Am I correct that when buying a new SAR-1, some of the stocks are laminated and some are not? Could someone give me some advice about what is best, or if stock choice matters? Thanks.

rmz,

You are correct that the SAR-1's are available in both laminated and real wood stocks.  I'm currently debating the pros and cons of each as well.  I'm kind of leaning towards real stocks, as some of them (once refinished and restained) look beautiful.  You can't really go wrong with the laminates either, I think they look good too.  Both stocks can be refinished and restained but can alo be left "as is".  There is no wrong choice, my decision will probably be determined by any price difference when I buy.

Just my opinion,
JJ

For looks I like my regular stocks, and after I refinished them they are really amazing.

For field use and battle rifle AK's I prefer the laminated. They seem a little heavier and stronger.

This is all my opinion, your model may vary.

What is the difference in appearance between the hardwood and laminated stocks?

I have the laminate stocks on my SAR1.

I re-did the, here are some Pics

Mine came with the laminated stock, and the only problem with it was some scorched wood; at least that's what it looked like.  It looked like the same thing that happened when I took a router to plywood - the glue in the wood heats up and burns a little, turning black.  I figure the same thing happened to the glue in the laminate when the stock was cut.  I'll try to get some pics up.

I did refinish it, and the front-end wood looks real nice, but the stock didn't seem to want to take the finish.  Still, it turned out pretty well.  I'm happy with it.

I have a 2003 SAR1 with the laminated stock.  It looks great, much better than the wood stocks before being refinished.  If you don't want to full with refinishing get the laminated.

my new SAR1 came with wood stock set and Ive been enjoying the refinishing process so far. Ive got just one more coat of poly to put on and it will look great. Its a major improvement to what it looked like before.