Wood stock V Laminate stock V Synthetic stock V Metal stock

[GasStationSunglasses]

What I’ve learned after owning pretty much all varieties of guns and variants of the same guns is “optimal form” must work both ergonomically for a shooter and for the task at hand. While beauty is an eye of the beholder thing, the right platform in a truly competitive shooters hands results in stellar accuracy…. A truck gun needs to be just that, a survivable tool that can take a beating and remain functional.

Ergonomics are completely subjective.

To me at the end of the day what reigns supreme is durability and lasting a long time.

Wood can if maintained and not abused.
Plastic can if not abused.

All steel designs that dont suck or are not made cheaply? You can abuse it and maintenence is nill. I'm not advocating for abusing your item but it's just a hands down no contest fact.

 

[cavedweller]

Ergonomics are completely subjective.

To me at the end of the day what reigns supreme is durability and lasting a long time.

Wood can if maintained and not abused.
Plastic can if not abused.

All steel designs that dont suck or are not made cheaply? You can abuse it and maintenence is nill. I'm not advocating for abusing your item but it's just a hands down no contest fact.

I guarantee that if I put a gun with too long or too short a length of pull at your shoulder you and your point of aim and your targets point of impact will agree that ergonomics are not purely subjective but an essential consideration… that said, the materials we prefer a gun to be made of ARE subjective choices.

 

[GasStationSunglasses]

I guarantee that if I put a gun with too long or too short a length of pull at your shoulder you and your point of aim and your targets point of impact will agree that ergonomics are not purely subjective but an essential consideration… that said, the materials we prefer a gun to be made of ARE subjective choices.

It is subjective. Your example means literally nothing. You use something and become comfortable with it over time and use. You point out that "WeLL iF i ChAnGe YOuR LoP YoU WoNt dO aS gOoD" - yeah? It'd take me roughly 5-10 shoots to learn to get a good comfy hold and do well with it.

"muh ergonomics" is what's currently in vogue right now. It's a fad.

"Well muh custom stock with speed holes and 91 degree comb roll and ring finger groove increased muh akkahracy by 3% bro! It's science bro!"

No ammount of ergonomics will fix bad marksmanship. Air or powder burning arm. Practice improves it. It's the operator more than the arm.

 

[PaulK62]

I only have springers, so I can't comment on metal stocks. But in my order of preference, it's walnut, laminate, beech, and synthetic.

 

[cavedweller]

It is subjective. Your example means literally nothing. You use something and become comfortable with it over time and use. You point out that "WeLL iF i ChAnGe YOuR LoP YoU WoNt dO aS gOoD" - yeah? It'd take me roughly 5-10 shoots to learn to get a good comfy hold and do well with it.

"muh ergonomics" is what's currently in vogue right now. It's a fad.

"Well muh custom stock with speed holes and 91 degree comb roll and ring finger groove increased muh akkahracy by 3% bro! It's science bro!"

No ammount of ergonomics will fix bad marksmanship. Air or powder burning arm. Practice improves it. It's the operator more than the arm.

Let’s let science and the industry of ergonomics do the talking… good ergonomics will most definitely improve our interface with a rifle of choice… it’s always better when we can adjust the tool to us rather than us try to make our body fit a tool… a billion dollar a year industry agrees.
Why else would the TOP Olympic athletes invest so heavily into ergonomics?
But I digress. Start here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687023001692

 

[cavedweller]

It is subjective. Your example means literally nothing. You use something and become comfortable with it over time and use. You point out that "WeLL iF i ChAnGe YOuR LoP YoU WoNt dO aS gOoD" - yeah? It'd take me roughly 5-10 shoots to learn to get a good comfy hold and do well with it.

"muh ergonomics" is what's currently in vogue right now. It's a fad.

"Well muh custom stock with speed holes and 91 degree comb roll and ring finger groove increased muh akkahracy by 3% bro! It's science bro!"

No ammount of ergonomics will fix bad marksmanship. Air or powder burning arm. Practice improves it. It's the operator more than the arm.

This particular article discusses the shooters side of the equation: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1109688.pdf
Point is simple - a well trained shooter in their best physical condition can and will benefit from a personalized or ergonomically designed stock/grip/trigger/loading port assembly.
But remember this particular thread is about material choice.

