then coat both the stock recess and the action with Johnson's paste wax. That protects the metal from moisture that finds its way into the stock, and keeps the stock from warping.
 
For what its worth. I have a wood stock Rem 700 that is floated, but apparently it was barely floated, meaning very little room between stock and barrel in some places. During a warm/wet/humid day of shooting the rifle all of a sudden started shooting terribly. Normally it is a tack driver. Tested a few things before realizing the stock had swelled just enough to touch the barrel in places and change point of impact. I floated it a little better and its a shooter again, but its just a small argument for synthetic stock guns
 
Oh and regarding wood stocked hunting guns.

Of course I try to take the best care I can of my rifles, but they are going to get scratches and dings. Unless its a $2500+ premium wood grain gun, I am okay with that. Adds character to the rifle :)
 
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