Wood or Alloy

[Mick Young]

I have just read an article in our national bodies magazine by Don Brooks about wood versus Alloy. He advocates alloy stocks as they are more stable when travelling between extremes of climates. I like the feel and look of wood, though if someone were to give me an alloy stock I wouldnt be ungrateful at all. Which is the way to go? I know that alloy stocks have a lot of extra adjustments, so much so that I haev seen shooters really struggle at times with the myriad of adjustments that they have, seen scores much worse than when they were shooting their 1913 stocks that I sometimes feel that the cahnges arent really worth it.
I would appreciate some more expert knowledge on this subject. Thanks in advance
Keep'em in the middle
Mick
mickjyoung-at-optusnet.com.au.42164.0

[Joacim]

In my opinion the alloys are not worth the hassle. My main points are:
* Metal extends more in heat and contracts more in cold climates than wood. This means that if you start shooting in the morning when its 60 degrees and the the sun gets on you and it increases the temperature to 80 then the aluminum(alloy) will extend which will make the torqing be different.
* The stock has too many adjustments for most shooters. It makes them focus more on adjusting the rifle than on actualy shooting. If it doesn't feel right one day they will adjust the rifle instead of checking if they changed something on the gun
* Metal is brittle when it's cold. I've broken off pieces of alloy stocks numerous times. (To the story - I have flown in many times to places where it is 30-40 below which might make it a little bit extreme.) I have so far not broken of anything of a wooden stock but I have also stayed away from some of the wood stocks that were known on cracking in the pistolgrip.
These are just my view on stocks and I am sure there are people out there that both agree and strongly disagree with me. As long as you find a gun you like it should shoot well as long as you take care of it and use some common sense.
Joacim
joacim-at-riflesports.com.42176.42164

[Rod G.]

Benchrest shooters went through the switch from wood to synthetic and alloy many years ago. Although its' a different game, stability for consistency in shot making gave sythetics the edge. Perhaps this is only the beginning in .22 stock evolution. My biggest beef is keeping up with the trends financially.
I like the look of a nicely figured piece of wood, but its pretty rare to see good wood on anything but a custom stock.
Regards,
Rod G.
lowkey-at-autobahn.mb.ca.42179.42164

[Mick Young]

The stock that I have is an 1813 stock, that has an alloy bedding block in it. I have been told that this is the best of both worlds..... Are they right?
Keep'em in the middle
Mick
mickjyoung-at-optusnet.com.au.42194.42176