English Walnut/French Walnut

[Stophel]

Most of the "English" walnut blanks I have gotten to see did not impress me as to their quality. Just as open grained as American walnut and no harder. I don't know where they came from, but would expect the west coast.

Now, when I fool with old Flintlock or Mauser rifles with German/Austrian walnut stocks, then you're talkin' 'bout some beautiful stuff to work with. Hard, crisp-cutting, dense, yet still lightweight. Problem is, I can't find any stock blanks like this.... It's very comparable to EXCELLENT quality cherry. (in fact, except for color, cherry looks very much like this good, plain European walnut).

The problem with American black walnut is finding GOOD American black walnut, which is getting increasingly difficult to do. 250 years ago, it was not a problem! :winking: I blame the U.S. Army. Since the "war", the army demanded walnut stocks on all its service rifles. Imagine the vast amount of walnut used to go on a million or so Krag rifles, 2 million 1903's, 3 million 1917's, 3 million Garands, 5 million m-1 carbines, and at least several hundred thousand M-14's. And of course replacement stocks too. Finally, after WWII, the army decided that birch would be fine (too late for all the walnut trees wasted...) and some Garand stocks and maybe half the M14 stocks were made of birch.

European walnut (no matter where it came from) is ridiculously expensive anyway.... :shake:

 

[Wehrmacht]

The stock on my little double flintlock is out of English walnut grown in Kalifornia and came from Wayne Dunlap. It has beautiful curl,and David Dodds who made the piece said it worked well...but I don't know first hand since I wasn't involved with it.I do know that I'm well pleased with the looks,and I'm a stickler when it comes to fine wood being as I'm in the timber business :winking:.

And hey,Fatdutchman.... Paul Mauser and his buddies had a little trouble getting Euro walnut way back in the mid-1930's and started putting laminated stocks on their K98k's.You'll find a few K98k's with walnut stocks before about 1938,but after that it's all laminated due to, I think, a lack of quality solid walnut.[url] However....in[/url] the very last days of the War, maybe like early 1945, a very few K98k's started showing up with solid walnut stocks made,aparently,from sources put back for special purposes.Beautiful stocks on crappy rifles made mostly by concentration camp labor and full of suttle "wooden shoes"!

As I mentioned above,my .45cal Rowan County Rifle has an American Black Walnut stock from upper Michigan and I've never seen a better piece of wood on a rifle.

 

[Mike Brooks]

Some of the nicest euro walnut stocks I've seen have been on WWI era mausers. They just don't make wood like that anymore. :shake:

 

[Stophel]

I have a Belgian Mauser 1889 with a beautiful piece of light brown slightly curly walnut stock. My 1891 Mauser has a nice quality (though typically plain) piece of euro walnut, along with the old '88. I have a Steyr 1912 (I think) Mauser rifle that I have (slowly) been working on. This thing is one of the most perfectly assembled firearms I have ever handled. Smooth as silk and locks up like a bank vault. Had a really nice walnut stock curly from butt to muzzle. Now, if one could find blanks like these....

 

[Erzulis boat]

Did not want to start a new thread, as this one is action packed!
Walnut, walnut, walnut.........
Talk about a hair pulling, teeth gnashing ordeal.
I am in the market for a walnut stick. Dunlap sells blanks of "English" walnut and American Black. Since Mike stated that no-one can tell the difference anyway....the "English" would be the better choice?
My first pistol was from a chunk of nice Claro. It machined like a champ, but carved okay. It would not let you get any crispy edges, too porous. Also you had to really plan the stock shape in relation to the grain/figure. Nice hard sections and open grained pulpier (sic) wood. I actually changed the grip angle slightly from my plan to miss the softer section.
Anyhows...now I am leery as Hell when it comes to walnut.
Any real solid sources of a good stick? I have dealt with Dunlap on Cherry, and consider them spot-on with my limited dealings.
Any suggestions?

 

[rich pierce]

Walnut is best bought in hand, if possible. Actually that is true of all wood in my opinion unless you have a supplier on the phone who knows what you like because of previous dealings. With maple, I want hard wood with good grain direction through the wrist more than spectacular figure. Wait- that's true of walnut and cherry too!

 

[Stophel]

I would say most "English" walnut bought is "California" walnut. These are European walnut trees grown in California for nut production. These trees are watered and fertilized and have a really easy life. When they are cut down, they often have really beautiful wood. Problem is, it is usually VERY soft and won't take carving or checkering well. (a well-known phenomenon among modern custom rifle builders). It is also known as not being particularly strong, and the MORE SCRUPULOUS modern custom stock blank dealers will recommend the California walnut for "light recoiling rifles only".

I wouldn't consider buying European walnut sight-unseen. I get American Walnut that way, but ONLY from ONE supplier in PA that has gotten me some really nice chunks of wood in the past. Cherry can vary a bit in quality, too, and I would prefer to buy that only with it in-hand.

 

[Mike Brooks]

Most of the "english" Dunlap sells is cut on the east coast, usually around the DC area where he lives.
I've used some of the west coast "english" and havn't been burned yet, knock on wood!

Edited by Fatdutchman on 12/20/05 12:20 AM. Reason for edit: Because, because, because, because, because..because of the wonderful things he does!

Somebody has had a little too much spare time on his hands and has watched the Wizard of Oz a couple too many times..... :rotf:

 

[Stophel]

It's always best to have the wood in hand before buying, no matter what it is. Even then, someone like me can stupidly pick out a real loser of a stock!!! (I got myself a really soft piece of maple recently).

 

[Erzulis boat]

What about the lowdown on blank inspection?

Weight, figure, grain orientation, potential to warp after subsequent operations, etc.

Walnut.........

Maple..........

Fruitwoods.....

I could lay it on thick for exotics, but "Domestic" trees are not yet my forte'.

 

Claro is the same as european walnut, they just graft a european walnut slip onto american walnut rootstock. Any wood from the tree is actually european walnut.

 

[WRussell]

I'm betting the term is being bandied a bit. California Claro is native to the state.

 

[Erzulis boat]

Yes, Claro is it's own animal.
It is California's walnut. It was imported way back when for an individuals horticultural collection.
The finest, and original groves are located around Chico, California.
I have some awesome sticks in my secret, and in my super secret stashes. :grin:

 

[WRussell]

What's your address, and when are you away from home :grin:

My dad worked part time as a golf course contractor, and built a course up in that area. They had to remove a walnut tree, and he got a few pieces. I still have them. Nothing very fancy, but nice wood.

I visited a farm in that area and stood in awe at the walnut trees around his house - huge - they must be worth a whole lot of wampum.

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Merry Christmas Greetings Sawmp Rat and All,

Just a side note about French Walnut that really has no bearing on this subject at all. In the 1600, 1700, and 1800's, among those Frenchman who had land it was a tradition to plant a Walnut tree on the birth of a daughter.

Not sure exactly when this tradition started or if it is still being carried out. SUPPOSEDLY this became of her dowery

Best regards and good shooting,

John L. Hinnant

If you are not an NRA Member, why not? I am carrying your load.

 

[Erzulis boat]

Russel-

The sticks are for modern bolt guns, I wish I had some long enough for a fullstock or two!
Right outside Santa Barbara, there was a small grove in a tiny valley.
Late eighties perhaps, it was chopped down and sold. Guess who bought it all?
Some guys from Italy bought the whole shebang, and promptly carted it off to you know where. :hmm: