Who likes maple?!

LoonWulf said:

Those preds are sick, they are a spliced/laminate design and tend to be both straighter and stronger than your average one piece cue shaft.

I've broken ferals, and the shafts on a couple heavy Players cues. They aren't particulary great pieces of wood tho.
I've still got a few of my old cues and none have any issues, they weren't kept real carefully either.

I have a great deal of faith in good maple, I also think it makes a really nice contrast with brightly blued steel.
Actually have had more issues with walnut cracking and chipping than any of the maple things (bow limbs, pool cue shafts etc) I use.

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i made a real nice cue stick just after high school. looked great, i made it on the lathe then center bored it and epoxied a new graphite fishing rod blank. then finished on the wood lathe. i then filled the rod blank with epoxy. i used beaver fur and bone for the tip.

Forgot about pool cues. My vintage 1978 McDermot birdseye butt, old growth ferrule is still going strong. Got the ferrule from a small maker in WI, it's salvaged wood from Lake Superior. Pretty plain piece, kind of a dusty grey color with no figure and VERY straight grain, but the action is astounding for touch shots, it sings. Haven't even lost any of the alabaster and ivory chess piece inlays in the Butt. On it's 3rd tip since I've owned it. I also own a maple core glass cue I use for breaking. Forget the maker on that, but I really like the action for break shots and it wouldn't break my heart if it broke. I rarely use the Viking, plain maple I got for shooting in sketchy bar leagues, just shoot so well with the McDermott.

Alaskan Ironworker said:

Got my grail gun yesterday. Winchester mdl.70 featherweight 30-06 in high grade maple. My other rifles may not be hunted with for a long long time. But it goes between my other model 70s nicely..375, 30-06, and the .270,(I know its an obsolete round) . I threw an old redfield 3x9 on it for now, but I can see a leupold vx3 3.5x10 in the near future. The funniest part was, all my buddies asked me “why the hell didnt you get a stainless and plastic rifle, are you crazy?” Then they saw the gun in person and now want one of their own.

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I also forgot to say in my first post that you've got a gorgeous rifle, and the vx3 will be solid set up.

One of the prettiest rifles I've seen was a Remington 541 stocked in Birdseye Maple. I lusted after that rifle, but couldn't afford it at the time.

Alaskan Ironworker said:

Got my grail gun yesterday. Winchester mdl.70 featherweight 30-06 in high grade maple. My other rifles may not be hunted with for a long long time. But it goes between my other model 70s nicely..375, 30-06, and the .270,(I know its an obsolete round) . I threw an old redfield 3x9 on it for now, but I can see a leupold vx3 3.5x10 in the near future. The funniest part was, all my buddies asked me “why the hell didnt you get a stainless and plastic rifle, are you crazy?” Then they saw the gun in person and now want one of their own.

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Maple - is hard as woodpecker lips.

Takes a little gettin' used to (as do the composites), but I'm likin'it.

The FN M70's are sweet.




GR

Mauser commercial Jaeger rifle of a friend's. Just gorgeous!!

Remington 700 .223 with a somewhat blonde stock... it's got a few scratches but still gorgeous!

^^^
Nice!

Alaskan Ironworker said:

Got my grail gun yesterday. Winchester mdl.70 featherweight 30-06 in high grade maple. My other rifles may not be hunted with for a long long time. But it goes between my other model 70s nicely..375, 30-06, and the .270,(I know its an obsolete round) . I threw an old redfield 3x9 on it for now, but I can see a leupold vx3 3.5x10 in the near future. The funniest part was, all my buddies asked me “why the hell didnt you get a stainless and plastic rifle, are you crazy?” Then they saw the gun in person and now want one of their own.

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Noticed while huntin' for my "stainless and plastic" M70, that they had this offering:



Maybe somethin' to think about if the maple works out for you.




GR

Do like Maple made some grips for a for a Ruger Standard .22LR pistol quite a few years ago, and also finished a Kentucky .45 rifle that had nicely figured maple wood, unfortunately I sold both firearms to friends. I always wanted a fine rifle with the birds eye maple stock, but at this time in my life, I think I'll just dream about it..

O.K. You are old-fashioned
Does not matter. To each his own.
BTW, say "Hi" to my son when you see him. He works up there in Wasila.

I must admit that most of my experience with maple comes from trying to rectify Bubba's botches from the late 1940s and early 1950s. These efforts soured me on maple gun stocks, although I must admit that three of the five came out pretty nice. One of the other two was returned to a military stock and the last is now in plastic.
Perhaps if the stocks weren't old, dried out and abused before I bought them then I might have liked them more.

Skylerbone said:

In the words of Bowie,

She got turned up nose...
She got everything!

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I won't question the sage philosophy of an Alamo defender...

This was a surprise. Marlin 336C in curly maple. Current production.

Just remembered I have a stainless 10/22 that came nestled in a beech stock. It got some 'modifications' and completely sanded down to bare wood. Then a coat of natural Danish oil and some johnsons paste wax.

Once the heavy masking stain ruger put on was gone, it was a much more beautiful stock. It was definitely blonde in nature. Not as pretty as birdseye or spalted maple, but neat nonetheless.

Alaskan Ironworker said:

Ive seen the stainless version garandimal, however nice, not my cup of tea. Call me old fashioned.

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Tell me about it.

Every time I see the new EW/SS, I think, "Who left their Rifle in my Freezer...?!?"






GR