Wood Vs Synthetic Rifle Stocks 

Thank you for the video, helps me justify my preference for wood stocks. I just don’t get attached to a gun with a synthetic stock, it doesn’t have the same character as wood.

Should do a video on your personal collection! Maybe give the story behind each one. Enjoy the videos man. Appreciate what you do

When I was shopping for my last hunting rifle, I had a very similar conversation with a buddy of mine who is a retired Marine gunnery sergeant. I wanted to splurge a bit and buy a really nice rifle with a beautiful chunk of walnut, but my buddy got me thinking about it. In Michigan it is pretty humid year round, and deer season is especially tumultuous, weather-wise. So he asked me, "how often are you sitting in your blind with rain or snow falling on you?" My answer was a dawning realization that made me feel kind of stupid. It's almost always inclement weather during my deer hunts. "We (the Marine corp.) haven't used wooden stocks on our rifles for fifty years because of swelling that occurs in hugh humidity. I recommend you get synthetic." His logic was pretty undeniable, and considering his 20 years of military experience, I had to concede he was right. Real world application for hunters really depends on the season and region you are hunting in. As much as I wanted a beautiful rifle, the utility of synthetics had to trump aesthetics where I hunt.

After watching this, and your checkering videos, I don't know which I prefer now! Allot of food for thought! Thank you!

Nothing beats a wood stock! Most synthetic stocks are made for one reason, cheaper to produce. Walnut stock and blues steel, gorgeous!

I love a beautiful wood stock. In buildingrimfire BR rifles I've used McMillan carbon fiber stocks, and HS precision as well. But my favoritie material is curly redwood, it soaks up vibration so well, and is dead stable. Curly maple was also a favorite, it's light and strong. A forearm needs rigidity to keep from bouncing on the rest when the shot ignites. Great video, and fine presentation. I no longer hunt, too old and broken up, but when I did, before hunting season I'd apply a liberal coat of Johnsons paste wax on my 700BDL remington before deer season and just leave it. And clean it off after the season ended. The wax dulled down the finish when left to dry, and protected the stock as well as killed the high gloss.

We definitely have an attachment to wooden stocks. I like the idea of passing my rifle down to my kids as an heirloom, and a sythentic just doesn't have that feel to it.

Just bought my first hunting rifle. Bergara B-14 .308 in Timber. So glad I picked wood.

Great videos no nonsense all honest and just great quality, if you got that Ruger m77 with the paddle stock laying around I’d love to see a shooting video of that if you can do that, all shoot you channel out to some of my friends to get you som more subscribers because this is some of the best damn gun reviews ive found 👍

The Remington 514a was my first rifle, at age 12. The rifle I learned to hunt and shoot targets. My 70Y/O neighbor guided me on a restoration of this rifle. The rifle I loved was lost in a move across the country. Resonantl 9:36 9:38 I asked my gun shop owner to find a 514A for me. He did. It is unreal to explain the joy I felt.

Tom, I like your videos. Keep it up. Thanks

Amazing video. This has tuched my heart.

Former Active Duty Infantry here (now a retired high school teacher with replaced hip joints), I started loving my walnut stocked M1A rifles for Service Rifle competition (USA read: CMP matches). As my scores climbed I drank the KoolAid and upgraded to McMillan’s M1A glass stock. Been shooting glass stocks for almost 35 years. I hunted a couple of seasons with a Marlin 1895 Guide Gun. I tend to fall and slip in the wet/frozen woods of Northern Ontario. So I sold that baby and purchased the last of the Marlins before Remington went belly up in 2020. I took home an 1895 GSBL with a painted birch stock set (factory of course). Now I have the warmth of wood on my gloved hands, and no more worries about scratching my Marlin 336C Walnut fondling deer gun. Recently, I bought my almost forever Winnie Model 70 in FW, Compact. I sold the walnut stock to a buddy for his teen daughter’s coyote hunting habits. I installed a dark brown Bell & Carlson RH SA sporter barrel stock. Now it’s my forever deer stand and coyote .243. I’m clumsy with wood/walnut furniture in my old age. I would rather spend time dealing with brass preparation and handloading instead of wood working. I’m just hard headed infantry, I guess. Peace Be The Journey!

Great video! I have beautiful wood stock Sako in 30-06. About 5 years ago I went on a hunt in a very dry part of South Africa. The second evening it started to rain and it lasted untill about 10:30 the next day. I missed two shots on a huge blue wildebeest. We went to the range and my POI had shifted more than a 50cm at 100m. I still hunt with that Sako but my synthetic Remington Sendero in 300WM always tags along for those humid or wet days.

