What do you guys think about purpleheart for a stock? It is something different, but it is kinda "pink" looking. Opinions?

It can work. Rod@Serengeti has some photos you might want to look at.

George

I know Serengeti rifles offers it, just have not heard much talk of people using it.

I understand it to be very heavy, very dense and makes a good stock for a big bore, but the color is pinkish purple to my understanding and lacks figure, or at least the pics of it I've ran across.

i did one a long time ago on a mauser. no figure to speak of and a bit heavier than walnut. it is strong and a bit brittle when working with it. the only thing going for it is its unique color if you want to be different.

If I remember correctly Purple Heart ( I believe it's proper name is Amaranth) turns DEEP purple when heated. When I was in gunsmithing school it was popular for forearm tips and grip caps. Some guys laminated it also. I don't know if I've ever seen a piece big enough for a stock blank. Mostly sold around Tucson as boards. I have a piece bought about ten years ago and it is now very dark. I bought it for Single Action grips.

quote:

Originally posted by Gringo Cazador:
I understand it to be very heavy, very dense and makes a good stock for a big bore, but the color is pinkish purple to my understanding and lacks figure, or at least the pics of it I've ran across.

hell billy, would look great with a pink buttpad!!

it looks like a laminate, in all honesty, i've helped make a couple drums for ladies on it...

nasty, hard, fine dust, BLECK!

jeffe

I got an email from Serengeti several months ago showing one of their new Rhino stocks that was done in Purple Heart wood. At the time they said it was for sale. It actually looked quite nice unfinished, would like to see one finished.

Regardless of wood type, the rhino is the shape I was going to get when I get the cash(good thing I am getting married in 3 weeks, don't tell the wife the money's missing!).

If you want to be able to say you have something unique, I guess it would work. I remeber back in the early '80s a guy had something like 100+ Weatherbys stocked in different woods. AT least he could say he had soemthing unique.

Density is not the be all and end all of a gun stock. Yes, purple heart is dense. But the purple heart I have is a little on the brittle/flakey side. Would never wnat a gun stock made out of it. Density just tells you how much a volume of wood weighs, not how it will hold up to recoil. Personally, I would rather have a $50 piece of English on a real rifle than the best purple heart.

Jeffe,

I'm partial to Tiddy Pink, but not in gun stocks

When I was in gunsmithing school one of the students used purpleheart for a 338 stock.Definitely purple , very different ,very dense so suitable only for magnums.

Purple heart may be nasty to work with but nothing like Cocobolo. Did an entire stock out of it one time. Beautiful, yes, heavy.....hell yes....and toxic to boot. Went to the emergency room over that one.

I bet going to a rual hospital and telling them you had cocabolo wood posioning was easy to explain.

I've only used a little bit of it, and agree with the comments about it being splintery. It kinda reminds me of oak, ie relatively large grain. Also not much figure, but I haven't seen a stock sized piece.

It is more of a purple than a pink. I could see using it for a stock for my daughter or my wife.

If I was looking for something different, I'd probably go with some variation of maple. I guess I'm more into blonds then the punk rock look

Billy,

Fortunately I lived in a bigger city at the time. Truthfully I didnt realize what was wrong until the Dr. asked me a bunch of questions. I had been using a power sander and the dust got in my airway and caused it to swell. I couldnt get much air into my lungs. Anyway, lesson learned.

I've always thought that purple heart would make a nice ladies stock was well. Deep purple/maroon in color. But like Paul said....havent seen it in a piece big enough to make a stock. I still have a chunck of cocobolo in the shop big enough to make one more stock. Not sure Im going to try that again for a while.

I did a few knife handels with Cocobolo, did a fair amount of sanding, I want to say it didnt bother me.

I bet that was one heavy ass stock, but bet it was pretty

I was once asked to make a stock for a Fox double barreled shotgun, out of purpleheart. My intuition told me to stay away from the project, I declined the job. After reading the thread, I am glad I did.