Who hunts with a pretty wood rifle?

apexhunter

Ten Pointer
I deer hunt for sport and food, not for nostalgia, so all of my deer rifles in the past 20 or so years have synthetic stocks for the most part. Except for my Winchester 94 in 30-30 and my father in law's old 60's vintage Remington in .270 that is a real shooter all of my rifles now wear synthetic stocks- not necessarily for durability but for weight and consistency with POI in various weather conditions. I have owned and hunted with many very good looking wooden stocked rifles from various makers in numerous calibers but with a desire for consistent accuracy in conditions from sunny & 70 to crappy and 20 it is more frequent by design that a synthetic stock to deliver than a wooden stock to deliver.

Shotguns are a whole other story where my bird guns (sub gauge bird guns and not my duck gun) are very attractive with pretty wood, some engraving where applicable by make/model and nicely blued, case hardened or nickel furniture.
 

Banjo

Old Mossy Horns
I hunt with a wood stock rifle, but it sure ain’t pretty.


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bshobbs

Old Mossy Horns
Shooting my Remington 760 pump in .243 that I bought used in 1985. Oh yea if that baby could talk about the scratching and dings I put on her.
 
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stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Opinions will vary of course, but for me deer hunting takes place with walnut and blued steel.
 

HarryNC

Eight Pointer
Opinions will vary of course, but for me deer hunting takes place with walnut and blued steel.

Yeah, me too. My son has a Remington 30/06 with a plastic stock, and it just doesn't feel right to me. I do my woods hunting with an old Savage 99 in .300 Savage. Its' stock has many battle scars, and carries lots of memories. Last year, I was looking to buy something with better trajectory for hunting fields and powerlines, and settled on a Weatherby Vanguard in .270 Winchester. I looked at the plastic and wood-stocked versions, and couldn't bring myself to buy the plastic.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
I hunt with a synthetic stock rifle because I'm sure I would scratch the heck out of a nice checkered piece of walnut. the stock on my synthetic rifles prove it. What do you guys do that hunt with pretty wood stocks?

I do but it is an old model 70. it's battle scars make it look distinguished in my eyes.so i dont scratch it on purpose but if a new one shows up i dont fret.

i think you are wise if the scratches would bother you.
 

nchawkeye

Old Mossy Horns
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Banjo

Old Mossy Horns
Shooting my Remington 760 pump in .243 that I bought used in 1985. Oh yea if that baby could talk about the scratching and dings I put on her.

My son uses a 760 in a .270


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Ldsoldier

Old Mossy Horns
First "plastic" gun I ever held was my M16A2 in basic training. I understood immediately why so many of the old goats in Vietnam thought it was a toy. That said, it performed flawlessly for me, as did the one I was issued in Korea. Personally I don't understand synthetic stocks on regular rifles, except as a cost cutting measure. There's just something about a wood stock that seems right. A friend of mine once commented that he could help me refinish my 788 and get rid of some of the scars. My response was "why?" Those scars give it character. In guns, like with people, a scar will tell you more than an engraving or tattoo ever will.
 

Blackwater

Twelve Pointer
The only synthetic I own is my AR. All the rest of my long guns sport everything from cheap and plain maple to highly figured claro walnut. Just never had much use for anything but wood.
 

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
Haha. Thought of this thread Saturday. Nasty wind rain and fog in the mountains and I was carrying my wood stocked browning BAR with open sights. The only centerfire wood stock gun I own on the worst weather day of season for me!
 

bellabarrie

Eight Pointer
I have a pretty little Ruger .308 with a wooden stock. I love the way it feels as compared to the synthetic stocks. I don't go out of my way to beat it up, but all the little dings and scratches give it character. Plus it also means it isn't just another gun stored away not getting any use.
 

700rem

Spike
Just hunt and enjoy them. Mine gets dings in the safe so i quit worrying about dings and scratches
 

BackCreek

Spike
Every scratch is a memory, good or bad. Synthetic stocks have no soul.

I wish there was a way to like posts LOL

I hunt with synthetic stock rifles now but I have a few in the cabinet that have quite a few battle scars that carry fond memories especially my old Browning Bar.
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
I will say that there are certain types of guns that should wear wooden stocks. Lever guns, over / under and side x side shotguns come to mind. I think I have 5 rifles that ahve wood stocks, one of which is a 10/22, the others are bolt action rifles. the vast majority of the rifles and shotguns I own wear synthetic furniture. I have seen some absolutely gorgeous wood stocked rifles, but for me, guns are tools and I don't care much how they look as long as they get the job done.
 

Combat Diver

Eight Pointer
Used to hunt with a Sauer 90 Lux in .270. Gorgeous blonde stock on it and took couple Dall Rams with it and one Whitetail. Redfield mounts with a Leupold VarX-III 2.5x8 scope on top.

(web picture)
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stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Just last week picked up another wood stocked rifle, a Winchester Model 70 in an uncataloged caliber...

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stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Nice find I think the .284 was the most overlooked caliber ever made.

You can thank Winchester for that. They orphaned the round. It is a great all around cartridge though.<>< Fish

I agree with both. It was designed by Winchester to duplicate the .270 but in a short action, for use in the 88 lever and 100 semi-auto. And it did match the .270, and actually slightly improved it. But when the 88 and 100 went out of production about 1973 it was "orphaned" as FishHunt says. It was also chambered by Ruger in the 77, by Browning in both their bolt and lever actions, and by Savage in the 99. One of the current customer rifle makers chambers it in lightweight rifles for sheep hunting. And apparently Winchester chambered the M-70 in it, but there seems to be no catalog or historical records of those, at least that can be easily found.
 

BackCreek

Spike
Nice find I think the .284 was the most overlooked caliber ever made.

I concur, I had a custom SAKO in .284 I had a gentleman that used it on a hunting trip one evening and he wanted a lot worse than I did but I do regret it now but he offer 5X more than I paid for it LOL
 
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