Every now and then, I remind myself that I really am an old fuddy duddy. Despite various synthetic stocks all claiming to be the best thing since sliced bread (which isn't good at all), I don't have one and don't ever see myself getting one. The darn things simply have no soul. They're cold, hard, completely inanimate and give me the willies. A good piece of walnut, properly seasoned and crafted into a gunstock has a life of it's own. It feels good in my hands. It even smells right. When I see a synthetic stock, all I can think of is Tupperware.

Totally not gun related but I gotta say I love your authenticity. Keep posting videos!

Thanks for the wonderful videos! Neither synthetics nor wood, something in between! I prefer laminate! Yes it is heavier and uglier than both, but it is strong and hard like iron!

Nice video as usual. I prefer wood stocks and blued metal for aesthetics, but I try to compromise on wood stocks and stainless when possible. I'm in upstate NY and it's pretty wet and snowy here. With that said, if you just dry, clean and oil your gun after hunting it's fine either way. The other factor not mentioned is that synthetics can be noisy, especially when hitting into brush. A lot of hunters through the northeast still hunt or track deer and a hollow synthetic brushing up against stuff all day is no fun. Also, when you say synthetics it seems like we're talking about the typical black stocks that are formed by injection molding. There's also synthetics that are more properly called 'composite' stocks which are made of fiberglass, Kevlar, carbon fiber or mixtures of those fabrics and imbedded in a resin. These composites are extremely strong, extremely light, often very quiet, extremely stable. Think Kimber Montana or mountain ascent. It's almost unfair to lump composites with molded plastic stocks, even well made ones. It's all about what you're after, I prefer the lightest rifle that's reasonable for the hunt. If you want ultralight, it's composite, hands down. Kimber Montana stock is 24oz, tikka wood stock is 32oz and that's a pretty trim stock.

I refinished my model 700 walnut stock after my first bedding job and dang is it a beautiful rifle now. I rubbed on multiple coats of tung oil and I’ll reapply regularly. I just pulled the trigger on a model 700 adl tactical in 6.5 Creedmoor this morning. The price was too good to pass up. It has a synthetic stock. Not a great one but good enough for now. I bought it as a project rifle and to shoot with my daughter and her 6.5 mossberg patriot super bantam. You’re right, you can’t beat the look and feel of wood.

Great videos Tom. Subscribed in Tampa, Florida U.S.A.

I have my father's 1953 full choke 16 ga Wingmaster and it is beat up but still nails the pheasants and it has class.

Back at the first of the year I was looking to buy my first deer rifle. I had been looking at and researching the new budget tier rifles (all I can afford on Social Security), and had narrowed it down to just a couple, both with synthetic stocks. Then I went to a gun show, and found a beautiful sporterized K98k in 7x57, with a Leupold M8 6x scope, for 450 doll hairs. Bedded action, free-floating barrel, and shoots MOA. There's no way I could like a modern plastic gun better.

Very nice video

Enjoyed your video Tom. For me, I have always believed that had God intended us to shoot synthetic stock guns, he would have created synthetic trees... 😉

Folks have some how managed to hunt and fight for that matter, with blued steel and wood for centuries. Now it seems deer require sub-moa accuracy and synthetic stocks before they’ll even consider being hunted. I appreciate synthetic stocks and stainless steel-own several-but I also am not afraid to hunt with blued steel and wood stocks no matter the weather. I worry about rust more than my well-sealed wood stocks swelling. Another option is maminated wood stocks. Also very stable.

Great video. But one question. Should a rifle with a synthetic stock really cost the same amount and sometimes more than the same rifle with a good timber stock?

i like the solid color of synthetic … if i got a wooden stock id want to dye it black

I have always loved wood stocks. As I get older I have been changing over to synthetic since the gripping surfaces (at least for me) seem to far exceed anything that I have found etched into wood. Maybe a fully custom made wood stock could work for me, but I need to keep the price down. I can buy an off the shelf synthetic that feels great out of the box.

I love old wooden stocks. I normally keep them all original but I will rub in some boiled linseed oil in the stock if it is seems dryed out.

