stocks for an all purpose hunting rifle

[clockwork65]

I'm looking at a walnut (Turkish grade I) and synthetic version of the same rifle. Barrel free floated but not glass bedded in both. So here's my question: I plan for this to be an all region, all weather gun... do I *really* need to be worried about moisture and humidity in the walnut? Most of what I've read says the impact on accuracy matters a lot more for target than hunting (i.e., 1-2 inches off shouldn't be the difference in a dead deer/elk or not.) I know the synthetic is impervious to water, but the wood just looks like a hunting rifle to me...

[Pahoo]

This is an interesting question and one that can be rather subjective. If you are referring to Turkish Walnut it would be my first choice as far as wood strength and stability. If you are looking for a more weather resistant material and hard hunting, then synthetics is the way to go. ……

Granted, I feel that synthetics are way overdone and some can get pretty cheap. A "quality" synthetic stock would be hard to beat. ……

Be Safe !!!

[jmr40]

I haven't hunted with a wood stocked bolt rifle since 1983. Will never go back to wood. Prior to synthetic stocks being issued on Vietnam era sniper rifles they were ineffective past about 40 yards during the rainy season

I've made the drive from ga to co a few times to hunt. After 1700 miles gaining 9000' elevation losing 70 degrees temperature a d going from. 80% humidity to 20% humidity you will need to re zero your rifle. Then do it again when you get home

[Pathfinder45]

Walnut stocks have worked well for many generations. I wouldn't have a plastic stocked rifle.

[kilotanker22]

I agree somewhat with jmr40. I have walnut stocked guns. Love the look and feel of walnut. However; synthetic would be my go to for an all around rifle. I have had a wood stock that got wet and swelled enough to damage the safety and trigger mechanism in my Mark x. (Must have been exposed for some time prior to my ownership) it still works for now. I had to remove a fair amount of wood. I will have to restock it before long.

If you must have wood. Take the time to make sure it is properly sealed.

Still my vote goes for synthetic. Lol even though I just bought a Winchester XPR with a walnut stock

[Wyosmith]

I started using wood stocks in 1964. I have used them ever since. I used them in the USMC on my issue M40 (Not "A-Anything. It was a standard first model M40) and I can assure you I was quite effective past 40 yards even when it was wet, (which it was very often.) It was not as good for a Marine Sniper as the later A1, A2, A3 and so on with their plastic stocks ,but a generous free float gap worked into the barrel channel by the armorers did the trick very well and I was able to use it at every range out to 800 without much problem.

I have also used laminate and plastic on and off for many years.

I have sold off all my plastic except for those on my Military autos (with the exception of my M1 which is walnut too)

I just like wood a lot better.

Is it as good as plastic from the standpoint of use?

No, probably not, but the difference is a LOT smaller then the "experts" would have you believe today, assuming the wood stock used for comparison is made correctly.

If I were going to war, or if I was to move to the everglades I might consider getting a few plastic stock again, but not many even then.

Men using wood for stocks go all the way back to hand cannons and match-locks. The world was about 90% selected by men with guns, nearly all of which has wood stocks by the 1950s. The weather today is not somehow worse then it was in 1950 and water is still water.

How could the wetness of weather make an M40 Marine Corps Snipers Rifle ineffective past 40 yards when it doesn't make a flintlock ineffective at 120 yards? (3 X that range.)

I make flintlock for the largest part of my living. I know wood very well, I know guns well, and I REALLY know flintlocks well. What I write here is not just an "opinion"! It's factual.

If I were to recommend a rifle for "everything" it would depend on what "everything" means for the owner. It also begs the question "is everything also to include everywhere? If so, the closest thing there is to obtain is probably going to be an AR type rifle with most of the metal being aluminum and the furniture all being fiber-glass or plastic in a Semi-Auto in a 308 or something very close to it.
These weight only a bit over 7 pounds before you scope them.
https://pof-usa.com/firearms/revolution/

That is the best "shooting machine" you can probably buy today.
If "everything" also includes large dangerous game you might get a Stainless M-70 Winchester in 375 or 416. If it means a gun to also use for rats and squirrels you might look at a stainless steel/Aluminum Ruger 22 LR for the batter.

But an "Everything and Everywhere rifle" doesn't exist and it never has.
The semi-auto 308 (or 7-08) like one similar to the one in the link above is as close as I have seen in my lifetime.

But if pleasure in owning (and not just using) the rifle is a concern, and you will appreciate the rifle at times when you are not "in combat" or in wet weather for weeks at a time, you might look hard at good wood.

Glass the action, free-float the barrel about .030" and spine the forend with a fiberglass channel, and you will have a rifle that will not "walk" much. Maybe none at all. That's how I have done all my wood stocks and I have had my Mauser 375 H&H in wet weather for up to 11 weeks at a time with no shift in point of impact that was large enough I could hold for it without a bench-rest. When I set that rifle over a bench rest after 11 weeks of being wet I found the Point of Impact has shifted about 1" at 100 yards. For elk, bear, moose and deer it was little enough that I could not even tell it had shifted until I got it over that bench.

