re: Synthetic stock vs Wood stock - .35 Whelen

This is a long question that boils down basically to how accurate you want the rifle to be. Unbedded wood stocks are suceptable to weather, which can cause warping and change point of impact. This problem can be solved by replacing the stock or bedding the stock with pillars or fiberglass. Most synthetic stocks that come from the factory are injection molded plastic that wont change with weather conditions. After market synthetic stocks are usually made from fiberglass and contail an aluminum bedding system.

If you can put three shots in a 1 inch group at 100 yards I wouldnt worry too much about it. But if you are shooting all over the paper a number of things could be wrong.

The problem with recoil isnt in the stock, but in the recoil pad. If it bothers you that much and you dont want to have a custom pad installed, get a slip on.