Boss

Lots of interesting photos on the site you posted!!!

Take a look at the following:

http://www.hot-woods.com

I made a Sako in 222 with Yama wood from Japan about 30 yrs ago. It is a type of maple and was imported in the '60's in slabs. Japan stopped the export of the wood and I haven't seen it since that time. It was lighter than our maple and tough. It would be ok with glass bedding to increase the recoil area for up to 3006 cal. I used water stain to bring out the grain and color with a true oil finish.

Boss Hoss,

I wish I could make a stock for you, but my working days are over. My thoughts are from the good of days and snap shots taken for my own scrap book are being used to help others.

the more maple stocks i see the more i love them. i know for a fact that at least 2 of my rifles will have maple stocks.

quote:

Originally posted by LesBrooks:
Boss Hoss,

I wish I could make a stock for you, but my working days are over. My thoughts are from the good of days and snap shots taken for my own scrap book are being used to help others.

Thanks but if you ever change your mind I do have some blanks that are stunning---will let you take your pick and take your time!!

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
Boss

Lots of interesting photos on the site you posted!!!

Yes there are---Gordon does have some of the best English that you can get now. I have a few of those as well along with some Macassar.

quote:

It is a different bird than eastern sugar, rock, or red maple.

Eastern suger maple is also called rock or hard maple, red maple is called soft maple as it doesnt have the density of "hard maple" and is considered inferior not only for sap collecting to make syrup, but also inferior as firewood or flooring.

I personally don't care for Maple or any other woods other than various European walnut such as Turkish, Russian, French if you can find the real stuff, and some Aussie walnut is very nice.

I have seen some of Tony Barnes's muzzle loaders that were full tiger stripe Maple that he died scarlet red and finished in True Oil and they came out the most georgous reddish/dark brown you have ever seen..He was a master gunsmith..that was nice stuff..

To each his own and maple is an accepted gunstock material as is Myrtle, it is hard and dense and not prone to warpage..It is too heavy IMO and the light color is not my cup of tea..

quote:

i might have one of my Remington model 700s restocked with maple also. i bet it would be great for my .17 Remington.

Pez, I have a maple semi inlet stock for a short action rem 700 if you are interested.It's a classic style with a cheek piece.

a few years back there was this gunsmith by the name of hal hartley. he was one of the best of the best (hal died in the early 1980's). his prefered stockwood was maple. this is one of his, built in 1958.

A lesser piece of birdseye with a M-98 in .30-06

I love the looks of a good Maple stock.

Here is a Weatherby Vangard in 300 wby restocked in maple burl - no issues - good straight grain in wrist of stock. Mesquite burl in tip & cap. Bought twin blanks on ebay





The matching blank was put on a Peruvian mauser in 275 Rigby and has been my go-to deer rifle for a couple years now. The tip and cap was in African Wenge wood.

I have a mannlicher-stocked SAKO bolt gun for which I obtained a stunning piece of curly maple from Tiger Hunt in PA. I fitted, finished and whiskered the wood, then gave it to a muzzleloader builder who stained it with the traditional acid/nails treatment. When I picked it up it was an ugly green color. A few minutes over an open gas cooktop turned the color to a golden brown with the fiddleback highlighted. I finished it with a modified linseed oil, Linspeed I think, and it looks pretty good even today.

This is my mexican mauser in 7X57. I stocked it and really liked working with the maple. I stained it with thinned oil stain and finished it with Waterlox.

By the way, all of the stocks in my photo on page one came from Cecil Fredi. He has over 35,000 regular rifle and shotgun stock blanks in his inventory. The thumbhole rifles that I have were all made by Cecil Fredi. He no longer makes thumbhole rifles, but he still sells regular rifle and shot gun stock blanks.

I have been a hobbyist woodworker for a long time and have worked with many different species of wood over the years. However, I have never attempted to do a stock. One word of caution to some of the exotic woods, bubinga, purpleheart, sapele etc, some people are highly allergic to them. I have found that most are very sensitive to the dust created while sanding and a good respirator is a necessity. Others have also found a contact allergy as well. I would be very careful in choosing an end cap with an exotic species.

quote:

Originally posted by Riodot:
I love the looks of a good Maple stock.

Here is a Weatherby Vangard in 300 wby restocked in maple burl - no issues - good straight grain in wrist of stock. Mesquite burl in tip & cap. Bought twin blanks on ebay





The matching blank was put on a Peruvian mauser in 275 Rigby and has been my go-to deer rifle for a couple years now. The tip and cap was in African Wenge wood.

very good work on those stocks.

quote:

Originally posted by farbedo:
This is my mexican mauser in 7X57. I stocked it and really liked working with the maple. I stained it with thinned oil stain and finished it with Waterlox.

very nice looking stock, i hope to get something similar to that.

The down side to the light maple stock is they stick out in the woods. Have a Stevens sxs 20ga with a light colored stock my son used it deer hunting just once. You could see it from 300yds setting across the field!! Clint

That was why I stained the maple stock that I did. It isn't bright white like some that I have seen yet still has the character of maple. Some of the maple stocks that I have seen from the 50's were scorched to darken them. They have a unique look that I think works well.

Although, the whole deal is in the eye of the beholder, and opinions will vary.

Pez, thank you for the compliment on the stock.

quote:

Originally posted by farbedo:
That was why I stained the maple stock that I did. It isn't bright white like some that I have seen yet still has the character of maple. Some of the maple stocks that I have seen from the 50's were scorched to darken them. They have a unique look that I think works well.

Although, the whole deal is in the eye of the beholder, and opinions will vary.

Pez, thank you for the compliment on the stock.

you're welcome because that really is a beautiful stock and i truely want a stock like that for my rifle.

i've been trying to figure out who i will get to build my 25-06 with maple stock. i'm wanting the maple to be as light colored as i can get and maybe fiddleback too. i came across a website for Randy's Custom Guns and from the pics it looks like he does some great work with maple.

Time and money,



If you've got the time and the money, it's amazing what one can attain.

Best

GWB