Whats the obsession with wood stocks? is there any benefit ?

[AKM]

The only benefit I can see is extra weight for bench shooting.

My airguns are tools to me (pesting/hunting). Unlike the majority of my PB's that are mostly recreational toys. I like my guns as light as possible since I rarely shoot from a bench. 

[Baco]

 weight is subjective, a solid plastic stock would be much heavier than wood..
synthetic version of my R8 is heavier as well

but i hate plastic so wood ftw

[JimD]

I have made tables, chairs, beds, and chests for myself and my children and grand children.  I have an extra garage to hold my tools.  I have also made one stock for a left hand bolt 22.  I like wood stocks.  I like the feel of them and the look but only if they are made of what I think is decent wood.  I also need a longer length of pull than most factory stocks have.  So a factory stock that doesn't fit me is not very attractive.  Especially if it is stained beech like many are.  Beech is considered a secondary wood in furniture making.  Something suitable for the inside of drawers.  Not the parts that are on display.  It has relatively unattractive grain, is very light in color, and is heavy.  A factory stock made of beech (like the Avenger wood stock) is not attractive to me, especially when it would not fit me. 

Walnut is the traditional stock material and I like walnut.  But it lightens when exposed to sunlight - very gradually.  It is light for it's level of strength and can have very interesting grain.  A nice walnut stock enhances a gun IMHO.  Ideally you want straight grain in the portion of the stock that holds the action and barrel of the gun but figured grain in the buttstock.  The figured grain is attractive but relatively unstable.  In the buttstock stability is relatively unnecessary.  The stump of a walnut tree is the ideal source of stock material since the portion very close to the ground or even somewhat under ground will be figured in almost all cases but the portion above ground is likely to have straight grain. 

Cherry and maple are also good stock materials in my opinion.  Maple is light but can be stained if that is an issue.  These woods also often contain interesting and even beautiful figure.  Cherry initially darkens from sun exposure but can also sun bleach like walnut if it gets too much sun. 

Laminated stocks will be heavy since the glue is denser than the wood and they are tightly clamped during the veneering process.  They have an interesting appearance.  They will also be highly stable, about as stable as plastic stocks. 

Plastics are not all identical either and plastic stocks certainly are not.  The three piece thin hard plastic stock of my Avenger is never going to be my favorite but it contributes to it's relatively light weight.  The much thicker and a little softer feeling stocks of my P35s are much better but probably make the gun slightly heavier than the beech stock used on the P15.  I do not mind adding a color matched spacer to my plastic stocks like I would a wood stock, especially a nice one. 

I place value on a gunstock of nice wood especially if it has some figure in the buttstock.  But I would just as soon have a plastic stock as one made of wood I do not care for as long as the plastic is thick enough and softer feeling.  I don't think I want to accept the weight and price penalty of a laminated stock even though I think it looks better than a plastic stock. 

[anti-squirrel]

I dislike plastic.  I dislike cheap plastic even more.

My M-25 ios a great airgun, a 9mm regulated powerhouse and it's got enough power to take coyote at a measured 83 yards.  It still not worthy to hold compared to my heavier ShinSung 9mm PCP.  Aside from that, most of these synthetic AKA "plastic" stocks are made from crummy plastic sourced from who knows where.  Mind you, quality UV-stabilized polymers generally age better than milk-jug guns.  Old plastic with UV stabilizers or better yet, Bakelite, will also feel better than modern whiz-bang majykal PCPs with "synthetic" stocks.  What type of synthetic?  All too many "synthetic" stocks are basically total cr@p.  Go to the local gun store, look at some black guns, feel the bile rise in your gut knowing that quality machining and assembly cannot overcome a shoddy piece of plastic.  No different here.  Same with cutlery, handtools, and cars.

If the "synthetic" stocks held up like the XCelite and Wiha hand-tools I own, this conversation would be moot because the so-called "plastic" stocks would be every bit as comfy and nice to handle as any garden-variety lumber-based stock.


Or in simplest terms, cheap-arse plastic doesn't age well.  Wood generally does.

[Spin]

No market. with the introduction of guns like the Gauntlet, Avenger and the Impact, a custom stock is unnecessary. The market is moving away from wood stocks.And good wood is getting increasing scarce and exponentially expensive. Back in the day when ALL guns had wood stocks, we were always looking for an upgrade cuz a lot of factory offerings were, well, ugly

Another factor IMO is the lack of adjustability in many wood stocks, custom or not. So you cant get a gun to fit you with out cutting or chopping the stock.

Chassis systems and full synthetics are the way of the future

              Advantages of wood?  Repair and refinishing scratches, dings, worn off finishes and grip areas like stippling or checkering. Easily stainable. Easier for mort people to work with, modify. Drill, shave, inlet, glass bed, install fore ends and grip caps. Install storage, sling studs, unaffected by UV (sunlight) usually unaffected by bug repellents and sun screens.

[triggerfest]

While I looooove the looks of a nice laminate wood stock...

Give me a synthetic stock please. Not a cheap China plastic one. But a solid synthetic stock.

While I always have been kind of neutral to both, I start to shift more to synthetic. All that wood is too much drama for me at the end. For me an airgun is a tool. A tool that needs to do the job. Not an object I can dwell over for hours. And synthetic is way more practical for a tool.

Yes, I have had and still have some nice wood stock airguns. But with the handling of a wood stock, I am always actively conscious about getting scratches on the stock etc etc, I don't have that with synthetic ones. With a synthetic stock I just pick up the airgun and start to shoot and forget about the world.

