Stocks . . And the wood they're made of

[Rincewind666]

Hi all , I was just wondering why most guns have stocks made from beech and walnut only . . . Is there a reason other woods are not used? I ask as I make stocks and grips and alot of my overseas customers ask for alsorts of exotic and strange woods and I have to say I've made some amazing looking gear for them with great grains and patterns . . . So why is the UK mainly geared towards beech or walnut? I made myself an oak cp2 stock as the grain looked lovely and it oiled up great too. I'm making another from bloodwood and maybe some cherry/apple if I find a nice cut.

[Rich]

I guess beech is a dense, hard timber that will resist a few knocks but it doesn't have much natural figuring or colour for an item that is partly appreciated for its visual appearance. It sands well.

Walnut is widely variable as to quality whereas beech is more consistent; it's a more interesting timber and it has a cachet of desirability as a gunstock. It's often quite a bit softer and lighter in weight than beech.

Neither of them are given to shakes and splits if properly seasoned, and they appear to be dimensionally stable.

Exotic woods will require hand selection to get the best out of them, that gets in the way of mass production and is for the one-off niche market.

[lightning22]

I was always of the understanding that tannic acid in oak would do your metalwork a mischief if left in contact for long enough.

[Rincewind666]

I was always of the understanding that tannic acid in oak would do your metalwork a mischief if left in contact for long enough.

See I thought that too, but it can be sorted easy, and oak has walnuts appearance too . I've made 3 oak stocks in the past 2 years for customers and they are still going great

[PhatMan]

Ricewind666,

The 'Eastern Bloc' seem to like birch.

Beech stocks are denser, and should be a 'better' material for rifle stocks.

Same goes for decent plywood (e.g. Rutland Ply).

Because it can have a much nicer grain pattern, walnut seems preferred by most shooters.

I have no idea what my FWB300 stock is made from - looks nothing like beech or walnut ?



Have fun & a good Sunday

Best regards

Russ

[MartynB]

See I thought that too, but it can be sorted easy, and oak has walnuts appearance too . I've made 3 oak stocks in the past 2 years for customers and they are still going great

I thought oak was very hard and blunts tools quickly when working with it

[joffy]

The supalite air arms stocks are poplar... I've made a couple using poplar but it's too light and soft...made a couple using sapele they keep a nice edge and are quite hard wearing....ash is also a nice stock wood I've made one for my ruger 1022 using it plus had Gary cane make one for my hw97.

[angrybear]

Probably a lot is purely down to tradition,
remember back when guns first evolved Oak was used to build ships & houses, as such it had a very high value, and if you go right back to the musket after a shot or two on a battlefield it was just a wooden club so needed to withstand use as one.
Many other woods we now take for granted aren't always native so would not have been available & we don't generally like change so once a material becomes popular we stick with it.

[Vernal]

I thought oak was very hard and blunts tools quickly when working with it

Unless it is really old (almost certainly recycled) oak is very easy to work with sharp tools. As well as the problem of reacting with any ferrous material, it is extremely open grained and requires a great deal of work to produce the sort of finish most of us like on a stock.

[Nikkormat]

I have no idea what my FWB300 stock is made from - looks nothing like beech or walnut ?

As far as I know, all of the 300 series were walnut. The 300S Junior however was usually beech, with some early ones being walnut. I am happy to be corrected though.

Matt

[PhatMan]

Matt,

Ta

Mine doesn't look like walnut though ?

Have fun & a good weekend

Best regards

Russ

[lensman57]

I was always of the understanding that tannic acid in oak would do your metalwork a mischief if left in contact for long enough.

This is correct. Beech, Walnut and Rosewood are the popular time proven materials.

A.G

[look no hands]

Just a guess here but are the stocks made from "other" woods overly heavy for normal sporting rifles, I remember having a Ginb thumbhole Sono Kembang stock made for my Prosport many years ago and it weighed a ton, also like already mentioned earlier, how easy is it to mass produce Oak stocks, I read recently that Custom Stocks only produced a few special laminate stocks because they knackered the cutting gear, so would that be the same case for Oak and Ash stocks?

Pete

[recipio]

Walnut is traditionally used as it resists the recoil in firearms. It is also available in desirable grain patterns and you will pay a premium for a piece of Circassian ( Turkish ) walnut.I also think it matures nicely whereas beech just seems to fade away.
I have a few GINB stocks in Sono Kembang. My HW100 is a bit too heavy but I have an AA s200 which is lovely. Pity they ceased trading.

[johnbaz]

I've only ever made one stock, I used two sheets of 1" birch ply from the scrap bin at work!, It came out absolutely average!!

I had no option but to make one as the prat I got the 80 from had hollowed out the rear of it's own stock a la Biathalon and it cracked right across!!

This was pre internet days when it wasn't as easy to pick the needed bits up!!

The centre one!


I have a bit of American Oak that I plan on using for a Rattie but the tannic acid leaching out worried me a bit so I was going to lay plenty of lacquer on as a barrier


John