Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

      The big marketing hype in regards to composite stocks is that
    your point of impact won't change when the atmospheric conditions
    change.  Wood supposedly will expand and contract enough with
    temperture and humidity changes to ultimately change your POI.
    Another selling point is the weight factor of composite stocks.
    Durability is a third point.
      On the negative side is the fact that most composite stocks are
    noisy.  They sound like plastic when scraped against a tree.  I
    also think that they are not as aestetically pleasing as wood. 
    A third factor is that a stock that is too light is just as bad as
    one that it too heavy, especially if your shooting a magnum or large
    bore rifle.       
      Until someone shows me that I'm missing game because I have a 
    wooden stock, then I'll stick with what I have.
    
    Jeff
    
     Hey Brett how was the rest of your trip?

    Hey, those are good points, Jeff.
    
    I take it no one here owns a composite stock.
    
    /brett
    
    p.s. the rest of the trip was better!

    
     Brett,
     I restocked one of my Rem mod 700s with a Ram Line synthetic stock
    two years ago after a trip to Ungava Bay, Quebec.  It seemed like
    the right move, considering the drenching the rifle withstood in
    Quebec, and the fact that I would be using it that year for elk
    in Montana.  I would echo the thoughts of .1 relative to weight/noise.
    The stock did weigh less than the wood, but not a lot, and different
    wood stocks will vary even within the same calibre family. I have
    two **Identicle** mod 700s in 7mm Rem Mag and they differ in weight
    by a half pound!  I think the wood is much more dense on one than
    the other.  While hunting Elk, the synthetic stock WAS very noisy
    when sneaking through thick cover ( where elk love to hang out )
    and my guide pointed this out to me.  An elk can tolerate a branch
    snapping, they do it all the time, but that plastic screek of a
    stock sliding along a branch will put one into high gear in a hurry!
    
     IMHO, stick with the wood if that's where you're going to be hunting.
    
    
    	-jro
    

    
    
    	Noisy for sure.. I was in the market for a rifle a couple of
    years back and looked into a fiberguard Weatherby.  Just tap it
    with your fingernail and you'll run away too.  Of course I hunt
    in relatively thick cover in Vermont.  I went wood -  Few if any
    shots beyond 100 yds so the accuracy wouldn't be quite as critical.
    
    - Rob
    

    I've always been the purist for a piece of walnut, but Ruger's new
    77/22's got me curious.  Are most synthetic stocks a fake wood grain
    like one would expect, are they mostly multicolored laminates or
    are there any others that look better than a nylon 66.  I'm ordering
    Ram-lines catalog tomorrow morning. I want a .270 to keep in the
    truck, don't want a shiny stock.

    Synthetis stocks come in many varieties from look-alike wood, to
    leaf patterns, to camo patterns etc. etc. etc. Either Gun World
    or Guns magazine did a report on synthetic stocks a couple of
    months ago. If I can dig it up, I'll list the various manufactors
    that were listed.
    
    I've looked at the Ruger 77/22 and the imprinted RUGER logo on
    the stock turns me off. To me it stands out like a bumper sticker.
    
    Red_only_60_days_until_Vermont_Deer_opens
    

    One company offers a synthetic that looks just like wood.
    Many are black, some are camo. I think the laminates look
    better than plastic, but they're usually heavier.
    
    The Browning A-Bolt is available in the Stalker - black finish,
    black synthetic stock, or the Stainless stalker, same stock,
    all metal satin stainless steel. Really weatherproof gun, 
    and probably available in .270