Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Wood or Plastic

For a rifle that at most will see an occasional rain day while hunting and with only 1/2 pound difference in their respective weights, is there any reason to own the Montana over the Classic? The wood stocked guns look better to me but the Montana looks tougher. I cannot imagine there would be any performance differences between an 84M Montana or Classic?

There shouldn't be any difference in accuracy from the Classic to
the Montana - unless the walnut "moves" a little. It has been my experience that you don't need a rainy day to have walnut move.
Improperly cured walnut can take a walk anytime!
I just make life simpler and buy the Montana.
Good luck.

The problem I have with nice wood, is that it's nice wood! Every nick and ding hurts to look at.

Plus wood is an organic material that can and will move around, as BigWhoop says.

Who CARES about a ding in a plastic stock?

Oh- by the way, the Montana stock is really, really good and is a fiberglass/kevlar stock, not plastic per se. If I understand correctly. Anyway, it's a super stock, about as good as it gets.

I never even considered the wood stocked Kimber- sythetic all the way for a hunting rifle IMHO.

-jeff

A ding in a wood stock just adds character. . . . . might decrease the resale value, but who ever really sells a rifle anyways?

The wood just looks so much nicer and classier. But ultimately, it's a rifle, and the wood can stand up to use.

i have both on my rifles but have been returning to wood/blue over the last year. imo, the plastic/kevlar are a bit more rugged, but just don't have the "good looks" of walnut. bottom line - get what you like as you can find outstanding accuracy in both variations.

Jimmy, If I didn't climb around mountains with a rifle on my back I'd never own plastic rifles... for sitting in a deer stand I much prefer a nice walnut/blued rifle no matter the weather.

My "ideal" stand rifle for Eastern Whitetail would involve a custom chromoly M70 SA in 250 Savage with a 20" bbl, open sights, Mannlicher stocked in a classic pattern topped with a Leupold 2-7x33.

Yeah, it'd have a leather sling too...

Ahhh, for me a nice piece of wood on a rifle has the same affect as good looking woman. It makes my heart race.
4 out of the last 5 rifles I bought were bought for that reason.
And yes I do have a few plastic stocked rifles.

Like the way you put that..

I just hunt in the rain too much I guess. My rifles and I come home SOAKED; I hang the (stainless, laminate) M7 by the woodstove, prop my boots up next to it, hang my gear on the hooks near it, and don't worry about it... seems like no matter what I do my blued guns end up getting some rust on them when they get wet and stay wet for a couple weeks during the season. There's just no way to properly dry it out w/o pulling it out of the stock.

Yeah, I know- stainless steel ISN'T. But it's close! I guess there are products you can coat a blue rifle with too. I've never messed with that.

Anyway, in a drier climate, I would agree that blued steel and walnut is a great, classic look and feel. I like how the bluing wears over time, too. My stainless guns all look practically brand new, you can't see where I carry them in my hands like you could if they were blued.

-jeff

Much prefer wood, though crawling around in the sage on a recent antelope hunt put some "character" in my Rugers stock.
Brad, if you find one of those 250s at a decent price, let me know. Sounds like my kind of gun. Always wanted one of the Ruger RSI 250's, but settled for the standard 22" rifle.

I was a child of the 70's and grew up with fond memories of my Mom's tupperware parties, and dang it, I like the stuff. It is tough as nails as long as you don't put it in the microwave.

I have some nice wood stocked guns, but everything I buy these days is stocked in tupperware.

As Kimber doesn't offer a laminated stock option, I'd go with the synthetic to avoid trouble with stock movement, as others have said.

If you really wanted something unusual in a Kimber, get the stainless version and have it custom stocked in laminate. Then you'd have a stable stock that kind of looks and feels like wood (except for the absence of "high figure" walnut...)

Also, laminated is heavier than either wood or synthetic, I believe.

Yes, wood can be a real bear, I have a Weatherby Mk V that I had to float 3 times. It's really really dry here in eastern Oregon and anything made of wood shrinks over about a 2 year period. Furniture, gun stocks, my wood pile, you name it. I get shocked about 30 times a day just walking around in my house. It's gotten to the point that I simply stick a knuckle out for first contact with light switches, gun safe, and yes, even the wife and the dog. Doesn't seem to have as much jolt as a finger tip.

It's an awfully good looking bear though and my preference. So what if we have to be a bit careful. I'm careful with my rifles anyway, because I want to miminize any risk of an accuracy issue when the target shows up. My first NIB 1963 rifle is still at about 95% condition. Growing up in the humid south, I was taught that one took care of the firearm before himself. That still goes today, and my rifles show it.

I will fess us to one piece of plastic, an Accumark. There's a piece of walnut drying under the bed though to rectify that issue shortly.

Pick up some wood, as it will likely be tomorrow's classic. 1Minute

Ole270, the rifle I described would have to be custom I think, unless the USRAC custom shop made one which could be. I did have the little 250 Savage M77 RSI and took a number of deer with it. Great little rifle and I regret selling it! My wish for the 77 RSI is that it would have a 20" bbl rather than 18.5"... however, if Ruger ever makes the Hawkeye in an RSI configuration and makes it in 250 Savage or 257 Rbt's I'll be an owner RIGHT NOW regardless the bbl length.

Wood for me.

Yes there's the problem. The mind says kevlar/stainless, but the wood just has soul. You go to buy the "right thing" and then you see that unique chunk of wood sitting on the rack stairing at you... All my wood stocked guns have leather slings as well

I've got about 50:50

Every synthetic stocked rifle I've purchased has found its way into wood, even one that was so accurate I was a bit afraid to play with it and change. I changed it anyway and after one minor adjustment to the bedding, it returned to the same POI. The only thing that can come close to the unique qualities of wood is a McSwirly and while I may have one someday, the last time I came close to buying one, I just couldn't see spending the money on anything but a pretty piece of walnut, and that's what I did. McSwirlies are unique, but they don't have the character and class of wood, not for me anyway.

Oh, and chalk me up as another for appreciating the little dings and wear marks, too, even when they make me cringe at first bite.

- Andy

As a guitar player, I love the tropical hardwoods as much as the next guy... but I also like not worrying about my hunting rifles. So laminate and sythetic have ruled my gun safe (I almost always accidentally type "fun safe!) pretty much except when I have no choice. I do love and appreciate the couple of blue/walnut guns I own, a Citori and BLR.

-jeff