How rain resistant are the wood laminated stocks these days? Pics included

[Just Duke]

How rain resistant are the wood laminated stocks these days?
Before anyone asks, I just don't care for plastic stocks so they are not an option.
TIA,
Duke




Not very tactical but pretty.

[docone31]

Duke,
They are fairly water resistant. Not like a plastic stock, but heavy and sheds water. They are hard to finish. Tru-Oil does not go deeply into the wood. I have two of them like the one shown. A good stock, heavy, files and shapes easily. Lots of material to remove for the best fit.
A good stock.

[Just Duke]

Duke,
They are fairly water resistant. Not like a plastic stock, but heavy and sheds water. They are hard to finish. Tru-Oil does not go deeply into the wood. I have two of them like the one shown. A good stock, heavy, files and shapes easily. Lots of material to remove for the best fit.
A good stock.

Thanks for your reply D. Yea these stocks are mostly epoxy impregnated wood so I can understand them not absorbing any oil based finishes.

[UBER7MM]

Duke,

+1 on what docone31 says. IIRC, regarding point of aim changes due to the elements, grained wood stocks are more effected by moisture, and "tupperware" stocks are more effected by heat. A wood laminate would be a good compromise or "best of both worlds" between those two. For a target stock like the one you've pictured as a example, it'll work just fine. I like the thumb hole model.

I hope this helps,

[Dan Cash]

Lord, but they are heavy.

[Nickle]

Now, the real question is "are they warp resistant?"

Yes, laminated wood is very warp resistant. Very heavy compared to synthetic too. I prefer synthetic for target rifles in a weight restricted class, laminated for other use.

[Dryball]

I have several laminated stocks and love em. They are heavy but "a little work" with rasps, files, etc will work well to mitigate this. Since laminated is sturdier you can whittle it down pretty far and still have a serviceable stock. For refinishing there are a gazillion methods. If you want to use oil use it but thin it down so it will penetrate...of course it won't go into the epoxy. Painting is another option and you can use a high quality automotive "bondo" mix to fill the pores. Rich's Microfit Gunstocks and Accurateshooter.com are both excellent places to read-up on laminate finishing.

[GabbyM]

The Fajen laminated stock I did from an unfinished piece soaked up a can of finish to get the grain sealed.
I'd say not all laminates are the same.

[Artful]

When I lived in Oregon I prefered them over regular wood - until "plastic" became acceptable in my eyes (it took years to overcome my prejudice)

[Lead Fred]

Dukester,

I went from plastic to laminated wood, and never looked back. I took a stocky stock's unfinished thumbhole 700 stocks, and sanded every gram of weight I could off of it, then coated it with 7 hand rubbed coats of tung oil.

After 3 months, I dropped into a water barrel. Kinda shocked me when it floated to the top. I weighted it down, left it over night.
Shook it dry, and looked for water damage. That was 5 years ago, still repels water.

It shot 3/8 groups before, still does today. Rain, shine, snow, heat, dont matter.

Never even glass bedded it.

[Lloyd Smale]

duke unless your going to leave it in the lake for the night its plenty water resistant.

[Gtek]

And you can remove material under barrel and then remove inside of butt under pad until desired forward feel is reached. Gtek

[JesterGrin_1]

Look into BOYD'S Gun Stocks. http://www.boydsgunstocks.com/

If you wish to have a light stock look at the Featherweight Thumbhole. It was darn close to the same weight as the plastic stock my Marlin XL-7 came with from the factory. Also if you have a Heavy Mag Contour barrel then the Feather weight stock would be the one to get as the fore end has more side area for the larger barrel for full float. And they will not break the bank which is always a plus.

I would still recommend having pillars added and bedded.

I have used two of there stocks on the Two Rifles I had built. One was on the Marlin XL-7 action to .35 Whelen AI and the other was a Stevens 200 (Savage) to a .358 Winchester.

Stevens 200 .358 Winchester




Marlin XL-7 35 Whelen

[Sensai]

Laminates are pretty water resistant, but like with any wood stock, Johnson's Paste Wax is your friend. I keep all of my wood stocks, even the laminates, waxed down good; and I've never had a warpage problem since I started doing it. It is important to get ALL surfaces saturated, even under the barreled action and buttplate.

[Just Duke]

BTT for more info.

[M-Tecs]

I use West System marine-grade epoxy.
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/

It's the most water proof finish I can find. Warpage is never an issue with it.

[Just Duke]

I use West System marine-grade epoxy.
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/

It's the most water proof finish I can find. Warpage is never an issue with it.

Do you brush it on and wet sand it when dry?

[M-Tecs]

I have brushed and wet sanded or thinned and air brush sprayed. One more option is to brush, dry sand and top coat spray with Polyurethane. I normally use Deft Satin spray Poly if I go this route. You just need to sand the epoxy smooth. The Poly fills the scratches and covers the white spots from course sanding.

[Cmm_3940]

I've never bothered to apply finish to a laminate gun stock or knife handle. The impregnated resin is hard enough to buff to a high gloss with a buffing wheel. This way, any accidental scratches or blemishes can simply be sanded and buffed out without refinishing.

[country gent]

Alot depends on the blanks manufaturers process. This laminations slow or long cure epoxies and high pressure clamping make for a very stable solid stock with a complete filling or impregnation of epoxy thru the wood laminations. Thicker laminations lower clamping pressures may not achieve this as well leaving areas for moisture to work. Some of the military laminated stocks were 1/16" thick and clamped with tremendous pressures and in a high pressure atmosphere, making a very stable solid stock but also heavier than plain wood. Like plywood the thinner the laminations the stroger more stabil. Also another plus to multi wood laminates is the grains dont line up and make it more stabil as one cant warp against the others. The militaru AMU used to finish new heavy walnut M14 stocks in pressure pots 1st was a dried walnut stock it went into a vacum pot at 180* (if memory serves me, this pulled the stocks moisture levels way down. Then into a pressure pot with a very slow long cure epoxy sealed in and brought to 200 psi and I believe an elevated temp also for 8 hous I think. This forced the epoxy deeply into the wood at some cross sections completely thru it. Stocks done in this manner were 3-4 lbs heavier afterwards. They were very stabile solid stocks. Laminates carry this to the next step. 1/16/ to 1/8" laminations completely impregnate with the heavy clamping forces becoming a wood fiber fiberglass stock for practical purposes.