Wood Or Plastic??

[JimIowa]

Intend to order a Hornet Handi Friday.
Since I am thinking of this as a Walking Rifle and, I am thinking Synthetic would be a wise choice. Since Pretty wood is not needed in a utility rifle,
The Synthetic may be more stable  & weather resistant?
Are there Pro`s and Con`s to going plastic vs wood in your opinion?

[MGMorden]

If, you truly, truly, are just looking for a utility, rifle, then synthetic is what you want (and a Handi is a good choice for a plain utility rifle as well).  It's a little more weather resistant, and will be lighter.

That being said, I have found out I can't stand a synthetic stock.  For the most part I'm not one to want super fancy rifles, and many of my wood stocks are plain as can be with absolutely no grain.  Plastic/synthetic stocks though, make a good gun look and feel like a toy.  Just doesn't suit me.  It's all opinionated though.  It's good for H&R to make it in both versions though.   Mossberg just introduced a new bolt action selling for $245 (.270 and .30-06) that I would grab in a heartbeat, but it looks like it'll be synthetic only, so that's one I'll be passing up.

[greenjeans]

I like my synthetics. Seem to scratch up wood the first time out. Syn. is a little lighter usually and hold up well to weather and rough handling. The ones I shoot a lot are synthetic.

[Nuttinbutchunks]

I perfer sythetic because of the scratch factor. But my .22-250 is laminated wood. I coudn't resist the wood gain. It's just gorgeous  

[handirifle]

Where can I get info on the Mossberg rifle?  It's not on their website.  Do they make it in southpaw versions?

[scruffy]

Like the old "Bo Jackson" tv commercials where he says, "Both boss."

Jim, I don't know where in Iowa you are, but if your area is like mine (south central) you have a barbwire fense seemingly every 10 feet to cross.........  They're not that close, but often seems that way.  During turkey season last year I pulled the nicely refinished wood off my Pardner 12 gauge and put on synthetic stocks.  Even with crossing many many barbwire fenses, falling in a creek, sliding down a muddy waldiforal rose covered bank, and getting rained on all day a couple days, the synthetics still look brand new.  After season was over I put the wood stocks back on.  I just like the look and feel of the wood better.  The heavier wood is also nice for shooting clays all day, the extra weight absorbs a little more recoil than the synthetics.  When I hunt waterfowl, upland, etc where I cross few fenses and am out in the open I keep the wood on.  But come the (hopefully) snowy deer season and coyote hunting where I'm hunting the thick stuff I'll be putting the synthetics back on.

So, for a primary beat up gun I'd get the synthetics.  For something that you want to beat up but also want wood on some of the time I'd ask why do you want wood.  If you want wood for the added weight and ballance and feel, not for show, I'd say get the wood handi and buy the $30 something dollar synthetic butt stock and $15 forend.  If you want to impress people at the range with it, kind of dress it up for the public, I'd get the synthetic handi and then buy a set of laminate stocks for it to for those "dress up" times of year.

Kind of like the Knight extreme muzzleloader I was looking at with the thumbhole stock.  It comes with a very nice (very very nice) laminate thumbhole stock for the "off season" range work, but also comes with a synthetic thumbhole stock for use during hunting season so you don't ruin the pretty wood.

Personally I like Jeff223's 223 with cammo laminate stocks, but I could never take it some of the places I yote hunt.  I hope to buy a synthetic 223 someday and buy the cammo laminate stocks for it.  During the summer it'll wear the laminate stocks for showing off at the range and to friends, and then I'll put the synthetics on it after the coyotes fur up, all business.

Just my two cents.

later,
scruffy

[JimIowa]

Scruffy: I am located in Colfax, 25 miles east of Des Moines on I80.
I see you list South Central Iowa as your home.
Most of my relatives are around Oskaloosa & Albia, but I have lived in Jasper county most of my life.
And Yes there are a lot of fences etc.
My intent for the Hornet is a Modern Rook Rifle, low report, moderate range, smaLLgame and varmints. light carry rifle for when I don`t know where I will end up waundering over the hills. And don`t care to carry the heavy barrel Savage 10Fp. So yes Fences, creeks and adverse weather will be the game.

I am a  hobby woodworker and love Wood as well as the next guy.
But a scratch in fine wood that makes a grown man cry can ruin the hunt :grin:

Since I can not afford to import one of the classic European Rook Rifles, I may eventually get carried away and fit some FINE WALNUT, but synthetic should do fine.
I only asked to see if anyone had found performance differences between wood & plastic.

