While I myself am currently shopping for a high-grade wood-stock "beautiful" rifle, and the X-Bolt is among the items I've looked at, I would recommend going synthetic on your first rifle. If this is the rifle you intend to USE most often, both at the range and in the field, you'll get more value out of the synthetic, IMHO. No worries about scratching and denting that beutiful finish, no worries about temperature/humidity/rain/snow/etc effecting accuracy from wood warping or expanding or contracting.
Besides, if you are like most you'll eventually find that one rifle isn't enough, and you can always add a nicer wood stock gun later!
