I always thought claro had swirls and a lot of figure where english walnut might be more prone to the same figure running from end to end.(Understand this is a question--I know nothing about what I am asking). I received a very nice stock that was supposed to be claro, and it had vertical lines, like tiger stripes, that ran from one end to the other. It had none of the swirls that I was accustomed to. The maker said it would be either claro or english walnut in his ads, and I wondered if I might have received the latter.

I think it's claro. Fiddleback fore to aft isn't real characteristic of English. Maybe yours is something like this Claro stock from GAG?

If you got English as opposed to claro then take it and run! Juglans
regia (english) is much better in terms of desirable characteristics such as density, strength etc than California Claro.

There are different grades of both woods that offer a plethora of figure, grain and color. But typically speaking (the way I would describe it) European Walnut tends to have a sharper color contrast whereas it is very common to see some very striking figure in Claro.

The vertical lines you have are fiddleback and are found in both kinds of walnut.

Thanks guys. The pictures Dempsey posted are exactly the way mine looks.

I'd bet on that blank being Claro.....English is not that fiddleback style.

Claro typically has lots of fiddleback like the pics Dempsey posted. It can also have contrasting stripes more typical of English. This is a claro Mannlicher blank:

This is mid-grade English, mostly stripe, no marblecake or burl:

<hiding chunk of quarterswan english behind my back>

what what what angleash blank, forrest?

Speaking of fiddleback, I recently aquired a real nice turkish mauser with matching numbers and quarter-sawn walnut. It is the most beautiful surplus gun I have ever laid my eyes on. The stock looks much like the wood in the above pics! It sure beats the dawgs for sale in the shotgun news!!! Anyways, I always thought the fiddleback came from the way it was cut rather than a specific type of walnut. Also, I have some rather large walnut trees on my property. There big, straight, and the wood is DARK, almost black. What type of walnut would they be? I heard english is a lighter colored walnut.

quote:

jeffe: hiding chunk of quarterswan english behind my back?

It's the twin sister of the one on ebay I told you about. I'd bring it to Woodstock 05 but it's still drying.

The quickest way to tell the difference between Claro and Juglans Regia is to take a knife or chisel to it. English will cut smooth as butter, Claro is "sratchier" and "chippier" try this on a block of each and you'll see what I mean.........DJ

What grade do you think the blank is in the picture Dempsey posted?

Sam,
what dempsey posted is AAA or so.. it's not exhibition, at least to me, as it's claro, and doesn't have the color patterns and figure... it has TONS of fiddle back...

easist way to tell between english and claro???

for the SAME stock, english will be about 2x the price@@@

jeffe

Hello the Campfire:
Mousegun's trees are most likely to be black walnut wouldn't they? Makes a nice stock, but not as nice as English of claro I would sugest that he keep the trees growing as long a he can as they are money in the bank and are worth more the larger they are. When he is ready to cut, he needs to talk to some one who knows fine wood and how to best treat it for use as furniture or gun stock. It will need to air dry for several years before it can be used for either. I hate to use kiln dried walnut because of the stresses that quick dryig will set up in the surface. I have found a lot of twist in the kiln dried wood that has to be carefully machined out.
Judge Sharpe
A slow moving, once quick draw outlaw.