Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ask Wayne van Zwoll Questions About "THE WALNUT YOU NEVER KNEW"

Great article. I enjoyed every bit of it. Fine craftsmanship on wood stocks is something I will always appreciate. Hopefully there will always be fine stock makes out there to carry on the tradition.

When I was a forestry student in Oklahoma one of my best friends was absolutely taken with bois d'arc wood (aka hedge wood, aka osage orange, aka Maclura Pomifera). I helped him make bows out of it. He had a SMLE sporter he even carved a bois d,arc stock for. After dozens of coats of Tung oil he had the shiniest, yellowest, heaviest stock I had ever seen.

Good article.

Not all the walnut cut in the old days went for gun stacks and furniture. I'm told that Lincoln's house in Springfield, Illinois, is framed up partly in walnut. I've also heard that some considered walnut fence rails to be the best.

Well yes, there are other things to consider. Imagine a .300 Roy feeling like a .22 LR when you pulled the trigger! I'll bet by the time you got that ebony pared down to shape it wouldn't weigh much more than 35-40#. Are we mice or men?

As I read the article I thought if the Pachmayr collection of wood that was lost in the fire.

Great gunsmiths.......

Building the size of a football field ........filled with blanks.

They had been buying since the 20s

Took the heart out of the old man.

Gone ......irreplaceable.........

Thanks for the great article. I always enjoy your wordsmithing..

I just finished rereading one of your several books that I have. Deer Rifles & Cartridges.

I find I always appreciate a good book several times. Is it just my age ?

Better fence post wood than for guns stocks.

It is hard and heavy. Makes a good club.

DF

Excellent firewood too.

Excellent article as are all of his. Wayne has an eloquent writing style and the experience to back it up. He wouldn't remember me, but we both worked for the same organization for a brief period back in about 1991. I thought he was a knowledgeable gentleman then and his writings since have only reinforced that opinion. His articles are always a pleasure to read.....looking forward to next one!

I met him at an annual NRA meeting in Pittsburgh a few years ago. I asked him for his autograph and he seemed a little surprised but was gracious enough to give me his autograph which I still have. My take on him is that he is a professional but a bit modest. He is, along with Mule Deer, one of my favorite gun writers.

Great article, Wayne. I love the look and feel of walnut, to the point where I have only two out of thirty-some synthetic stocked rifles. Have managed to avoid other syns.