Please post pictures of your straight grain & curly Maple stocks

[Tennessee.45]

I'm about to order a stock and I'm having a hard time trying to decide between straight grain and curly maple, I know the straight grain is a little more forgiving on inletting.

I would like to see straight grain and curly stocks, please post pictures if you would so I can kinda get a visual.

 

[GreyWhiskers]

 

[Tennessee.45]

What grade is that?

 

[GreyWhiskers]

A Chambers kit. Fancy but not extra fancy grade.

 

[Ames]

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Grade 4, Pecatonica.

 

[GANGGREEN]

 

[BigBoreBLR]

People who sell stocks search for tiger maple. These plain stocks have look to them, just not consistent in direction, flow, and spacing.

Stain shows up differently in different grain orientation. A plain stock will get some color variation around the lock panel, the exposed ramrod area of the forestock, around the nose. And the cheek piece. Even more if you use more than one staining product.

I think tip curtis and tvm's website show the figure of their products well.

Also, your buying a stock. How much in letting is done? If much of the gun is finished, then don't worry about it.

This is my 2 cents. I like early guns with relief carvings and wooden patch boxes. With the most plainest of wood out there, they get tons of character.

Whoever you buy from, email them. I'm sure they got some pics.

I'd focus on how the grain flows at the wrist, how slow the tree grew by looking at ring spacing, how vertical and uncurved the grain looks from the butt, and any funny spots in the stock. After that, then look at your look.

An ugly 1 piece stock beats any 2 piece stock out there. A questionable grade 1 is much more likely to be rejected for sale then a high grade wood piece.

The worst stock to buy is one your afraid to carve.......

 

[Zonie]

Do as you wish but give some thought to my story about this rifle.

Years ago, I decided I would like to build a "boys rifle". Something that a fairly wealthy landowner might want to buy for his son.

It should be small caliber and rather plain but still be above a barn gun.

With this in mind I decided to buy a fairly plain maple stock so I ordered a #1 grade stock from Pecatonica River.
I also ordered a 13/16" octagon, .36 caliber barrel and cut its length down to 36".

At the time, I was "into" using German silver furniture so that's what I built the gun with, even though it isn't exactly HC.





Although the gun turned out pretty good, I've always kicked myself in the ass for buying that plain maple.
The gun would look so much better if I had stocked it in PR #3 curly maple.

 

[Dan Whalen]

Buy the highest grade you can afford. You will never be sorry. Dan

 

[wattlebuster]

Here is a slab sawn piece of plain maple built by Don Bruton when it was new a few yrs back

Here is a Haines kit from Chambers that I built bout 10 yrs ago with a pretty nice piece of maple. Just look at the curl NOT the big mistakes :idunno:

 

[Eric Krewson]

Grade 3 from Dunlap;



Also grade 3 from Dunlap;



For some reason I like inconsistent, random curl, it is more interesting to me then the picture perfect tight curl.

This was a grade 5 walnut but all the interesting stuff disappeared for the most part when I shaped the stock.

 

[Vaino]

When first starting to build LRs I chose only quarter sawn sugar maple blanks from Freddie Harrison for my first 4 LRs. These blanks were very, very expensive and made up into nice looking rifles.

Then I talked w/ Wayne Dunlap and was going to order his #7s and for what ever reason he talked me into looking at his #4s and $5s.....all in red maple which he said was very hard, So I bought one of each grade for a total of 3. A 25% discount for 3 blanks and the total price was a little over half that of one quarter sawn blank from Harrison.

Upon receiving the 3 blanks, looked 'em over and w/ my nail tested them for hardness and they were very hard. They made up into some nice looking LRs and had no problems w/ the shaping or carving.

The #7 was for an order which I normally didn't accept and the # 4 &#5 were made into spec LRs.

I realized what made an attractive LR was if the wood had some curl which wouldn't overwhelm the stock design and embellishments....have used lesser grades henceforth and not solely because of the lower price.

A MLer w/ a plain stock can look beautiful if done well and those made of American walnut bear this out along w/ those of plain maple. But, a little curl does add something to the aesthetics of a LR and I don't go out of my way to "pop" the curl...like it a little subdued.

A lot of beautiful LRs being shown previously.

Pictured below starting w/ the top pic is the #7. then the #5 and lastly the #4.....Fred

 

[wattlebuster]

I love a thread like this guys :hatsoff: Keep em coming

 

[Tennessee.45]

I agree, I'm a visual type and while I love the the fancy maple, but the 2-4 grades are more my style. Along with wood patch boxes, iron furniture, and no inlays

 

[32chevy vett]

My first rifle was straight grain with 10 G.S. inlays plus the full patch box. All my inlays came out very good. But I have always loved curly maple so I bought a full curly stock with all the some inlays. But now I have the inlays I'am afraid I will screwup as what I had to inlay I got pop outs of curly. So I just went with no inlays and straight lines.
When I see work like Flehto's it is just a work of art.

 

[Spikebuck]

Here are two of mine with more "muted" curl. I also have highly curled guns.

This is my .62 cal Virginia Smooth Rifle:

Here is my .54 Caliber Virginia, which has about as plain a maple stock as I've seen, but the coloration done by the builder gave it sufficient character. While you cannot see it in the pictures, when you hold it it seems as though you can see right down into the grain:

IMO, a beautifully built gun looks good with curl or without. A crappy-built gun with curl is just that...curl won't fix a bad build. And sometimes I've seen highly curled and decorated guns that have so much going on it clashes.

 

[hanshi]

I have stocks from very plain to, well, fancy, to my eye. This .50 youth/York hybrid (I'm that size) with wood I ordered as ++P; there are two more grades above this, by the way, so it's right in the middle.




This TVM stock was ordered as "plain" maple. Still, a fair amount of striping.

.36 iron mounted SMR with a plain stock. It still has a bit of figure in the grain.

.45 L. Lancaster from TVM was ordered with a +P stock; the next step up from "Plain". The cork in the muzzle indicates "loaded".

 

[Grenadier1758]

I have a very plain stocked "Derringer" rifle. We won't talk about how long ago I bought this $10 plain slab stock. Still, there is a little curl if you look hard enough in the bright sunlight.

My Harper's Ferry also has a plain stock as befitting a military based rifle.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
I generally like hard maple with muted figure for rifles with carving. Intense curl just obscures the carving. I save those blanks for plain guns.

dave

 

[Vaino]

I think I copied your Pbox design on your Virginia LR except it's browned steel...not intentionally.

The wood on this early Virginia LR came from Freddie Harrison and is a quarter sawn sugar maple blank....the dark stain mutes the curl which I kinda like.......so why buy this kind of expensive wood? .....Fred