Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Myrtle vs Walnut

I've seen a few blanks of Myrtle which I really liked and was considering buying but wondered about the hardness and/or ability to resist dings vs walnut. Can anyone comment on that?

It is right between Claro/Black and English Walnut. It will depend on the blank and can be denser than Walnut in some pieces.
The finish can go a long way to making it more durable. But it is not an issue with what I have seen.

Grain is slightly lacey but seems to hold checkering well although you can't go as fine as dense Yuglans Regia.

A well cured piece is about as stable as Walnut. I think that it is very appealing wood and nice to work with.

Agree with what Tejano said.......although sometimes you have to use a gloss finish to really bring out the contrast & grain in Myrtle.

I think Terry Wieland had a thing for Myrtle and wrote an article about it in Grey's a while back.

Check his web site... he posts a lot of his older articles there... www.terrywieland.com

Thanks for the info. I do like the color of it and a few of the blanks had some really nice figure as well.

Bill

efw:

I know Terry pretty well and if he has a thing about Myrtle he's kept it from me. We've had many discussions on stocks and stock wood, and myrtle wood has never come up in our chats. Terry's favorite stock wood, like mine, is Juglans regia, better known as English walnut. It is also called by many other names, Turkish walnut, French walnut, Circassian walnut and so on.

Having said that, a good stick of Myrtle will make into a fine stock. I can't warm up to its color personally, and most of it that I've seen has been pretty plain. Functionlly though, it makes into a good stock, assuming the blanks is properly laid out.

Tom

Check with Art (Sitka Deer) he has some beautiful myrtle stocks and can give you quite a bit of good detail regarding the benefits of myrtle for stocks. The man's a total wood loony.

Tom,

Yeah I'm sorry. Still can't remember who that was. It was mentioned in the little snipet after an artcle like, 'The author is seeking to scratch an itch for a myrtle stock' or something. I'll have to go through my back issues.

Mr. Wieland is one of my favorite gun writers. He writes great common sense stuff and gives a history lesson in the telling.

I've thoroughly enjoyed some of his less "gun" oriented peices that you could more properly call "literature". In my opinion he is one of the best gun writers of our time.

It must be cool to know him personally.

I think that reference from Grays was a Walnut snob dig, an inside joke.

Anyway I checked the Janko Impact numbers for various stock wood and Myrtle is around 1270 which is higher than most Walnut except Bastogne. It is close to Mesquite and Rock Maple in impact resistance, a test showing suitability for flooring use.

It had a 1960's connotation but once you get over that it is remarkably beautiful wood. Don't need to wear the leisure suit or Nehru Jacket when shooting a rifle with a classic Myrtle stock.

Tom I agree. My Hyper Single that is getting restocked with your wood has myrtlewood on it. I will try to post pics of the myrtlewood. Maybe if it had a different style, color, and checkering it would have been better.
Butch

Pics of my myrtle wood falling block.



The top photo shows a bad spot on the top of the butt to the rear. Must be a bad pic as it is not there and doesn't show in the following photos.
Pictured below is the beautiful wood going on it that I bought from tsquare.

I think it will be beautiful and hope to have it back in a couple months.
Butch

Butch that is gorgeous!

Wait... are you replacing the top stock with the bottom?

What kind of wood is that on the bottom?

I believe tsquare said it was a pretty old piece of European walnut.
Butch

Guys,

It is a stick of Juglans regia that I bought from a wood merchant in Germany about 30 years ago. It is a hell of a stick of wood and I'm looking forward to seeing it finished up.

Tom

So you're replacing the Myrtle w/ that beautiful slab of walnut? What're you going to do w/ the Myrtle?

Is that a Ruger #1?

It is not a Ruger#1. It is a Hyper Single in 257 Roberts.
I may have the myrtle wood redone. I have an unfinished Hyper Single receiver that could use a stock if I ever finish it. Probably won't as I have had it 12 yrs. and haven't even taken it back out of the safe to look at.
Butch

Would like to see a pic of the Hyper rifle, not just the stock. New one for me.

When I get it back, I will post more photos.
Butch