Thank you for the video. I also love wood stocks, but worry about it warping in the field getting rained on, or frozen at an elk camp. What would you recommend to prevent warping as a sealer? I have been using many coats of tru-oil in the past. I have not freefloated my Winchester 70 because it shoots so well. Thanks

I own 2 cz rifles 1 synthetic 1 walnut love the both and they both have there place

I love wooden stocks of " High to exceptional Quality" they are my favorite - I am a carpenter. Bad wood or composite wood churns my stomach. I live in a country where the weather will destroy wooden stocks. I have a collection of wooden stocked rifles. The rifles and shotguns i use have Synthetic stocks. All the synthetic rifles i have are stainless steel action and barrel ( They get left in or leaning up to a tree in the rain overnight often ). The only problem i have with synthetic's is the bedding- it a complete "arse" with some of them. My 10 cents worth from New Zealand.

I'm 72 years of age ever sense I was a young boy I have loved wood even in the trees themselves all our rifles had wood stocks and forearms absolutely loved them and still do but synthetic stocks do have their place.

When my pet rifle (Remington 700 ADL in .308, 1983 vintage) was bedded in its wood stock, I'd have to fine tune the zero just about every year prior to deer season; now that it's bedded into an H.S. Precision composite stock even though I still verify, I haven't had to touch it in years...The rifle shoots just as accurately in either stock, but the composite just doesn't seem to change any...

You cannot give away synthetic stock rifles in my country. Gun stores and distributors are sending them back to the factories for credit. Lets face it. If you had say $1500 to spend on a rifle, what would you prefer to own. A piece of plastic with a barrel the thinness of a pencil or maybe a fully restored Mauser 98 or Win M70, pre-64? You want something to be proud of and that will last for decades and maintain its value.

The day I turned 18, I inherited a Griffin and Howe built on a model 1903 Springfield action. The elderly, childless "shootin' pard" who willed it to me was "a man of means," who had the "means" to hunt on five different continents. When I became the custodian of that rifle, the only wear it had was on the muzzle, from being shot, and on the edges of the Lyman Model 48 rear aperture sight, from being slid in and out of scabbards and soft cases. It's not that bumps and bruises didn't occur, but that the gentleman who willed me that rifle knew the "tricks" to deal with them so that nobody would ever know they ever happened. I lost that rifle to fire. Unlike the 22 in this video, there was nothing left of my old G&H Springfield to salvage, save for the rear sight. In more recent history, I determined to obtain one "truly nice" rifle that I could do all of my hunting with over the course of what remains of my lifetime. I had Remington's Custom Shop make me a blue-printed, bench-built Model 700 in .30-'06. Many in my circle of association took exception to how I specified the rifle to be built. First, there was the chambering. Clearly, a "special rifle" should be chambered in a special cartridge and, in their minds, there's not a whole lot that's special about the .30-'06. They took me to task for specifying a stock made with Grade II walnut, too. In thinking about what I wanted my own bespoke rifle to be, I thought about what I liked about that old Springfield I used to have. It didn't turn in to ferrous oxide and splinters after 70 years of use. I expect my custom shop 700 will outlive me and, like my old Springfield, will still look and function fantastically when it does.

I have a Kimber classic and Kimber Montana same caliber, same scope, same accuracy. I usually take the Montana in bad weather, but I don’t notice a difference in performance in any way. The wood just feels warmer on cold day

When it comes to durability, I think the thing is most of us would do things with a synthetic stock that we wouldn’t do with a wood stock because if the wood stock gets damaged most of us would be pretty upset but if the synthetic breaks you just get another one.

I look at wood kinda like I look at my face when looking in a mirror, its got a bunch of wrinkles, a few scars,...but I would never get a face lift cause I wore that face through a lot of stuff and its been through a lot of stuff....some call it character some call it just old..either way its kind of like a few of my rifles...they can tell a story and they have good memories and some not so good memories...but I would never trade them for a new one with no scars...and all of them are wood.

This man is like the Bob Ross of guns

I have both wood and synthetic stocks my hunting rifles i use synthetic. Except for my brothers cut down 303 enfield that hunting rifle has wood stock still

I strongly prefer wood, but I'm worried about rain and snow. I'm considering an all stainless rifle with a good synthetic stock, maybe even a ceramic coating with synthetic. At least some of those look good and I won't worry about fingerprints, water or scratches like on my other rifles.

I like both but wood just its hard to describe its almost alive.

