Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Laminate wood stocks in severe weather; how did yours hold up?

My full custom and deadliest, killinest rifle in my whole collection is a wildcat 338 which uses 8mm RemMag (full length H&H magnum case, 90grs of gunpowder per trigger squeeze) sitting in a BOYDS JRS laminate stock which I had my gunsmith slim down a bunch. Now, it feels good and looks good to my eye. Best way to un "club" a stock is to have the grip area slimmed down to a circumference of 4-4.25 inches. Amazing how much that one little change affects a rifles feel.

After slimming it down there and through the forend, we re stained it in a dark black walnut color and then some sort of polymer, waterproof matte spray on wood finish inside and outside of the stock including the butt area where the Limbsaver recoil pad sits.

Now, it is THE rifle I reach for if I absolutely have to kill something and it is my most sought after loaner rifle. When I was taking hunters with me to Africa and Alaska this rifle was either the primary rifle or a loaner every time and did in fact get used by clients on several occasions to great effect. Last fall a young man in wet Oregon used it to take his first Elk. It has, like the other posters rifle mentioned above, been in Zodiacs, on Horses and super cubs tied to the wing strut while flying through rain and snow, Land Rovers and Land Cruisers in Africa, and carried as well as dropped many times. The properly treated and sealed laminate stock along with the Burris Posi Lock scope have been unmoveable, unshakeable and completely reliable tools for about 30 years now.

I do not like the looks, feel lack of panache', cool, style etc nor the unnatural noisyness of a synthetic stock.

Here is the aforementioned 340 Tyrannosaur rifle I am speaking of, nothing clunky or heavy or club like on this one:





Every time I take it out to check the Zero before the hunting seasons come around it does this, no matter what kind of abuse it endured the previous year. FWIW, the barrel is Stainless Steel, action Chromeoly steel, all coated in Brownells bake on matte black teflon/Epoxy finish: