Knowing why is the best way to avoid it.
One always wants straight grain in the wrist of a stock, preferably flowing through the contours of the design. Straight grained wood is the strongest wood and resists torsional and lateral forces best. Show me a rifle stock with fancy grain or swirly grain running into the wrist and I'll show you a stock that will break sooner or later unless its owner exercises inordinate care in its use.
I think what LBK is saying is correct as far as it goes, in terms of fore-and-aft splitting. Think of an analogy being when you split chunks of firewood- the straight grained knot free pieces split straight and easy, the ones with squirrelly grain or a big knot resist splitting and require multiple whacks (or some creative cussing). Which brings us back to the original discussion: wood that is best for other more important reasons (ie: strength in the wrist) may well be our undoing crack-wise IF the precepts mentioned by various contributors above aren't acknowledged.
Last edited by gnoahhh; 04/21/14.