[scruffy]

The only negative I've noticed to my "rook rifle", a synthetic 22 mag NEF sportster that I use for small game and varmints (same as your proposed hornet), is that the synthetic/plastic forearm "shrinks" a bit when it gets really cold, say high teens low 20's.  Not enough to cause a problem per say, just enough that it the back of the forend doesn't fit tight on the front of the reciever the way it normally does.  When the rifle is locked up you never notice it.  It's when you open the breech to load or unload or reload that you notice it has some play.

Like I said, not a big deal, just something that surpised me one time.  I thought something was wrong when I reloaded it, the barrel was loose wobbled a little bit, but it locked up tight, shot fine, etc.  And when it warmed back up the forearm was as tight as ever.

It was a toss up when I got my 22 mag.  I looked at the 22 hornet and was leaning towards the 22 mag because I'd shoot more small game with it than coyotes.  The sportster is a little lighter, has a "handilite" contoured barrel where the hornet has the standard barrel.  The 22 mag also had Marlin's microgroove rifling and was very very accurate and 22 mag ammo is plentiful in my area and is getting more plentiful all the time.  The 22 mag was too light in the front for me to hold steady off hand being only a 5lb rifle, the heavier 7lb hornet was balanced just fine.  The 22 mag was scope only/monte carlo stocks.  The hornet was iron sights (tapped for scope mount), and I'd have to order a scope rail from NEF.

What it finally came down to was I could get a new 22 mag sportster for $103 or the 22 hornet for $199.  I got the 22 mag and to fix the fact I couldn't hold it steady I slapped a harris br bipod on the front, which I already had, and now it's balanced perfectly.  And the small bipod has come in handy a few times.  If I would have gotten the hornet I would have paid $90+ more and still had to order a scope mount rail from NEF, $13 for the rail or $18 for rail and hammer spur, I recommend the $18 combo.  So I'd spend over $100 more for the hornet.  :cry:

Either way you can't go wrong, 22 mag or 22 hornet.  The 22 mag is light for bigger varmints like coyotes but will work with the new bullet/load offerings and good shot placement, where the hornet is harder on small game.  I still want to get a 22 hornet, it's just such a fun caliber to shoot!

Later,
scruffy

[JimIowa]

Placed the order for the Hornet tonight.

I actually went through all those debates over the Hornet VS 22 Mag myself Scruffy.  
But I have shot small game with rimfires for 40yrs and wanted to try something different, so wanted centerfire I could download to 22 mag velocity and down to around 1500 fps. Found loads for that.
So now am committed.

[Mac11700]

One easy fix for not scratching and dinging up your wood...use a couple of layers of camoflage tape on it...it works wonders and doesn't harm the finnish...when your done...just peel it off and wipe her down...no fuss---no muss...


Mac

[Joel]

I've been carrying my wood NEF's for a lot of years, and can't get really excited over putting a scratch in what appears to be a piece of Birch.  All three of mine have been refinished and modified(made into straight grips/recoil pad added/barrel band on the 45-70 etc), and all three, two of which are rifles, show no signs of being affected by weather, temperature, humidity etc.  They shoot to the same impact year after year.  Personally, I WANT the NEF to be heaver, even in the Hornet; never had much use for really light rifles for hunting.  Not that they aren't accurate, but I"m more accurate with more weight.  And like someone else stated here....I just can't abide those synthetic stocks for everyday use.  I'd probably use one under some seriously adverse conditions, but all my guns are wood.  Hunted in the pouring rain with the 45-70 for four days once...I mean POURING rain; so bad that the Game Commission extended the deer season an extra day, and when it came time for the (soggy) shot, she shot where she always does.  That does it for me.

[22KHornet]

Plastic or Wood? and who did you go through.

[JimIowa]

Plastic or Wood? and who did you go through.

For 3 yrs on Fridays & Saturdays I am the clerk behind the Sporting Goods Counter/sometimes Hardware too at a  Walmart. So using my employee discount only made sense. Boss said the supplier had 29 Hornets in stock, so should have it within 2 weeks. Depending on how long it takes paperwork to clear through Corporate and ship.  Then theres that small issue of paying for it, I put 50% down so will have to wait till I get my next check to pay it off.

And I did go with the Plastic. When it gets cold out and seasons are closed I may fit a piece of nice Walnut?

[MGMorden]

Where can I get info on the Mossberg rifle?  It's not on their website.  Do they make it in southpaw versions?

According to the email one member received from Mossberg, it won't be in their website/catalog until the 2005 catalog comes out, but it's already available from Wal-mart.  I'm doubting a left hand version will be available.  It sounds like they're very mass produced.  From what I've heard they'll be all synthetic and available only in .270 or .30-06.  

Check the Bolt Action Rifles forum for a thread on them.