Recently I had a HFT competition match and I was shooting with my wood stock CZ200. It was pouring rain. As in, I saw some people with streaming water out of their barrels. No joke. I was really afraid that my wood stock got impacted by so much water. Fortunately I took a diligent approach that took a couple of days to dry the stock and action after the match. But with a synthetic stock, that would have been much easier.

Just some fun facts. My HW97k BlackLine with a synthetic stock is heavier than my wood stock HW97k. Less vibrations as well. My recently new acquired Hatsan AirTact springer ($100), has a glass fibred reinforced synthetic stock. You can't even squeeze the stock together around the breech area, it is that solid.

Can I say synthetic is more sustainable as well ? Then no tree has to get cut down for my airgun addiction.

I don't want drama and care. I want shooting. So synthetic for me please.

[anjo]

Can I say synthetic is more sustainable as well ? Then no tree has to get cut down for my airgun addiction.

Hard to generalize but wood has the potential to be far more sustainable. Cutting down trees is fine as long as you're planting new ones

[dan_house]

 wood has the potential to be far more sustainable. Cutting down trees is fine as long as you're planting new ones

very true, except that the newly planted trees will take decades to be big enough for usable lumber. And since we are consuming gunstcok-quality wood faster than its being replaced, that wood is becoming increaasing rare, and more expensive, expecially for woods Americans prize for gunstocks

So, either we accept the perpetual price increases or we accept wood species not normally thought of for stocking

[avator]

Polymers and plastics also require natural resources to produce. That production also taxes the environment. Pick your poison.

[Back_Roads]

 Do not see people doing this to plastic, but I hve seen some cool dips and air brushing.



http://www.dallasairbrush.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/david-art-2151.jpg

[Spacebus]

Polymers and plastics also require natural resources to produce. That production also taxes the environment. Pick your poison.

You can use low grade forestry products, such as slash, chips, sawdust, etc. to produce plastics. Could be more sustainable than petro-plastics or real wood.

[lefteyeshot]

I'd rather have painted wood than plastic.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I work in the Plastics Industry and have for 25 years at assorted facilities. Currently I am at a Compounder, as in we take the raw components in powder form and through heat, friction, extrusion MAKE plastic pellets for molding / extruding companies to create "stuff". Be it PVC, ABS, Nylon, Poly-Pro, Poly-Carb, Acrylic... you name it. in any color of the rainbow... and then some. Manufacturers could mold a stock out of any color you want, but black guns sell.
  The cutting edge we currently are creating is a plastic heavily loaded with "Graphene"... super light and super strong. If someone would mold a gun-stock out of that you would be AMAZED! Light as a feather but strong as an anvil.

That said, I prefer a wood stock because it "feels" right to me, and the beauty of wood grain / figuring.. seems to have it's own personality.

[Baco]

I work in the Plastics Industry and have for 25 years at assorted facilities. Currently I am at a Compounder, as in we take the raw components in powder form and through heat, friction, extrusion MAKE plastic pellets for molding / extruding companies to create "stuff". Be it PVC, ABS, Nylon, Poly-Pro, Poly-Carb, Acrylic... you name it. in any color of the rainbow... and then some. Manufacturers could mold a stock out of any color you want, but black guns sell.
  The cutting edge we currently are creating is a plastic heavily loaded with "Graphene"... super light and super strong. If someone would mold a gun-stock out of that you would be AMAZED! Light as a feather but strong as an anvil.

That said, I prefer a wood stock because it "feels" right to me, and the beauty of wood grain / figuring.. seems to have it's own personality.

polycarb is nasty

moulds are interesting, what kind of materials can you cast on nylon/abs moulds?

[Hoosier Daddy]

I am the Maintenance Manager... I just keep the machines running.. processing is another Managers job.
 But I should think the Mold doesn't care what plastic is injected into it.. that is governed by heat and pressure of the molding machine.

Polycarb isn't so bad I love the smell.. Acetyl is a different animal... we have to wear full face respirators for that &^^&!
PVC is exothermic. If you get it too hot it starts burning on it's own and continues to get hotter.. giving off Hydro-chlorine gas.. that is when all heck breaks loose!
 Plastic can kill you. 

[rsterne]

Sorry, but all I see when I read the title of this thread was a brass plate affixed to a beautiful, all wood, triple cockpit, inboard runabout made in the 1930's....

"If God had intended boats to be made of plastic, He would have created a fibreglass tree"....

'Nuff said!....

Bob

[Firewalker]

Sorry, but all I see when I read the title of this thread was a brass plate affixed to a beautiful, all wood, triple cockpit, inboard runabout made in the 1930's....

"If God had intended boats to be made of plastic, He would have created a fibreglass tree"....

'Nuff said!....

Bob

Leaves more for me! 

[Struckat]

“What’s the obsession with wood stocks?”
They can be made from walnut.

“Is there any benefit?”
Any grade walnut is lovely.

[tennx]

Sorry, but all I see when I read the title of this thread was a brass plate affixed to a beautiful, all wood, triple cockpit, inboard runabout made in the 1930's....

"If God had intended boats to be made of plastic, He would have created a fibreglass tree"....

'Nuff said!....

Bob

Amen….back when I was a kid….my father and his friends would pull 4/6 banger OEM from Chris Craft run about and  install 327….now as a old man I think what sacrilege…lol

[Ronno6]

Sorry, but all I see when I read the title of this thread was a brass plate affixed to a beautiful, all wood, triple cockpit, inboard runabout made in the 1930's....

"If God had intended boats to be made of plastic, He would have created a fibreglass tree"....

'Nuff said!....

Bob

Amen….back when I was a kid….my father and his friends would pull 4/6 banger OEM from Chris Craft run about and  install 327….now as a old man I think what sacrilege…lol

Only if it was 350HP