In the battle for Okinawa the Marines were pinned down for a long period of time by a horse-shoe shaped semi-circle of Jap Nambu machine guns ,and they finally brought up 2 Snipers to clear them out. Shot were made from 600+ all the way out past 1100 yards and the snipers killed enough of the gunners and crews that the marines below were able to break through the defenses because the guns were silenced. The rains in that battle were horrid and those rifle were wet and had been wet for a long time before those guns were silenced.
The rifles used were 30-06 M1903 variants with Unertl scopes.

Most shooter here have heard of Carlos Hathcock. He used a Winchester M70 in 30-06 for MOST of his kills and later he used an M40 just like the one I used. Both had wood stocks.

Yes plastic has a small advantage, the mostly of it comes from the fact it's molded to fit, and need not be hand fitted, so they can give excellent results with minimal efforts. But the idea that they are good to XXX range (waaaay out there) and the wood stocks fall apart for anything past 40 yards is in direct opposition to history, and even common sense.

400+ years of firearms history say otherwise.

[Mobuck]

"Walnut stocks have worked well for many generations. I wouldn't have a plastic stocked rifle."

True, BUT, finding "good" walnut becomes more difficult every year. Solid, old growth "American" walnut is a thing of the past unless you happen to own some(or are willing to pay exorbitantly for it). I have a walnut tree that was bid on last year. That tree alone was bid at approx the value of 40 acres of land in 1970. The loggers said it would take all day to cut that single tree because the "value scared them" and they didn't want to make a mistake.

[std7mag]

I have wood stocked rifles, plastic injection molded stocked rifles, and hand laid fibreglass stocked rifles.
My wood stocked rifles are factory wood Ruger 77 MKIIs. All i've done to them is apply several coats of polyurothane to the barrel channel, and the mag well walls and trigger assembly goes through.
So many people think of just the barrel channel.
Bear hunting this past year was WET in PA!
When i got home at the end of the week, i took the rifle apart, dried with soft cloth, then let air dry for several days before oiling and re-assembly.

The injection molded stocks are nothing pretty, to be sure.
One i cut a carbon fibre arrow lengthwise, cut 2 channels in the forestock and epoxied them in.
The other i used Scotchbrite to put scratches on the inside of the channel. Cleaned with iso alchohol. I then used an adhesion promoter. And filled with lightweight body filler.

Of the 2 the one with body filler turned out best. A little more weight, but much more solid.

Nothing was done to the hand laid fibreglass stock other than clearance for the safety.

While i generally follow with Wyosmith about free floating a barrel, i have seen instances where the barrel contacts the stock by design.
The Ruger 77 all have a contact point with the stock and barrel.
Freefloating will void any accuracy warrenty with Ruger.

Looking at a Forbes 24B, i noticed full length contact.
Come to find out Melvin Forbes beds for the full length of the stock.
IF you need barrel changed on a Forbes or NULA rifle, the bedding is ground down and full length bedded with the new barrel.

[NoSecondBest]

At age seventy, and a lot of hard years of hunting behind me, I've gone to the dark side. As much as I love the looks of nice wood, I simply can't make any argument that it's better than a GOOD synthetic. Yes, there are some truly terrible excuses for stocks made from flimsy plastic, but the fiberglass ones can be outstanding. I'm not one of those guys who needs to have his sling match his boots to look the part on the cover of GQ. For me, it's all about function when it comes to shooting and hunting. I own a couple of truly outstanding pieces of wood on several high end rifles (and shotguns), but the wood doesn't make them shoot any better and it's prone to doing what wood does......warp, scratch, and require care. My synthetics just function. I want something I can count on and not have to worry about or baby while using it. Just my two cents on the subject.

[Nathan]

Really depends on climate. It there is a good chance you will sit all day in rain, synthetics and stainless are nice. If you are in a dry climate, wood is fine.

The other thing to consider is hunting rash....how much stock damage can you accept? It is real and impossible to completely avoid.

[std7mag]

From a resale value hunt rash on a stock is not desireable.

From a nostalgia standpoint..Priceless!

30 years from now (if i'm still around) i can look at that rifle and see the small ding and remember that bear/elk/deer hunt with cousin/uncle/daughter Bob. ( don't ask!)

As for price of wood vs good synthetic stock. McMillen stocks are what, $600?
About twice what i pay for my previously enjoyed rifle.

[Wyosmith]

From a resale value hunt rash on a stock is not desirable.

