Synthetic Stock that Balances Like Wood

[jackstrawIII]

Help me out.

I really prefer the weight and balance of wood stocks. However, I don’t like hunting in cold/wet weather with them. Been trying to find a synthetic stock that mimics the density and weight of a wood stock, but can’t seem to find what I’m looking for. I own rifles with McMillan, Bell and Carlson, etc stocks and they’re high quality and balance well with pencil weight barrels, but too light for my preference with a standard weight barrel.

Anyone know of someone that makes a heavier sporting fiberglass stock? Seems counter intuitive, but I’d be all over it if someone made one.

Thanks.

 

[O4L]

My solution to that problem was to finish a wood stock with black truck bed liner. It works great with a nice weatherproof grip texture and the weight I prefer.

 

[taylorce1]

It would help to know what rifle you're trying to stock? Plus what fill are you using with your McMillan, is it magnum, standard or edge? That'll make a difference in how much the stock weighs and feels.

 

[jmr40]

It's in your head.

A standard weight McMillan or most other quality synthetics weigh the same and balance exactly like a wood stock. Bell and Carlson stocks are significantly HEAVIER than wood. Put some on a postal scale sometime. You can pay a premium for one of the Edge stocks made from Kevlar that weigh about 1/2 lb less than fiberglass, but I find they balance just fine due to the construction.

Some of the cheaper injection molded stocks that have hollow butt stocks can create a muzzle heavy feel with standard contour barrels.

 

[Wyosmith]

If I am not using nice wood I prefer laminates over plastic because I can shape it any way you can wood and it's not hollow. So mounting butt plates or pads as well as grip caps and tips in just like any wood stock.

 

[jackstrawIII]

JMR, I'll have to bust out the scale and try it... I find that so hard to believe. But, I've been wrong before.

Wyosmith, I was actually thinking about trying a laminate stock on the new 6.8 build I'm preparing for. Maybe I'll give it a shot. My only experience with a laminate stock was on a old Mossberg and the gun as a whole didn't do it for me. But I'm willing to try again.

 

[Paul B.]

"If I am not using nice wood I prefer laminates over plastic because I can shape it any way you can wood and it's not hollow. So mounting butt plates or pads as well as grip caps and tips in just like any wood stock."

I have several rifles with McMillans and they ain't hollow. I also have stocks that were hollow but I used that electrical insulating foam as a filler and that takes care of the hollowness. You have to work quickly as that stuff expands quite rapidly. Also, mask everything off thoroughly.
Paul B.
Paul B.

 

[tdoyka]

Synthetic Stock that Balances Like Wood

i'm a wood guy and i'm a laminate guy. i am NOT a synthetic guy. they could burn all synthetic stocks and i wouldn't give them(synthetics) the time of day.

momma always told me to say nuthin bad, but i hate synthetic stocks!!!

 

[jackstrawIII]

Tdoyka,

You ever used a good fiberglass stock? Like on a Kimber Montana or similar?

Totally different animal than the junk on a $250 Savage Axis or the like. Totally different.

Don’t want to make assumptions, but I think you may change your tune once you experience the high end stuff. It’s awesome.

 

[tdoyka]

i only own 1 salvage and its not for me.

yes i have owned mcmillian, h-s precision and pendleton synthetics. and they are total different. but they burn just as good as a junk stock.

 

[AlaBusa]

Get a laminated stock and have the wood you like that is as tough as synthetic.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[Picher]

I don't like most factory laminated stocks and some after-market ones that use Birch. It's a soft wood that doesn't like checkering and, due to glue, often weighs more than an equivalent regular walnut stock. Also, I've noticed that they tend to lose accuracy as rounded receivers, torqued down, tend to make them spread. IMHO, they should be pillar-bedded, but to keep them from spreading, several factories now use through-bolts...to keep the spreading down?

 

[reinert]

I have two Remington 700 ADLs that are my two most "go to" hunting rifles these days. Both are in '06. One, built in the mid-90s, has the factory synthetic stock, and the other, a '68 vintage rifle, has a nice walnut stock. The syn-stocked rifle actually weighs a couple of ounces more than the old woodie.

While hunting, I can't tell the difference between them as I use them (as far as weight and "feel"). They both fit me very well, both shoot very good, and I wouldn't do anything to change them. I've used, for the past couple of years, the old woodie '06 for deer hunting, and have developed a load for just that purpose. I killed my mulie buck with it in early October, and generally, the weather is nice during that month in Wyoming; fun carrying that cool old Rem out in the hills.

The newer syn-stocked 700 I use for elk hunting, and have a load I like for it for that purpose. On the mountain, it's usually colder, and possibly wetter than my October hunts out on the plains, so I like that syn-stocked business. I killed my cow elk with it this season the first part of November, lying in the snow, shooting over my daypack. That rifle is about as plain a Jane rifle as one could shoot, but it's a fine and accurate hunting rifle for any weather I might encounter in the high country. Both of my 700s have one-piece Leupold mounts, with fixed power Leupold scopes on them. For me, and for what it's worth, I can't really tell the difference in weight, feel, or performance. They both weigh a bit over 8 and 1/2 pounds without ammo, and again, the syn-stocked '06 weighs a couple of ounces more than the woodie.

I also have a laminated Rem ADL stock I found on ebay that I wanted to try on the syn-stocked rifle, but I have no reason to change anything on it. It just performs too well to mess with it.

 

[Picher]

Things you can do to a synthetic stock to make it better, either for balance or for accuracy/use. I usually pillar-bed them and hog-out the forend and fill any voids with bedding compound to make it stiffer.

If it's too barrel-heavy, you can remove the recoil pad drill a hole and glue-in some birdshot. To cut noise when going through the woods, fill the stock void with spray-in styrofoam insulation.

JP

 

[flashhole]

Have you ruled out the idea of putting fill in the synthetic stock you have?

 

[Mobuck]

"Have you ruled out the idea of putting fill in the synthetic stock you have?"
That was going to be my suggestion.
Is the "balance issue" based on the lack of butt weight? If so, it's an easy task to pull the butt plate/pad and add some weight. I will say that "balance" in a rifle is more aesthetic than functional vs "balance" in a shotgun which affects how the gun swings and follows targets.
I admit to using mostly synthetic stocks and many of my rifles are muzzle heavy. I put more faith in a long heavy barrel(which does actually affect accuracy) than in the handle.

 

[jackstrawIII]

I like the idea of using a filler in the stock to bring the balance point back further. That's really what it is, I like the weight to be balanced further back than most folks.

 

[Mobuck]

When my blind Son was doing the handicapped hunts, we were invited to do a muzzleloader hunt in Nebraska. Knight Muzzleloaders donated him a 50 cal rifle and I set about making it suitable for a 15 year old's use. Off came the butt plate and in went 1.5# of lead shot mixed with Acra-Glas bedding compound topped off with a soft pad. Recoil became a non-issue and the butt heavy balance solved the problem of holding the rifle steady w/o having it lift off his shoulder.

 

[flashhole]

Mobuck - I have to ask, and I'm asking with great respect for you and your son and his stated handicap of being blind. How can he hunt?

 

[Mobuck]

"Mobuck - I have to ask, and I'm asking with great respect for you and your son and his stated handicap of being blind. How can he hunt?"
An "assisted sighting device" of my own design and manufacture that allows a sighted assistant to aim the rifle/shotgun while the blind person holds and fires it. Approximately 28 deer, a 6x6 bull elk, Corsican ram, and pheasant on the wing prove it works.