Wood or Synthetic

[Bobinthewind]

I am about to purchase a marauder, wood or synthetic, pro's and con's?

 

[ajshoots]

Synthetic is lighter but somewhat flimsy. The wood looks better, but adds a good bit of weight.

I prefer synthetic if it's one I will carry around hunting. If the main use is shooting from a bench then I would opt for wood.

 

[Bobinthewind]

Thanks for the reply, was wondering about the swivel studs in the synthetic, if they will hold, and not pull out. Probably just be used to mount a bipod.

 

[ajshoots]

Crosman uses short swivel studs. On the synthetics, I always replace the rear with a longer one and go to a machine screw front swivel with a flatwasher inside and out to make it stronger. Looks kinda cheesy, but the synthetic stocks are thin in the front and always worried about pulling out the stud. I have never had an issue with this setup with or without a swivel clamp style bipod like a Harris.

For the wood stock, I just replace both front and rear with longer studs and put a dab of wood glue on each.

 

[fmglass]

Wood is heavy but it is the one I grab every time I shoot.

 

[ztirffritz]

I've hauled my Synthetic stock Marauder all over creation, up and down mountains and the swivel studs haven't been an issue. I have a UTG Picatinny bi-pod adapter on it too, so maybe that has helped reinforce/distribute the load though.

 

[zebra]

If you buy the wood, then you can buy the synthetic stock for $50. If you buy the synthetic, buying a wood stock is over $100.

You can also buy a the Armada chassis from Crossman for $40 and then use AR furniture. That won't get you the handguard but that's a lot of weight for little reward.

 

[Alan]

I can't speak for the Marauder, however.... The wood stock for the Hatsan AT44-10 is pressed wood, sort of like MDFB. It is about 15% lighter than the synthetic one, but feels like quality.