Both of these are claro walnut. Which do you think would make the best, prettiest stock for a .243? All opinions appreciated.



or

I like the layout a little better on the upper blank. Both are pretty nice sticks of Claro.

I prefer the one on top too. I like the layout of the grain through the grip, and think that the butt looks better on it. If you can't decide though I can let you put one of them on a rifle of mine and then the other one yours and you can see the contrast when they are finished. :-)

Red

They are pretty equal, however, the bottom blank seems to have more figure in the forearm thus, more complete coverage.

Since they are so close in terms of looks, any idea in terms of density of the blanks? I'd go with the most dense of the two.

Nice looking wood.

I like the top blank. I like the striping on it more than the crotch(?) figure in the bottom blank.

George

The top one for sure. I had my eye on it but don't plan to bid. Better use a bidding program like AuctionStealer.com.

My vote is for the top one as well, nice blank to my untrained eye!

HUNTR

Guess I'll be strange again, I like the bottom better. Both have nice streaking and fiddleback, but being a right handed person, I concentrate more on the right side of the stock since much of the left side will be machined away for the cheekpiece, etc. To me the bottom blank has a better right side. I could be mistaken, and usually am, but that's the way I look at them.

Both are gorgeous.....but I too will take the bottom one.....

Thanks for the replies. It is very difficult for me to make up my mind on one of these due to their similarities. The bottom blank in one photo is clear and not dark, in another it is very dark. The top blanks figure does peter out on the right side but you cannot fault that grain flow. Were I to buy the top one, I am hoping the stock duplicator would try to machine from the right side and work over to the left, since that gorgeous figure on the left side ends somewhere between left-and-right.

I know claro is porous and not the strongest of wood. I want this for my wife for a 15th wedding anniversary present. She is 4' 11" tall and weighs 93 pounds soaking wet. It would be inconvenient for her to lug around a heavy rifle.
I will have a hardened rod epoxied as a through-bolt into the wrist for added strength.

DakotaCliffs stuff! What does he charge to turn & inlet?

I think it's a matter of preference as to the look you prefer.
I personally like the consistency in the grain of the top one.
Others will prefer the inconsistency of the second stock.
However, either will make a beautiful stock. You can't go wrong either way.

Hollywood

Doug,

Try cliffsgunstocks.com if its the same one from ebay?

Bob

Both look great, but I would choose the top one. Its a bit lighter, and I like seeing the grain on a finished stock.

Those blanks look as if they are adjoining slabs from the same tree. Density will likely be quite similar in each if they are. Both will make prety stocks.

Nifty! If I *really* had to choose, I think I'd choose the top one. I prefer the figure in the buttstock of the top one, and think that outweighs the additional figure in the forearm of the lower one. Both are pretty amazing pieces of wood! Just a layman's opinion...
- mike

The top one will turn out beautifully! The bottom one has a little too much "character" for my tastes. It appears to me to have the look as if it were discovered in the "leftover" box.

I think those two blanks were cut side by side. If you take a look at the grain structure and shape through the grip and the pattern of the butt on the top picture and the bottom one it is near identical. I would imagine that the saw went between them. As far as which one, I am no fan of claro, pick your poison, lol.

I really don't like either one all that much. They are very fancy but too random to please my eye.

I see a lot of Weatherby stocks with wood like that. Even my current favorite Kimber uses them on some rifles.

Top one