Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Wood: English, American or Turkish walnut and why?

Engaging in mental masturbation about a custom G33/40 build that will take several years to achieve as it will take me a long time to save my money to pay for it. Once upon a time money was plentiful but some bad investments, a previous divorce and now a 2 year old have killed most of my play money...

Anyway, I am looking at saving for a stock blank and I am inclined to Turkish walnut as what I have seen so far has been damn good looking but then I am originally from England so I could be persuaded to go English walnut. Alternatively, the action is coming from the estate of a dear and recently departed friend who was at my citizenship ceremony a few years back so American walnut would be in for a chance too!

My idea is to use his action to build the kind of rifle I always wanted and every time I used it, I would be reminded of a good friend. So, the rifle will be something special and it deserves a nice piece of wood without selling either my soul or my daughter to white slavers... !!!

Opinions from the ranks of the knowledgeable most welcomed and if you list why one might be better than the other, that would be most helpful. In addition, if you have leads on suppliers of said blanks with your experiences they would be gratefully received.

Thinking of a light rifle build in .280AI so it wouldn't be subjected to a lot of stress (compared to mag calibers) and it would have a very streamlined stock design. I would have to keep the price below $1000 and probably closer to $500 but I know good wood isn't cheap. TIA

English and Turkish Walnut are really just local names for the same walnut: Juglan Regias

versus American or black walnut: Juglan nigra.

Both can produce really exceptional stocks depending on what you want....

you should post pics of what you like and ppl here can comment on what you like and what it is... English is generally more expensive but any stock that is rally nice is going to bring some serious dough.

You could get a piece of California English and have both. If it were me, I would just pick a blank I liked the looks of and go from there.

Bob

I'm no expert at this stuff, but I would look for something light and hard with proper layout,(quarter sawn?).....you don't want to mix a heavy piece of (say) Bastogne with a light action like a G33/40.Wood is not judged by looks alone, but beauty in a wood stock is important, too.

I would look for something with great contrast and color,showstopper type,and spend as much as I could on a quality blank that has been long and properly dried...it costs as much for a quality stockmaker to work on a cheap blank as an expensive one.

This can get touchy...seek expert advise from guys on here like Butch Lambert,TC1,Jim Anderson,RinB,Jkobe,and others....these guys are a wealth of knowledge, have BTDT many times on higher end customs and "know" custom rifles, both metal and wood.

You will spend lots of money.Do the homework.

I'd use this rare Dick Davis burl wood from Arizona.....

English, turkish, california, french are the same species but grown in different climates and soils which impart the differences in color etc. They have similar densities, in general, and that accounts for their popularity in the high end trade. The cut well and checker well etc. American and claro are usually more porous and heavy. They are more brittle and likely to chip when inletted or checkered. Bastone is a hybrid of california english and claro. It is the result of a graft. It is heavy. For weight to strength the "french" walnut is the best. Of course, this varies from tree to tree and blank to blank.

Looks to me to be one o' them thar synthetic stocks with a fancy pattern on it. Course, I could be wrong and in which case, I apologize for insulting yer shooting iron. ;-)

Very true comment on the stockmaker cost. Trying to do my homework by this post. I have very definite ideas on what I want this rifle to look like and the stock is going to be the most expensive part of the rifle. Not going to screw around too much with the metalwork other than a 3 position safety and either Conetrol or S&K mounts. Probably going to make a bullet trap from a design I've had rattling around in my head for 10 years or so. Quality barrel from Shilen, Kreiger or another good maker. Nice light profile but probably a 24" rather than a 22". Having seen my buddy Splattermatic knock the crap out of a cow elk with his .280AI, I think I will go that way.

Or I could go with a .270 to go with the Model 70 I bought with money my Dad left me when he passed. Yeah, I know, the .270 can't kill anything, practically bounces off the skin of elk and is marginal at best for prairie dogs but I kinda like it..... Did kill hundreds of deer in the UK with it so I guess it might just work on animals here in the USA....

Custom Leupold (yeah, I've heard all the stories about Leupold but they make scopes here not overseas) VX3 in 2.5-8 x 36 with a gloss finish, custom reticle and CDS dial.

Might leave the bottom metal as is but might change it out too. Might have a little bit of engraving but maybe not.

Nice to dream ain't it???

Probably the most important thing to consider is how large are your hands. Some designs are what I would call, "gaunt", and some are "fuller". If you need a certain weight in the wood for your rifle, you need to calculate the finished dimensions that will really fit you, first.

If you plug a light piece of wood into a gunstock designed for a heavy piece of French Walnut, it won't come out right. Too heavy of a piece of wood in a hand filling design may just be too unbalanced and heavy. And your hand size (glove) will impact what size forearm is best for you.

I would pay very special attention here to a stock blank made from Myrtle Wood, from the Oregon Coast. Different minerals make these a law unto themselves.

The Mauser 98 action is a known quantity, but the barrel profiles and the stock designs have to work together for you.

It's the most stable wood on the planet...............

Pretty sure a GREAT blank will run you more than $1k.

Something like this?





The package.





Alan

Damn, that is purty..

Ah, the custom bug has bitten, eh, G!
mmm, 280ai to boot.
Text me your schedule so i can remember when i can get hold of you.
My wood is no where like gssp's, but purdy enough for my eye.

I had all my custom rifles done with American Walnut, if for no other reason than it is American. Finding the figure in American Walnut, that there is in other wood, is not easy, that made me want American Walnut even more...













[img]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee202/bridgershooters/115_2111.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee202/bridgershooters/115_2332.jpg[/img]

You might wanna give a shout out to Chic Worthing as well?

Dober

Up for consideration.

IMO, forget about where it comes from. Any of the wood mentioned will work for a .270-.280AI on a G33/40 action. Layout is what you want to concern yourself with first. Color and figure second and where it came from last. IMO, a well laid out inexpensive blank will make a better looking stock than an expensive blank with poor layout.

Read my post on this thread. link it'll give you the basics on what to look for in a blank.

My favorite is English for it's color followed very closely by Turkish. That said, if you like a lot of figure and don't want to spend much money you can get a lot of bang for your buck with Bastone/Claro.

Terry

I saw an english walnut on a Dakota years ago. It was almost yellow in color with small black streaks going with the grain. Never seen one like this again. Was this a rare piece?