Take a look at the below blanks and pick your favorite of the bunch. I am curious because I have a definite style I like and it tends to be so different from other peoples.

So which one of these would it be?

Maybe that first English blank if the one side would show more when cut, I'd like to see more pics first. The third to last blank, Bastogne?might be my pick if I had to choose soley from these pics.

The only two that would interest me is the second one (probably Dressels) and I really don't like the way the grain turns up at the forend.
May be the one with the BR-13 wrtten on it too.

One thing I would caution you about is the Goby walnut blanks will not have nearly as much red as they show in the pictures.

Terry

Not to sound negative, but I just cant get excited by any of those. I think you could do much better, even in the price range of the stocks shown.

Finally found yourself a figured piece of cherry, huh?

Not bad, not bad...

The one marked BK/BR 13 is the only one I like.

BR 13 is my favorite, maybe even move the tracing further towards the butt.
Dave

My preferences in order are numbers 25, 44 & maybe 947, assuming both sides equal, no bark/knots I can't see.

BR13 is fair... and my "choice"

3 and 44 would make pretty rifles, but could be better.

the rest... well, everyone likes something different, i guess

jeffe

BR13 - I have had it in my hands. Good blank. Only reason I didnt turn it into a stock is the customer decided to upgrade.

My preferrence was 947, 13, but 44 and 152 were high on my buddy's list. Why are these good or bad? Any help. You guys know a hell of a lot more about it than he and I.

# 3 for grain lay out but its nothing to write home about.

I take it a stock like the below one is not as desireable since the crotch is only on one side, or is there a structural problem with one of these. I often see them cheaper than others.

333
the last one is the worst one... you can't tell what it actually DOES unless you have a top and bottom edge shot.. and, well, it'll look like crap once turned... if one is inlove with that one, it's a "send it to serengeti" for lamination time.

jeffe

152-straight in the forend, all curly in the butt. That last one looks like it would warp side to side in the forend-hate flatsawed blanks for stability.

#3 among the brown-red walnuts, mainly for grain layout.

The only one of the bunch I'd use for myself, at the moment, is the unlabeled straight-grained gray & tan sort of "English"-like blank about 2/3 of the way through the choices...again because of grain layout and the fact that I like straight-grained English on rifles for actual use.

But, as Jeffeosso says, unless I could see the tops and bottoms of the blanks, I wouldn't buy any of them at even a fraction of those prices. Most of them don't have sufficiently good grain layout for me to even consider putting my time into.

The first one, where the grain follows the profile of the stock. Straight grain in the fore end and it bends correktly in the grip section. Less risk of warping because of stringht grain fore-end, less risk of breaking in the grip area.

Fritz

947 for me....I'd probably send any of to Serengeti though...

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:
947 for me....I'd probably send any of to Serengeti though...

Yeh, I think that's the one a couple of us have mentioned because of the grain....the one with the #3 tag on it.

It seems that you all either like 947, 3, or BK13.

The rifle this will be on is a working rifle that will see pleanty of rough terrain and travel. I personally like the 947, but I am no expert on grain flow. my friend is less decisive than my wife, but he wants a blank in the 175-200 dollar range, and these were options found on the Internet.

Any last comments on the three above mentioned blanks?

You can do better than that for $500. I just went through a stock buying exercise and saw blanks for $450-500 that had fiddle all the way through and layed out much better.

To me thats 1/2 of a nice stock.

I will help some in your looking try here:

http://wattswalnut.com/

these guys have some nice stuff:

http://www.denli-gunstocks.com/

Edit: I though I would include a couple of blanks that are good in my oinion ( yes I know these two are pricey ) but these are good blanks in my eye:





The saecond is a tad cheaper.

Those are just a little rich for me, and I really do not like the looks of them! Sorry.

I have feelers out for wood at three location now for the walnut. What are your guys favorite merchants?

Here is one I have for $90 shipped. You can PM me if you like it.

ElCaballero---

Problem is that I am looking for a ifferent looking stock than that. I have an odd idea of good wood and it is different than this, although this is problably very nice wood.

My taste goes to the 2nd one down

from the photo it looks good.