Why is walnut the choice for stocks??

[iamkris]

Just a historical question, why is walnut the predominant stock making wood?

I know of couse it's not the only one...I'e seen birdseye maple, birch, teak and other "hardwoods", but the vast majority of stocks are some form of walnut. Is it:

• because it is stonger?
• because it is prettier?
• because is easier to shape?
• because the grain takes recoil better?
• because that's tradition?
• because it's cheap (added per Third Rail's practical answer)?

 

[Third_Rail]

I always figured it was because it's cheap!

 

[Master Blaster]

As an amateur wood worker I can tell you it is not because Walnut was ever a cheaper wood than the others just the opposite, its one of the most expensive domestic (if american walnut) or imported woods (turkish, English) per Board Foot.

The reason has to do with the excellent strength to weight ratio, other woods are heavier for the amount of strength that they have in a section of a certain size. Its because it is a wood that works well with hand or machine tools, you can produce a fine surface and finish on it.
Mahagony works better and finishes better but can be more expensive and mainly its not used because it is heavier.

It has beautiful grain, color , and figure (Figure usually in Crotch sections).

 

[halvey]

Walnut is expensive. Try to buy a piece of real walnut furniture and you'll see what I'm talking about. But, for what it's used for, it's cheaper than some other woods and still very strong.

I have a Stevens SxS that is made out of some cheap wood. You really notice the difference.

 

[Black Snowman]

MB and halvey have the answers. There was an old walnut tree on my Dad's property and I'm going to get some of the wood from him to make grips for my 1911. Weight isn't so much of a concern with pistol grips and finding a chunk large enough for a stock w/o any splits or cracks is pretty hard.

You'd need a really big and old tree to pull off something that large. Longer growth cycle = more expensive wood. Plus if you want figured then you can only use it from the base and forks of the tree limiting your choices even further. THEN the wood is harder in the figured areas and takes longer, and wears out blades faster, than unfigured wood. All of this contributes to the cost of a good stock and why the same action with synthetic furniture vs AAA grade quilted walnut can be over $1000.

 

[Grump]

I've *heard* that Birch is stronger, but I *know* also that Birch is an oily wood which is extremely difficult to stain evenly. Colors wind up unpredictably and sometimes even splotchy. It's also lighter than traditional militaries liked, though many European countries wound up using it on their Mausers for cost/availability reasons. Heard the US did many M14 stocks out of it too.

Oak won't do because it's strength in thick sections is offset by being brittle in thin sections. It does not work well with either hand tools or power tools in shapes for inletting actions. I *believe* it may also be prone to cracking under recoil in standard stock configurations.**

Cherry has been used but I think it's too scarce in large pieces. Never seen a huge cherry tree, nothing like a Walnut or Pecan tree.

Hey, what about Pecan? The trunks don't get to huge diameters, but they go WAY up and you could get a lot of blanks out of one! Even without including the bad-for-splitting center section... Especially for the thin muzzle-loader type stocks...

I'm sure it's not Alder, but the cheap, lighter-colored wood used on inexpensive rifles like the Marlin Glenfield label is almost as soft and prone to denting. Walnut provides a good combination of strength, workability, availability in big pieces, dent resistance and crack resistance.


** All bets are off when bedded in an unlimited benchrest railroad-tie type stock!