Wood stock rifles

[Challer]

I am with @Bob Nelson 35Whelen. I clean and maintain my rifles before and after hunts. Wood stocks are part of the soul of a gun that I appreciate.
Over many years, I learned :

- Proper bedding and sealing the wood, inside and out, including under the recoil pad. Spar urethane is useful, definitely not a London oil finish, but it holds up in cold wet, and hot humid environments in the Deep South.

- Reinforce the bedding, tang, magazine area (I think Mauser 98 types.)
-Threaded drill rod through the wrist, epoxied in, for the big rifles
- After the hunt, clean and repeat.
- I've talked to old guys that would put Carnauba Paste wax on the whole gun, for moisture on corrosion resistance in cold salt marsh blinds, then clean it off properly for storage.
The rust bluing and wood survived, as my grandfather's goose gun in my safe shows.

Wood stocks are more work to maintain than wood laminates, and especially synthetics.
It's cheaper to find a wood laminate stock that is more stable than any run of the sawmill solid wood stock, certainly nowadays. I still seal the barrel channel, and under the but pad.
In this case I certainly look at wood laminates to go on a classic rifle, IF finished out that it looks somewhat like wood, no pink and green streaks in the plywood for me.

With synthetics, I have had the Winchester M70 on .270- and .338-Win Mag, did not care for them, especially the 1990's era Model 70. Too much flex in the fore end and inconsistent bedding when the screws were torqued down to specs.

A Bell and Carlson classic, on a commercial Mauser 98 in 416 Taylor was very nice in consistency, bedding, and I think a little milder in recoil.

It just had no soul like wood.
-

I good couple of coats with penetrating epoxy solves a lot of issues. The surface can still be finished traditionally this way.

 

[Milan]

I good couple of coats with penetrating epoxy solves a lot of issues. The surface can still be finished traditionally this way.

After cleaning, I use light coat of G96 on everything, even wood. But not as often anymore. It is fairly dry here.

 

[jruby]

I have not read all the pages of this thread. I keep a few rifles in synthetic stocks because hunting in the Pacific Northwest specifically in November gets reall misserably wet, especially in the coastal range. I have one in 244 remington, 280 remington and 35 whelen. The rest of my hunting rifles are blued and wood. I have the synthetic rifles to protect my other rifles that are blued and nice wood from the rain and moisture.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I have not read all the pages of this thread. I keep a few rifles in synthetic stocks because hunting in the Pacific Northwest specifically in November gets reall misserably wet, especially in the coastal range. I have one in 244 remington, 280 remington and 35 whelen. The rest of my hunting rifles are blued and wood. I have the synthetic rifles to protect my other rifles that are blued and nice wood from the rain and moisture.

@jruby
I haven't heard of the 244 REM for a long time.
It was Remingtons attempt to give the 6mm a boost against the 243. Unfortunately this didn't work so they went back to calling it the 6mm REM. Even tho it's still a 6mm it's a far better cartridge than the 243 in my book. It's what the 243 wanted to be.
REM bought it out with a 1:12 twist that supposedly wouldn't stabilise the 100gn bullets but would stabilise the 90 grainers. Gun writers then said it was inferior to the 243. Me thinks a few were in Winchesters pockets as it was proven it would stabilise flat base 100s.
The 6mm improved also comes very very close to the 240 Weatherby something the 243 has no chance of doing.
Just the mad ramblings of an old fart that dislikes the 243 but tolerates the good ol 6mm REM.
Bob