 

[GasStationSunglasses]

Let’s let science and the industry of ergonomics do the talking… good ergonomics will most definitely improve our interface with a rifle of choice… it’s always better when we can adjust the tool to us rather than us try to make our body fit a tool… a billion dollar a year industry agrees.
Why else would the TOP Olympic athletes invest so heavily into ergonomics?
But I digress. Start here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687023001692

Olympians huh.

Pack er' up fellas. Olympians only use tricked out match rifles and such. Might as well melt for scrap everything else that's not Olympic grade.

"wHy WoULd tHe ToP iNvEsT iN THe iNdUsTry?" -- because people throw money at stupid stuff all the time?

 

[GasStationSunglasses]

This particular article discusses the shooters side of the equation: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1109688.pdf
Point is simple - a well trained shooter in their best physical condition can and will benefit from a personalized or ergonomically designed stock/grip/trigger/loading port assembly.
But remember this particular thread is about material choice.

Ah, these same type of dudes who make a living selling t-shirts, bad gear, or commentating on video games?

I feel this is a giant cope to justify thousands spent. It's your stuff man enjoy it, but remember no ammount of money spent on nonsense makes up for a skill issue.

 

[cavedweller]

Olympians huh.

Pack er' up fellas. Olympians only use tricked out match rifles and such. Might as well melt for scrap everything else that's not Olympic grade.

"wHy WoULd tHe ToP iNvEsT iN THe iNdUsTry?" -- because people throw money at stupid stuff all the time?

Here is a picture of an Anschutz 8002, it belonged to the 2012 Olympic 3 position gold medalist. I stripped the 2K precision stock of all the things that made it work for her like = barrel weights and diopter sights etc... but i had AZ add a shroud.
why?
Because what worked for an super young and super fit Olympic gold medalist, didn't work ergonomically well for a 60 plus year old body - that is life.
@GasStationSunglasses ,humor us, show us a picture of your "one gun" is it still in it's unadulterated pure form as bought or have you modified it in any way yet like taped the frame? etc... I'd be curious. FYI the high low cap/lower case thing is... well... kinda weird but if works for you that's ok... i figure your using an ergonomic qwerty keyboard..

 

[cavedweller]

cavedweller, your stable of airguns is AWESOME! I really like beautiful wood but I find a Chassis style stock the easiest stock to fit my weird body ergos.... although the DS Regal I had fit me perfectly right out of the box (best sporter PCP ever built in my humble opinion)!

@Ranchibi - thanks for the compliment.... and i have to totally agree with you about fitment and weird body ergos!

 

[GasStationSunglasses]

Here is a picture of an Anschutz 8002, it belonged to the 2012 Olympic 3 position gold medalist. I stripped the 2K precision stock of all the things that made it work for her like = barrel weights and diopter sights etc... but i had AZ add a shroud.
why?
Because what worked for an super young and super fit Olympic gold medalist, didn't work ergonomically well for a 60 plus year old body - that is life.
@GasStationSunglasses ,humor us, show us a picture of your "one gun" is it still in it's unadulterated pure form as bought or have you modified it in any way yet like taped the frame? etc... I'd be curious. FYI the high low cap/lower case thing is... well... kinda weird but if works for you that's ok... i figure your using an ergonomic querty keyboard..

View attachment 459468

Neat. Does the exact same thing any other rifle would do.

Refinancing your home to bolt on a bunch of unnecessary things will not make you better. That's about the only fact thus far in this discussion.

 

[cavedweller]

Neat. Does the exact same thing any other rifle would do.

Refinancing your home to bolt on a bunch of unnecessary things will not make you better. That's about the only fact thus far in this discussion.

I encourage you to have that discussion - with the top shooters in the world.
Meanwhile - Please don't assume that everyone is in your particular income bracket.
From the seat(s) you sit on, to the kitchen you cook in, to the car you drive to work, to the bed and pillows you sleep with, ergonomics played a huge role in the development, changes and subsequent production. Humans have, in fact, evolved... we are much taller and have longer limbs in just several hundred years (fatter too).
Rifle stocks have evolved also; and we have the benefit of all the time and research that created all this wonderful highly adaptable stuff. Enjoy!

