If this is going to be your only rifle, I'd buy the synthetic/stainless, even though I would really prefer a stainless/wood combo. Because the 10/22 is so upgradable, you will always find people selling their blued barrel and wood stock when they upgrade, but rarely will someone buy a stainess/synthetic version to upgrade, so those are much harder to find secondhand. It's worth the extra $30, and if you decide you want to switch, you can always find someone willing to switch a wood for synthetic or stainless for blued, but not the otherway around. Really it just comes down to preference. But if you're like me, eventually you're going to buy both.