Laminate stocks. Are they durable?

[C-grunt]

Im planning a general purpose/hunting rifle build this year. Budget is about 800-1000 including optics. Im looking at the lower end Remington rifle but I hate the cheap plastic stocks that come on the rifle. I was researching stocks and came across a thing saying that laminate stocks are just as durable as a synthetic stock because of a resign imbedded in the wood. Is this true? Im not needing the durability of a Manners or McMillan but I don't want the thing to warp if it gets wet. I really like the look of a good wood stock and the laminates from Stockys have really caught by eye.

What Im thinking so far is:

Remington ADL or SPS in 30-06 or 270
Stockys laminate
Warne or Leupold base and rings
Leupold VX-2 3-9x40

[rjacobs]

I cant talk about the laminate from Stocky's, but I have a Marlin 1895 45-70 that I got with the laminate wood stock that I hike with. It spent the summer in Alaska with my old man and went on lots of hike's and rode in the back of the jeep. Still looks great and I suspect, barring any kind of weird chemical reaction, it will look great for years to come.

[mark5pt56]

Look at all of the K98's from WWII that are still around, you won't have any issues. I believe McMillan has a synthetic that has the appearance of wood.

[Semper Paratus]

I got in trouble last hunting season...The laminate stock on my Winchester 1300 shotgun dulled the barb wire where I climbed through the fence to get to my stand.:rolleyes:

[Mr blasty]

Laminate is often stronger than many synthetic materials. Your combining the best of both worlds when you do a laminate stock except for the weight savings of synthetic.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

[19trax95]

My grandfather has a marlin with a laminate stock and it's been holding up nicely over the years. Although there is a spot that got "melted" (I'm not sure how else to describe it) by some solvent that probably wasn't meant for firearms in the first place.

[Campbell]

Very durable, just heavy.

[brickboy240]

I bought a Boyds laminate stock for my sporterized 03 Springfield and yes...it is heavier but the thing has held up very well. It goes out with me in the rain and cold and rides on the ATV through the mud and holds up very well.

I actually like the heaviness, because I shortened the barrel on the 03 and the weight of the stock helps calm down the 30-06 round out of a 20" barrel.

I also have a 1943 German K-98 Mauser with a laminated stock and it has held up well for going through a world war and being 70 plus years old.

[Ky Bob]

I have a laminated stock on my Ruger M77 and love it.

[thebarracuda]

Get a good stock from a reputable company. I bought a Rem 700 30-06, a Boone and Crockett series rifle. Love the gun, but I had to send the first laminated stock back to Rem because the fore-end was warped, and contacting the barrel. Enter the replacement stock, still warped, just not as badly. So now I have a beautiful laminated wood stock, that ever so slightly touches the barrel. Sucks. This was a Remington factory stock with a very slender fore-end. A replacement stock from a reputable company should be great.

[rootbrain]

I got the Boyd's thumbhole laminate for my Rm700 .308 ADL SPS. Also got the Wyatt's Outdoor det mag bottom metal kit. It was a drop in, perfect fit. Barrel free floats and I haven't done the bedding yet. Here's close to finished.

25074

Rootbrain

[decodeddiesel]

Laminate wood is actually pretty cool, and very strong and durable although it is heavy.

Composite materials like laminate (plywood) are along the same lines as fiberglass or carbon fiber. Composites combine two or more dissimilar materials in such a way that the properties of the composite are significantly different from the individual materials used, usually much better. The matrix material is typically thermoset polymer such as epoxy or another type of resin. The reinforcement material is wood. Sorry for the material science lesson.

[Fordtough25]

My Marlin 336xlr has the greenish laminate wood and it's held up great! Looks great too. :)

[RS4]

C-grunt,
I spoke with the folks from Boyds during the NRA expo. I have a stainless Tikka T3 and want to get it in something heavier and nicer looking than the stock furniture. They said they now offer the T3 inlet for their stocks. As others have mentioned, laminate is stronger than wood, and as I can attest to, they are a bit heavier. As you can see from rootbrain's pic, they are handsome stocks. I have no experience with Boyds, but they were some of the most plesant and knowledgeable folks I spoke to out of the ~70 that I interacted with at the NRA expo. Also, you may want to consider the Tikka T3, I like mine, and the bolt is the smoothest out of any sub $1000 bolt guns I handled when making my purchase (certainly smoother than the 700s I handled).