by Kumaabear » 06 May 2019, 12:22 pm
From what i understand:
Modern timber stocks: usually they now have a urethane type finish on them, you don't really have to oil them. The manual for my timber stocked CZ suggests using a wood furniture type wax polish on it to clean it. I would probably go ahead and do this very occasionally maybe twice a year if that but everyone does their own thing.
Laminate stock: i would just wipe it down after using it with a damp cloth to get any dirt and grime off it, then again with a dry one to get the moisture off being sure to not get the metalwork wet and leave it at that. if he is saying to oil it then he doesn't know what he is talking about or is plain not telling the truth.
Laminate stocks are made by layering super thin layers of timber together saturated with an epoxy type glue. you can think of it more as a solid lump of wood colored epoxy than any kind of "timber". There should be no way for a lump of epoxy impregnated wood to absorb oil or water for that matter (this is the whole point of its existence), at best it would do nothing but make it oily, at worst it might negatively affect the finish.
Laminate gives you one less thing to worry about when it rains as it will not absorb water
The main negative to laminate is that it is usually heavier than either natural wood or synthetic stocks, and to some they do not like how it looks although this is extremely subjective. Also I believe they are very hard to modify and repair if they are damaged tho they are quite hard to damage in the first place.
As others have mentioned, the LA102 is rather heavy for a carry around gun but that's entirely up to you. 3.7kg will quickly turn into 4.3-4.5kg once you load it and put a scope, rings and sling on it. It is actually what ended up pushing me away from it