I have just bought an HW97 KT in black synthetic and placed it in straight into a walnut custom stock. It was my intention from the off to do this but I did fire a few pellets with the synthetic. Personally to me it felt way too light, recoil was unpleasant and I wasn't keen on the feel of it. However all I would say is each to their own as the synthetic stock was quality made and will obviously appeal to some people. I think the synthetic stocks are much better suited to rifles such as the new version of the HW30s where the rifle is designed to be lighter and less heavy on the power.