i have a ross featherweight thumbhole laminate on my 270. i can't say much about recoil, since the brake on the 270 takes care of most of it & there's not that much to begin with. it does give me a solid, comfortable platform to shoot with- definitely worlds better than the tupperware the gun came with.
i recently put a laminate (barricuda) stock on my 10/22, too. so far, the gun shoots much better with it.
i have a friend with a boyd's laminate on his 300RUM. he's never complained about it around me. i think he even has one on his comp gun (6.5x47).
my point is- i haven't heard or experienced anything bad about them yet. i think they're hard to beat for the price.