From a nostalgia standpoint..Priceless!
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This is the truth

[Pahoo]

Some of the most demanding service on a shotgun is waterfowl hunting. As My grandsons came of age, I bought them a shotgun. I am an upland hunter and have always had wood. After about two years, the furniture their shotguns, really started showing some damage. Before the next season, I replaced their stocks with synthetics and once more, life is good. I will refinish both stocks when and they will have both. …..

How would you guys, like seeing you Browning stocks in the Skull boat or blind ….

Just Saying and;
Be Safe !!!

[Scorch]

I have wood stocked rifles, plastic injection molded stocked rifles, and hand laid fibreglass stocked rifles.

When people say "synthetic", they believe they are talking about a single thing, but "synthetic" encompasses plastic injection-molded stocks (polymer, resin, whatever the factory marketing guys want to call it), injection-molded fiber-reinforced plastic (resin with fibers in it), injection-molded industrial foam of various types, molded floc-reinforced epoxy or polyester resins, hollow molded hand-laid cloth of various types (fiberglass, unilinear carbon fiber, kevlar, polyester, etc), molded foam-filled hand-laid cloth of various types, machined structural plastics of different types. You could even put laminated stocks into the "synthetic" category, as they are "engineered forest products" and therefore not natural. Each has different strengths and weaknesses, and each has prices from bargain to WOW. I understand the strengths and shortcoming of each of the types, and I still prefer wood. Notice I said I understand the strengths/shortcomings, which most do not. I prefer wood because of how it looks and feels, not because of its structural stability or superiority in any other way..

I just like wood a lot better.

Me too, and since I build rifles I recommend it. But the market says "synthetic is better", so I build those, too.

Men using wood for stocks go all the way back to hand cannons and match-locks.

Yes, and they knew which woods were best for what application. What to use for axles and hubs, axe handles or ox yokes. Walnut and maple have just the right density and strength for building rifles, so that's what we want to use.

True, BUT, finding "good" walnut becomes more difficult every year. Solid, old growth "American" walnut is a thing of the past unless you happen to own some

No. No such thing as "old growth American walnut". Walnut is a commercially cultivated tree, grown for the nuts they produce. After their 30-50 years of useful productivity, they are cut down and sold for lumber, furniture, musical instruments, etc. Gun stocks are generally the furniture making scraps and unusable parts of the tree until you get into fancy grained or figured wood. Still walnut, just not the choicest parts, generally. Gun stock wood has always been competitively priced, we just don't see as much of it these days because of other options on the market.

[bamaranger]

I like blue steel and walnut, but also own and use guns with synthetic stocks. I like being able to relax a bit handling my guns afield and not worry as much rash, and so my rough use/heavy use guns are all synthetic stocked. I've taken some tumbles and done some stupid things, that I feel certain would have shattered/splintered a wooden stock, that factory synthetic stocks just shrugged off.

Sure, I hunt the wooden stocked guns, but I reserve a lot of them for soft hunts.

[Mobuck]

"Walnut is a commercially cultivated tree, grown for the nuts they produce. "
Not all of it. My farm has naturally growing walnut tress in sizes from knee high to approximately 4' in diameter. NONE were planted by a human. Some are likely over 100 years old.

[Pathfinder45]

American Black Walnut has very hard and dense nuts that are difficult to process and have a strong flavor that is not very popular. My Dad liked Black Walnut ice cream when he could find it. Everyone else didn't much care for it. But the wood makes excellent rifle-stocks and the tree grows wild in some regions. It's a very common tree in the Kansas-Missouri border region. The sapwood is nearly white while the heartwood is the desireable chocolate color. Since the sapwood is fairly thick, it takes a fairly large log to be worth anything more than firewood.

[T. O'Heir]

The barrel free floated guarantees nothing. Each rifle will either like a floated barrel or it won't. The only way to find out if yours does or not is to try it. Putting a pressure point back in if it does not, is not difficult. Takes a dab of bedding material(epoxy) just aft of the end of the fore stock.
You'd be best to bed either one using any of the assorted methods. Glass or pillar being the most common. Glass bedding is easier with an Acraglas kit. It's a DIY thing that runs about $30.
The walnut stock will be fine if you seal the inside using any regular wood sealer found in a hardware or paint store.
"..."American" walnut is a thing of the past unless you happen to own some..." Nonsense. Been making leather dye with black walnut bark for eons. However, clockwork65 isn't looking at stocks. He's looking at a commercial hunting rifle with a walnut stock.
http://americanwalnut.com/gunstock-blanks.html

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Since you posed the question. What you desire is what matters OP
Than again the difference between both materials in climate changes? Constantly wet snake infested jungle types of places. > Synthetic.
Otherwise gorgeous walnut for those Blue Sky & sometimes light rainy places we actually prefer to hunt.

If _I_ were a plastic liking gent >Synthetic? {Thank Goodness I'm not~although.}
A quality piece burl always garners a look see on my part. Be it a rifle stock or a good Pipe.