I have one question on the synthetic stocks versus wood stocks I’ve got would stocks all of my guns avoid stocks and the reason why I’m afraid to get a synthetic stock is because I always thought that the recoil was absorbed better in a Woodstock compared to a synthetic stock now can you tell me if I’m right or not does a Woodstock take the recoil better than a synthetic thank you very much sincerely yours Joseph Roberto

Model 70 real ones were short live ie 1936 to 1964. Savage 110 1958 to present and it is a better extractor for a pushfeed than a model 700 and barrels are hand straightened and button rifled good guns. I have an Accu Trigger/ stock heavy barrel 308 and groups are one hole. Stock is plastic with aluminum bedding it's how they get around modern unstable wood.

With all that said I'd bet dollars to donuts that the gun maker wasn't thinking (Synthetic doesn't warp) but rather (much cheaper to make). Same goes with that flat (no glare) finish. Saves a bundle on buffing and polishing. Sure, the stock won't warp and there is no shiny glare, but it's a lot more economic to make. I'm referring to black plastic stocks here.

Hi.... Love your videos and I've seen most of them, keep it up ! However, your points regarding which stock material is more durable is not valid. When people compare rifle stocks that don't compare based on which can survive a fire better. They base it on there intended use which is competition shooting or hunting, not which one makes a better fire poker. Secondly, you stated your wood stocked rifle split and was easily repairable and the composite if split isn't. Well, a quality composite stock won't split.....period. I love wood stocks for the same reason everyone else does (it's beauty) and I have a few however, apples to apples (quality wood to quality composite) , the composite WINS regarding durability, utility and stability.... It's not even close. Thumbs up on the video !!

I love your vids. I would love to hear your thoughts on control feed action vs push feed. If you have covered this in a previous video please just disregard.

I have both wood and synthetic and I prefer synthetic due to it's harsh weather resilience. Edit: forgot to mention synthetics meager weight

When growing up in the 70s and 80s , there was not many you could get with synthetic stocks . We would buy with wood stock and hunt down synthetic stocks and change them out . I have never really liked wood stocks myself .

Go laminate and get the best of both - aesthetics of wood, stability and durability of synthetic. Only downside is a bit of weight penalty.

I used to refuse to own a gun with a synthetic stock but now most of my guns do have synthetic stocks. LOL The custom stocks offered for sale have changed the game.

Wood every single time. 👍👍

This is the way I look at it...03 springfields, m1 garands...the abuse they went through, ya, your wood stock will last you the next 50 years easily!

I love my wood stocks

But which kicks more?

Correction to below - blued steel

You can epoxy and spray paint synthetic.

Unless like Dakota Arms or something makers do not dry and finish stocks well and most wood quality/grain has decreased. You risk on a new rifle I had a feather weight Win reissue and the wood, action and steel all failed me. I got rid of it I use my 1959 308 or 1953 JC Higgins FN Belgium. They are aces.

Synthetic Stock: More practical and Durability Wooden Stock: Looks better than Synthetic.

suggested reason to go with wood. See what the synthetic looks like in 30-50 years. Plastics age like milk.

Wood is best to me but I do own a AR 15 man made material...:)

I have both styles, enjoy both a lot,but Wood is prettier and feels more substantial in the hand.Butif I'm heading into the swamps after pigs at night,you can bet your last dollar I'm taking a synthetic weapon..money talks and bull poo walks..just how I see it.If I drop my 300 dollar savage or Ruger,well that's one thing but a 2000 doller Sako 85 is a complete different story sir.

If you want wood buy a vintage rifle their stocks are much better from 1950s and 60s. So are the actions, triggers and steel.

Wood is more esthetic than synthetic.

Synthetic is meant for getting the job done. If you want to win a medal in olympics synthetic is the only option. Real army who are sent to the battlefield all carry synthetic. But For hobby purpose, wood wins.

Synthetic is cheap plastic. Wood is ok. Good solid fiberglass is the way to go unless you can get away with a good aluminum chasis

Wonderful storyteller. Engaging and likable guy. But his drawing a conclusion about the toughness of wood with his one instance (n=1) does NOT a data set make. He needs to acknowledge that his sample size is too small for him to have a strong opinion. I love my wood stock guns - I wish I had a synthetic Bergara…but I don’t. But I’m not under any illusion that wood, while verstile and full of beautiful goodness, isn’t as dimensionally stable as a synthetic. It’s just not.

Synthetics . There's beauty in design, durability and function , unless you're a third grade drop out . 😎

So to sum it up: composite stocks are like your wife after 20 years of marriage, and a wooden stock is your wife when she was 18. Both are equally functional, but one you want to preserve forever.

The early synthetic stocks were not very good or some of them.