Laminate vs. Synthetic Stock

L

lepoisson

Guest
Am new to forum and still pretty new to BR shooting. Plan on buying a Savage chambered in Win .243. My choices for stock are synthetic or laminate, both have dual pillar bedding. I care zero on style, appearance, etc, just want a good shooter. My question is: Are laminates free from problems such as temperature, humidity...or if that is my prime concern, I should stick w/synthetic? Don't have too much discretionary time and most is consumed by reloading, shooting, so can't invest much time in adding to bedding, etc. Besides, shouldn't Savage's "Dual Pillar Bedding" be enough?

Thanks,
LePoisson
 
Grab the forend of one of the plastic factory rifle stocks wrap your hand around the barrel and give the forend a good squeeze. In most cases the forend will squeeze right up to the barrel with not much of a squeeze. Try the same thing with a laminated stock and there will be no movement. A stock that wiggles around like cooked spaghetti can't be good for accuracy IMHO.

Unless you spend a lot of time out in the rain - like weeks on end - or leave your rifles soaking in the bathtub or swimming pool a laminated stock will be just fine. In fact a good, straight grained, well sealed, non-laminated wood stock is pretty stable.
 
I have owned numerous savages likje the one you are contemplating.

They are fine for a factory gun. No problems.
 
I have a model 12 single shot with the low profile stock. While it shot well without bedding, the factory pillar bedding put a lot of bind on the action. Bedding it improved the accuracy even though it shot pretty darn good before bedding. It made me feel better about the accuracy capability too.:D

James
 
Stocks

I own all three, and would say that with a properly free floated barrel and bedded action it makes no difference. I am currently having a 6M BR varmint rifle built and chose a laminated stock. It's 16" layers of African Obeche and French Walnut. It's dimensionally stable and beautiful to look at.
A synthetic stock is just as stable but not very attractive.
If you can have both why not go for it?
This is a $4,000 rifle that will shoot 3" groups at 600 yards on a calm day.
Mark
 

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The problem here guys is that LePoisson said that he's considering a factory rifle with a factory moulded plastic flexi-flyer or laminated stock. Good composite stocks are just that: good. The factory injection moulded stocks that I've seen aren't as good as a laminated wood stock in stiffness or stability IMHO. :eek::eek::eek:
 
The Savage Low Profile Varmint rifle (laminated stock) is a fine rifle, for its intended use. I would stay away from "Tupperware" stocks.

Just the other day I helped a friend, who has one, change out his factory barrel for one of the Shilen stainless "drop-in" replacement barrels. He chose to stay with the 9" twist and .223 chambering, with the exception that he had Dave Kiff grind a custom reamer that was sent to Shilen. The whole barrel change was a quick and easy operation, with no machine work required.

He has a bore scope, and is well pleased with the appearance of the bore.

Previously, the factory trigger has been replaced with a Rifle Basix SAV II that can be set as low as 4 oz. He has his at about 12.
 
All responses genuinely appreciated!

I'm not sure that I 100% have my Mojo on this, though. I think it is the bedding process that confuses me. Let's say I get the laminate, break it in, etc., and that after working up my best load, it shoots 1" groups. Now, I want/think I can do better than that even though it is free floated and pillar bedded from the Savage factory. Then, is it a trial and error process in which I further manipulate the bedding to tighten up the groups? Aren't there any guidelines to work with on where to start?...any suggestions on "Go-To" sources so that I don't wind up repeating mistakes of hundreds of others or actually wind up making it worse?

Thanks in advance.
 
lepoisson said:
Am new to forum and still pretty new to BR shooting. Plan on buying a Savage chambered in Win .243. My choices for stock are synthetic or laminate, both have dual pillar bedding. I care zero on style, appearance, etc, just want a good shooter. My question is: Are laminates free from problems such as temperature, humidity...or if that is my prime concern, I should stick w/synthetic? Don't have too much discretionary time and most is consumed by reloading, shooting, so can't invest much time in adding to bedding, etc. Besides, shouldn't Savage's "Dual Pillar Bedding" be enough?

Thanks,
LePoisson
Click to expand...

I do not have the expereince of some of the competitors here, but what I know about stocks is that bedding is important, but just as important to me, is stock geometry.

I used to have lots of problems with my 308 target rifle shooting consistently with the Boyds laminated stock. I would shoot a .2" group one day, and a .75 the next, or put 4 in a hole, and throw one 1" out.

At some point I realized it was not the barrel or ammo, or action or bedding. It was me, my stock and rest.

So, I milled off the convex forearm, so it is perfectly flat. To minimize rolling and torque of the rifle. So, back to the bench.

Well, it shot a great group horizontally, but I kept spreading vertically. Chronograph said that it was not bullet speed.

I realized it was not tracking well vertically. i.e., as the rifle recoiled, it moved down the ramp on the but stock, depending on my shoulder pressure. So, I made an aluminum rail for my but stock, horizontal to the forearm.

Guess what... the rifle tracks like a dream. Why do you think F class stocks have a flat forearm, and paralell, flat butt stock? Because they track better with heavy recoiling rifles. Any opinions here?

I challenge that the material of the stock does not make a significant difference in bench rest, other than weight issues.

Geometry, is everything.
 
Bnhpr said:
I realized it was not tracking well vertically. i.e., as the rifle recoiled, it moved down the ramp on the but stock, depending on my shoulder pressure. So, I made an aluminum rail for my but stock, horizontal to the forearm.

Guess what... the rifle tracks like a dream. Why do you think F class stocks have a flat forearm, and paralell, flat butt stock? Because they track better with heavy recoiling rifles.
Click to expand...

Any chance you've got a pix?
 
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