I am looking at a few 30-06's. I see the new remington m700 cdl and boy does that look nice. I am debating between a few and cant decide.

1Rem 700 bdl
2Rem adl syn
3Ruger M77 All weather
4Weatherby Vanguard SS

I really like the woodstocks alot. I like the whole look and feel of them well over synthetic. I know when it is out and gets wet the wood can warp. I have a Remington Repair center right by me. So if i would get a wood stock, could he put something on it to treat the wood. Is there any kind of protection? I read all of these things on how wood stocks arent as good as synthetics. But yet my grandfather shot all wood stocks as did many other people. Thanks for the help

If you buy a rifle with a wood stock, you can seal it yourself with little work and no gunsmithing skills. You'll have to be able to take the action from the stock and be able to operate a small "hobby type" paint brush...that's about it. The outer finish on the stocks you're likely to see will be resistant to moisture. You will have to seal the inside of the barrel channel and action area with a sealant, that's about it. I also like to remove the buttpad and sling swivels and use some sealant there to make them truly weatherproof. Nothing that can't be done by someone with less than 10 thumbs. I have a few rifles, some wood, some synthetic, and I have far more trouble getting the ones recently manufactured with synthetic stocks to shoot than I do the wood models. I do treat the wood stocks as mentioned above, but MOST rifles under $1K have synthetic stocks that are less than ideal. Make that far less than ideal. Your simplest route, although a little heavier, might be to go with a laminate stock. Some of the laminates will benefit from the sealing process outlined above, but with that done they will be as weatherproof and far than most any synthetic you'll find on an economy rifle.

I'm not down on either of the three, but synthetic stocks are certainly not the magic answer, especially since some mfg's have the cost of production down to $7.

I didn't see any Winchester M70's on your list.

I agree with kciH about sealing the wood. Not really that much to it, just make sure do neat and smooth job.

Some synthetics can have very flexible foreends and that can cause problems on the bench or shooting with a sling. Others, like Kevlar based stocks or premium synthetics like McMillans are very rigid.

Unless you are absolutely wanting a brand new rifle, there can be some great deals on used rifles. I like the older rifles a bit more myself, especially if they have a history attached to them. I just picked up an early 1950's M70 in 300 H&H, about 98% condition for about the cost of a new Winchester. They just don't make rifles like this anymore. The attention to detail, fit and finish is just outstanding.

Just something else to think about and muddy the waters a bit more. In the past year or so, I've seen quite a few Rem 721's in 90-95% condition for about the cost of a new 700. Same for standard chamberings in the pre-64 M70.

Of the rifles you had listed above, my personal choice would be the M77 because of the positive control round feed action. That may not be a big deal, depending on the game you hunt though. The push feed actions are argued to be a bit stiffer, and possibly more accurate. Personally, I don't think in a hunting rifle, most folks would ever be able to extract that extra 1/100th of an inch that would matter. I know it wouldn't matter to me.

As always, I would try to find a gunshop nearby and handle all of these rifles side by side. See which fits you best and get the one you like the best. Even amongst the experts of today or yesteryear, hardly any of them could agree on which was the best rifles.