Curly Maple only for Muzzleloaders?

[rice1817]

Does anybody know a reason why the curly maple we love on our longrifles never caught on with centerfire rifles? I like a fine piece of walnut as well as the next guy, but there is something special about a highly figured slap of curly maple. I once had a custom builder make me a curly maple 6.5 Swedish sporter and it is gorgeous. The smith said he had never had a request for one before mine.

 

[Roy]

My Grandpa Stroh used maple all the time for custom modern stocks.

 

[rice1817]

Is it the workability? Shiloh will build you a sharps on your wood, but they refuse to work in curly maple. I know that it is a non-traditional wood for Sharps rifles, but at one time, the customer was always right, even when he was wrong.

 

[Roy]

Depending on the wood I find maple usually easier to work with.

 

[rice1817]

So workability is not a factor. Cost? A nice walnut blank is just as much as a curly maple blank. Availability?

I asked my smith if there was any wood he would refuse to work with. He told me he had stocked one rifle with Osage Orange. He said it was like iron, and dulled or broke the cutting bits on his stock duplicator. He said never again.

 

[Roy]

Think it just boils down to what people consider traditional.

 

[jdixon]

Osage Orange is some strange stuff. It will ruin a chain saw blade. If you dry it, makes tremendous firewood however it does spark a lot. I wouldn't burn a whole load in a wood stove, it gets so hot it will warp parts of some stoves.

 

[rabjr]

Osage Orange, ain't that what they make bows outa?

I am surprised more curly maple isn't used on modern guns too.

 

[rice1817]

Osage Orange is the wood of Eastern Indian bows. Very dense, very heavy.

I have seen a lot of different woods used in MLs. Pear, walnut, maple, cherry, ash...I even read about a southern rifle made of oak! Never read about or saw one made of Osage Orange, but I imagine some gunmaker at one time or another has made a rifle from just about every tree that grows in the woods!

 

I have heard from stock suppliers that it is because of the machinability of curly maple that is the draw back. It hand works great but evidently is pretty tough to keep it from popping out or splitting when machined. Furniture makers abhore it for that reason. Maybe when the centerfire rifles began to be machine shaped the maple fell out of favor for that reason.

 

[rice1817]

Thatseems to be the most likely explaination...mass production requires economy of materials and once the handwork made way for machine-copies, they went with walnut and the ubiquitous "hardwood", aka birch.

 

[Zonie]

Due to the high costs of wood, the big companies have switched to Plastic.
I wonder, if you paid extra money for one of their new guns could you get Curly Plastic? :hmm:

 

[Hayduke]

Osage Orange is the wood of Eastern Indian bows. Very dense, very heavy.!

Yup, makes great bows. I've burned up more than one bandsaw blade in the process. I love to hunt with them, though.

 

[Many Klatch]

Curly Maple doesn't machine easily like Walnut does. It takes more work and can mess up the high speed bits.

It does make a beautiful gun.

Many Klatch

 

Osage Orange is the wood of Eastern Indian bows. Very dense, very heavy.!

Yup, makes great bows. I've burned up more than one bandsaw blade in the process. I love to hunt with them, though.

Wow!!! Those are real nice bows. Awesome stuff!!!

 

[Goldhunter]

I've been wanting to restock one of my bolt guns in curly maple for years. It's hard to find a company that will do a modern stock it that wood though. :shake:

 

[DougMPhoto]

Osage Orange is the wood of Eastern Indian bows. Very dense, very heavy.!

Yup, makes great bows. I've burned up more than one bandsaw blade in the process. I love to hunt with them, though.

Where do you find Osage Orange with all them fancy grains in the wood? :rotf:

 

[Roy]

I've been wanting to restock one of my bolt guns in curly maple for years. It's hard to find a company that will do a modern stock it that wood though. :shake:

have it custom made.

 

[Goldhunter]

An option, but I'd like to do some of the work myself, like with some of the semi inlet stocks you can find.

 

[reddogge]

I have seen it on modern guns but they are few and far between. For more common is walnut with a little curl to it or burl for modern guns. Seems to look better. I never cared for curly maple on a modern rifle and most are finished blond and I hate blond stocks.

Those bows are outstanding. Beautiful.