I am looking to buy a stock blank and am confused as to the pros and cons of the different types of walnut available. So, which would you choose, and why?

American Black Walnut
California Claro
English Walnut
Bastone Walnut


The stock will be for a scoped Win M70 Classic with a custom barrel in 7mm Wby. It won't be a safe queen, but I want an above average looking rifle when finished and plan to get some nice checkering done, so please weight that in your recommendations.

Thanks in advance.

English is always first due to the closeness of grain, and some from Europe can be great; much from California can be excellent too. Each piece is unique. Next is Bastogne, which is a hybrid. Black, then a distant last, ,Claro, which although it can look great, it can be soft and open grained. All is variable depending on how the tree grew; fast or slow so you can have soft English and hard claro. I am sure you have searched the net and looked at some; what you like is also important. English will have color and mineral stripes, and figure. Black will have the best crotch and stripes, and Claro will have the best color.

Bastogne will probably be the heaviest. While mineral streaks and nice grain it will often have quilting.

Get a good piece of English or other European, Bastogne or as dpcd said some of the Californian.

Normally the thin shell (English etc) will be denser. The thick shell will lean towards the more open grain.

Key issue is get a good piece of wood in a grain pattern you like. All your labor cost etc are set cheap wood or more expensive doesn't effect the labor.

http://www.gunstockblanks.com/pictures/the-blanks/

http://www.calicohardwoods.com/wood_types.php

Right, Ramrod knows wood better than most. Depending on your budget, go for dense first, then figure as your mag rifle needs some strength. You can get away with softer wood in a lighter caliber. Here are some; top is English, center is black, and lower is Claro, grafted with English (all English is grafted here). In this case, the Claro is very hard and dense, as is the English; must have grown up dry and tough. This gives you an idea of what they might typically look like.

Bastogne is indeed the heaviest. I have it on my dangerous game rifles as the added weight of the stock helps some with recoil. I believe that ramrod340's advice is sound.

Yes, Bastogne is a hybrid between English and Claro, and is hard to get because it is not intentionally grown. It is, in general, denser, but as I said, how the tree grew is what determines how dense and hard the wood is, to some degree as well as species of course.

If you have someone else do the stockwork, you will almost certainly have significantly MORE in the stock than in the rest of the rifle combined.

IMO if you're going to spend that much money to have a stock done, then you need to spend more money on getting a good looking blank. Frankly I don't understand people who spend thousands of dollars on stock work on a piece of wood that looks very little better than many factory stocks. But to each his own, said the man as he kissed the cow.

Classic for a M70 would be Am. Black, but you can, depending on your tastes, get better looking wood in English (California) or Turkish. Although it would work, I'd probably avoid Claro for a 7mm Wea. All a matter of taste but for normal use, I'm not fond of bastogne, it can have a greenish cast which I don't find attractive and the figure is usually somewhat more subdued. The only real advantage it has is that is often has fine fiddleback patterns.

Consider contacting Wenig's, they do fine work cheaper than most.

quote:

it can have a greenish cast which I don't find attractive

New one on me. By far easier to get a show piece of English or Turkish that is for sure.

Calico can but you in a piece of English like this for $175.


Plain Jane Bastogne
Wilder Bastogne

quote:

New one on me. By far easier to get a show piece of English or Turkish that is for sure

Learn something new everyday. The greenish cast is often mentioned regarding Bastogne and I've seen it numerous times. Don't get me wrong, all Bastogne doesn't have it, just some.

From doublegunshop.com....

quote:

Bastogne is a cross between English and American black walnut. It has also been called paradox and bastard walnut. It is generally the most dense of all walnuts. It often has a greenish color cast and also often exhibits broken fiddle pattern.

Buy a blank for $175 and put $1500 or (much) more into turning it into a stock. Just plain dumb to my way of thinking.

Completely different situation if someone does the work themselves. Of course, then there is the value of their time involved.

quote:

Learn something new everyday. The greenish cast is often mentioned regarding Bastogne and I've seen it numerous times. Don't get me wrong, all Bastogne doesn't have it, just some.

I for sure wasn't doubting you. I just hadn't seen or read it. But then again I am partially color blind. I appreciate the note. Always a good day when I learn something.

Only point I was trying to make is in your example the $1500 is set. Whether it is a $175 or $1000 blank. So if you are investing the $1500 don't scrimp on the blank.

After a and research Bastogne is more likely to have fiddle not quilting. Interesting link showing the various grains.
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/...dpics/_@_figure.htm#

Before you make a decision, I'd recommend looking at Turkish Walnut (if you can find it). My hunting buddy has a 300 Savage and it is probably the nicest wood I've ever seen on a rifle.

Thanks to all for the great advice. Seems like my best bet is to go with English Walnut. It might be a while till I get it finished, but I will post a finished pic when I do.

are a rule
bastone will be densest
english, if not grown in the US, will be the tighted
american black walnut will be the plainest (not always.. calm down) with the largest poors
claro, which is american but grown on the west coast, can be GAUDY in color and grain flow
turkish CAN be nearly as dense as bastone, the colors of claro, and the amazing grain of english

http://www.hunterbid.com/cgi-b...PViewInCat.asp?ID=21

Depending on your goal weight wise just remember the denser the heavier in all types of wood. Just a personal preference but I don't like staining wood either, so I try to get a natural colour I like, but them I like most "nice" wood even maple.
Speaking of green hued walnut I have such a stock on an older SxS hammer shotgun that IMHO is just beautiful albeit "different". Some grafts can be very unusual, I have quite a few, so far "just to have and admire". --- John