Laminated stock better than a cheapo synthetic??

JelloStorm

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 23, 2010
1,409
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43
Northeast Pennsylvania
I have a Savage rifle that came with a really crappy synthetic stock that I'm sure flexes when shooting.

I was thinking about getting a Boyd's laminated stock and bedding it for better accuracy from my 17hmr. It's a Savage 93r17.

It's a hunting rifle so the stock will hopefully hold up under semi-poor weather and temperature changes.

Is laminated the way to go?
 
Re: Laminated stock better than a cheapo synthetic??

I have a remington 700 SPS that came with a synthetic stock. I just purchased a Bobby Hart LRT laminate, and I'm waiting to get it metal bedded, but my gunsmith says it'll be awesome. I paid $200 from stockys stocks. I would go laminate.....
 
Re: Laminated stock better than a cheapo synthetic??

I think cheap synthetic stocks are the worst stock you can have on a precision rifle. Even a cheap wooden stock can be bedded properly. A stock made with laminate or even on piece of dense, properly-treated wood can be just as good (practically speaking) as a good synthetic. It is all about stiffness and proper action fit. Most Palma rifles use laminates, and they aren't exactly slouches in the accuracy department.
 
Re: Laminated stock better than a cheapo synthetic??

As long as your barrel is floated, you should not have any problem with the stock and how the rifle shoots. The 17 will not put any great stress on anything, and the recoil is negligible. What will probably be the determining factor, as far as accuracy goes, is the ammo you feed it. That small bore seems to be very finicky about ammo. My cousin and his friends have them, and they tried every maker of ammo to see which groups best. Find which yours likes and stick with it. When the groups start opening up, clean it, and go again.
If your stock is pushing on the barrel, relieve the pressure and see what it does. If it is floated, try the ammo.
You didn't say it was not shooting well, but I am assuming that is why you posted here. You can save a lot of money if you don't need to spend it on a stock, but if you want a better/different one, a laminate will be very stable and may fit you better.