I recieved an email from Robert at WATTS WALNUT thought I would pass it along to y'all.

Rusty, You may recall, several months ago I said I had the best wood in a kiln that I had ever had. It should be ready in the next two weeks. I have quite a number of full length fiddleback mannlicher blanks in this bunch if you should have a need. There are blanks that are unbelievable. I have never before nor will I ever again have any to compare to them. Robert Watts



I own 3 of Robert's blanks that are for my 404 Jeffery and Safari Express projects. His prices are resonable and he is very nice to deal with.



Here is his email addy if any are interested.

alva@wattswalnut.com

Phone is 573-485-8588

Is black walnut stout enough for big bores? Some seem to stick with only European walnut (e.g. Circassian (Turkish)).

George

George,
Good black walnut is good enough for any stock if properly cured and properly laid out and grown under harsh conditions...

problem is most of it is ditch bank wood next to a water source, improperly dried and sometime poorly laid out, and mostly sold for furniture...

My gripe is it is very porus and takes forever to fill and the pores show up too well..Also it is a very heavy wood IMO, and most is not particularly pretty to me, even the sunburst stuff leaves me cold and that is opinnion on my part...I have seen some real nice black walnut, that is as good as it gets, but that is not a general rule IMO...

I would apply the same opine to Claro.. but I have a red as blood full fiddle back Claro stock on my sako 6x45 that took 24 LPI checkering clean as a whistle, but most would look like a fuzz ball at 22 LPI....It was hard as woodpecker lips..

All that said I would choose a thin shelled walnut like Turkish, French or Australian from a 100 year old tree any day if for no other reason than resale value but mostly it is just better stock wood IMO...

Black walnut and Claro are head and shoulders over fiberglass however..Fiberglass is my least liked wood followed by laminated wood

Rusty, I bought a blank from Watts after you posted that pic about a year ago. Really nice wood at reasonable cost. Should make a nice stock someday but kiln drying does bother me a little. Some Turkish I bought a couple years ago was really cooked, probably useless, feels like balsa wood now. A real shame when fine wood is hurried to market and not properly dried.