Can it be done? What would be the pros and cons? I'm thinking of laminating three pieces of oak together and make a stock for a .300 magnum class cartridge. Any ideas?

heavy, brittle, not so pretty, tan ..
other than that....

Maybe the reason we don't see more oak stocks is that no one ever thought of it before.

yeah... its been done...

do a search here...

Try filling the pores!

quote:

Originally posted by bshooter:
Can it be done? What would be the pros and cons? I'm thinking of laminating three pieces of oak together and make a stock for a .300 magnum class cartridge. Any ideas?

It might be just the thing if you want a 12 1/2 lb 300 Win Mag. Oak varies widely in weight but it can weigh up to 56 lbs/ft3, Walnut is 40-43 lbs/ft3. If you found some particularly lightweight oak it might not weigh way too much but you would still have wood with hard to fill pores, with coarse grain that wouldn't take checkering worth a flip.
Save the Oak for floors and furniture and make your gunstocks out of a nice stick of Walnut, it's the tradition because it works best................................DJ

My concern with oak is not cosmetic (since beauty is in the eye of the beholder anyway) but I have had a few oak handles develop cracks, and for that reason wouldn't consider it. It also wouldn't take checkering too well if that mattered. How about ash, or even hickory?

Here's another I'm adding to the "do not use" list- I just make a hatchet handle out of Osage Orange and it has already developed a couple of stress cracks in the grain. I am hoping they don't get bigger (they are pretty small right now) but even though Osage Orange makes great bows I don't think I'll ever use it as a stock wood.

Osage, Hickory, Pecan, Mesquite, or White Ash are all doable if you have the right blank and don't mind the weight.

I personally hate oak, even furniture. I do love the whiter oak we have here....to use as smoking wood for pork, and firewood. I have replaced almost everything we have that was oak with walnut, cherry, and maple. Now for that heirloom dinning room table of my wife's.

I was thinking about having a cherry and madrone laminate stock made for a rifle next for long range shooting.

I recall seeing a British single shot "bore" rifle in an article by Ross Seyfried in Rifle magazine years ago. It was done very well, the color a very dark gold, with restrained grain - hand-picked for the right qualities, no doubt - and, iirc, checkered. It was done, no doubt, to add weight and make a large-bore single more shootable. The actual selection of the blank would, without doubt, be critical - just like walnut.....

quote:

Can it be done? What would be the pros and cons? I'm thinking of laminating three pieces of oak together and make a stock for a .300 magnum class cartridge. Any ideas?

I am doing it... But I'm having trouble finding anyone with a duplicator - who will turn the blank for me.

I purchased a magnificent piece of red oak with burl and swirls in the buttstock area (15 bucks at Crosscut Hardwoods in Seattle...! ) I am absolutely giddy about what this will look like. (see photo below)

But I contacted Wenig Custom Gunstocks in Missouri who says their equipment won't cut oak (they suggest all the traditional favorites, including maple... I wonder if they know how hard rock maple is...)

So, does anyone know who could duplicate my pattern stock in my oak blank for me?

Thanks!

quote:

But I contacted Wenig Custom Gunstocks in Missouri who says their equipment won't cut oak (they suggest all the traditional favorites, including maple... I wonder if they know how hard rock maple is...)

Might not be an issue of how hard. When making furniture with red oak a router will often split along the grain if you don't watch what you are doing. Walnut, Cherry, Maple all will router a lot smoother.

Well that may be, but this is what they said:

"We do not machine Oak since it is such a hard wood and is hard on our machines and bits. We have American, English, Claro and Bastogne walnut, Maple, Myrtlewood and several colors of Laminated birch available.

Thank you,

Wenig Custom Gunstocks, Inc."

If I had a band saw, I'd already be cutting it... If it's hard on Wenig's carbide cutting tools, I guess it'll be harder on my muscles and wood rasps!

I might burn out my sabre saw just roughing it out!

Maybe I'll have to resort to the old indian way of making canoes - burning the material away???

Why isn't it done these days... "Ships are made of iron and men are made of wood?" Just kidding!

Maybe I can get it laser cut or water-jetted? Please forgive my forays... Just havin' a little fun!

only because no one else will, i'll offer .. and I am NOT the best.. kakolus and weing are far better

I'll rough it for you on mine, if you like..
You'll need to pay the shipping and $20 for a new carbide router bit, if you don't like the result, and $120 if you do like it

can't be all that worse than some hard wild cherry i did for a benchrest guy

jeffe

Thanks for the replies. I should have made it clear that this oak stock would be temporary. I don't care about looks. I do however, care if this oak stock would fail and I end up bleeding. I've had this barreled action for about a year and it's killing me not to be able to make it go bang. I'm trying to decide if a McMillan is worth the wait. In the mean time I would like to shoot it. I was looking at it and noticed the oak trim on my bench and it got me to thinking........that's all. Thanks again.

Thanks for stepping up jeffe... I'll PM ya, but I gotta run to Home Depot and get a coupla things done first...

Oh, Ya'll I said I would TURN it.. i don't recommend it ..

quote:

Originally posted by bshooter:
Thanks for the replies. I should have made it clear that this oak stock would be temporary. I don't care about looks. I do however, care if this oak stock would fail and I end up bleeding. I've had this barreled action for about a year and it's killing me not to be able to make it go bang. I'm trying to decide if a McMillan is worth the wait. In the mean time I would like to shoot it. I was looking at it and noticed the oak trim on my bench and it got me to thinking........that's all. Thanks again.

In that case, since you were considering laminating something together anyway just use different boards- maple or ash are some good choices and economical for boards if you have to purchase something.

Wouldn't beech be a better alternative if price ect is an issue?