 

[ThomasT]

I encourage you to have that discussion - with the top shooters in the world.
Meanwhile - Please don't assume that everyone is in your particular income bracket.
From the seat(s) you sit on, to the kitchen you cook in, to the car you drive to work, to the bed and pillows you sleep with, ergonomics played a huge role in the development, changes and subsequent production. Humans have, in fact, evolved... we are much taller and have longer limbs in just several hundred years (fatter too).
Rifle stocks have evolved also; and we have the benefit of all the time and research that created all this wonderful highly adaptable stuff. Enjoy!
By now you should have reached your goal for joining AGN, "being able to sell something" hope that goes well for you and the buyer.

Hello @cavedweller ,

Myself and I would guess at least 99% of the Forum members agree with you and understand the importance of a well balance rifle to achieve the maximum performance.

ThomasT

 

[.20calguy]

I prefer a stock that makes a gun look like what I think a gun for that purpose is supposed to look like. Is that convoluted enough? I have two target rifles that are comp only guns, an Anschutz and a 2078A. The Anschutz is synthetic every thing. It looks like a comp gun and would suck for a lot of other uses. The 2078A has a wood stock that looks very good to my eye and I could easily use it for other purposes. The best looking stocks in my opinion are the laminates like the one on my 10/22. THATS a good looking gun. Beyond that whatever does the job and isn’t bowling shoe ugly is fine.

Rick H.

Hi Rick,
I did one myself in laminate

 

[Moderator3]

Gentlemen, review the rules as necessary to be reminded of AGN policy

Trolling other members for their opinions is not AGN worthy. Refer to rule #1.

 

[.20calguy]

I read this thread, and don't the remember the details of the original question. Lol

I prefer a wood stock.
I prefer it to be Walnut.
I prefer the Walnut to be a select grade, because its beautiful eye candy!

What we get is often plain jane Birch!
I still prefer Birch over plastic, like my Guantlet II, its the ugliest, least comfortable, gun I own.

Enter laminates and guess what? You have your eye candy back! Not to mention availability. You don't have to win the wood lottery with a laminate to the extent that you do on any other wood offering.

When I got serious about a real PCP, I was going for an FX Impact, but decided that I had to have wood. The wood stock Crowns weren't very eye catching, but it was better looking than the M3. Then I spotted an older lamminate that I liked, that turned out to have been a limited run. So I went on the search for a used one which I eventually found at Utah Airguns.

Now I Have 3 laminates, one plastic, a bunch of Beech, and 4 Sheridans which are allways Walnut.

 

[cavedweller]

I read this thread, and don't the remember the details of the original question. Lol

I prefer a wood stock.
I prefer it to be Walnut.
I prefer the Walnut to be a select grade, because its beautiful eye candy!

What we get is often plain jane Birch!
I still prefer Birch over plastic, like my Guantlet II, its the ugliest, least comfortable, gun I own.

Enter laminates and guess what? You have your eye candy back! Not to mention availability. You don't have to win the wood lottery with a laminate to the extent that you do on any other wood offering.

When I got serious about a real PCP, I was going for an FX Impact, but decided that I had to have wood. The wood stock Crowns weren't very eye catching, but it was better looking than the M3. Then I spotted an older lamminate that I liked, that turned out to have been a limited run. So I went on the search for a used one which I eventually found at Utah Airguns.

Now I Have 3 laminates, one plastic, a bunch of Beech, and 4 Sheridans which are allways Walnut.
View attachment 459494

Sheridans are my first love of airguns!

 

[.20calguy]

I remember when I bought my Beeman R1 Commemorative 20th Anniversary, and $pending a lot for it with all of the extras added, and Beeman had the nerve to send them with a Beech stock.

 

[SpiralGroove]

Hey Guys,
I also prefer beautiful Walnut or Maple, but a really nice laminate stock is something too.

If I hunted, a plastic stock would be the way to go.

I'm quite anal, so scratches or dings on wood or laminate aren't appreciated.

 

[Loren]

Wood for the warmth any day of the week.