Chestnut as stock wood
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Archie
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From reading....
A riflestock must be a dense hardwood. The wood has to be completely dry. Usually takes several months. Color and figure in the grain is extra.
The wood for gunstocks comes from the stump portion. I understand that's the hardest and densest part of the tree.
I don't think I've ever heard of Chestnut as rifle stock material. Pretty much everything else.....
A riflestock must be a dense hardwood. The wood has to be completely dry. Usually takes several months. Color and figure in the grain is extra.
The wood for gunstocks comes from the stump portion. I understand that's the hardest and densest part of the tree.
I don't think I've ever heard of Chestnut as rifle stock material. Pretty much everything else.....
American chestnut looks like a course grained oak and is similar to oak in properties ( old houses in this area have flooring and molding of chestnut).I don't know about european or oriental though I've never heard of a stock made in europe of chestnut.
Cadwallader
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Most Chestnut is a little too light and soft to make a good stock I'd think - but there's always the chance you'll find an exceptionally dense piece. The only American chestnut stock you'll find in any size is salvaged wood from old beams or whatnot and that stuff usually isn't cheap. It works easily, is pretty dimensionally stable and resists rot well if kept dry, has very pretty grain in many cases, and fumes a beautiful brown with ammonia - even better than white oak does.
Too bad the blight killed it off here - those old houses with chestnut trim and built-ins are just so pretty...
Too bad the blight killed it off here - those old houses with chestnut trim and built-ins are just so pretty...
OP
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Found out at a muzzleloader board that chestnut could be used. Reason why I raised the question was that the antebellum chestnut tree at the Museum of the Confederacy (Richmond, VA) fell as a result of Isabel's visit. Poor tree.
Anyway, rather than have it hauled at their expense, I suggested that they ask the gunshop (or cabinet shop) at nearby Colonial Williamsburg to haul it off. Save hauling cost and may even get some salvage $ for the tree. Everybody wins.
Anyway, rather than have it hauled at their expense, I suggested that they ask the gunshop (or cabinet shop) at nearby Colonial Williamsburg to haul it off. Save hauling cost and may even get some salvage $ for the tree. Everybody wins.
Virginia Rifleman
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Indeed...
This arm's three American brass barrel bands with their rear-side springs copied the iron bands on the newly arriving French aid muskets. A British Long Land Brown Bess 1756 pattern, in turn, provided the lock (marked, "EDGE 1756"), trigger guard, side plate, escutcheon and barrel, which was shortened from 46" to approximate the French length of 443⁄4". The colonists supplied a chestnut stock, a simplified butt plate resembling the English stepped design, and a hand-forged replacement cock still holding a crude locally knapped flint. As with many rebel muskets, no sling swivels were provided. Use as a hunting gun after the war is also apparent from the thinning of the bayonet stud to create a front sighting blade and a later dovetail near the breech to add a rear sight.
Length: 601⁄2"
Lock: 7"x11⁄4"
Butt Tang: 51⁄2"
Furniture: Brass
Barrel: 441⁄2", .78 cal.
Trigger Guard: 113⁄8"
Sideplate: 61⁄4"
Weight: 9.5 lbs.
My Virginia Longrifle is also made of reclaimed American Chestnut:
My source of reclaimed American Chestnut came from a moss-covered raft log that had been tangled in a swamp bog since the nineteenth century. The mossy swamp conditions perfectly preserved the American Chestnut logs as if they were freshly cut.
The wood was still green after it was shaven into a rectangular beam and microwaved. The wood was then carved after a Virginia Longrifle pattern and was still a little wet when the stock was completed. Because of this, the barrel had to be fitted. To the best of my knowledge, I do not believe that the original rifles and muskets were even built using kiln-dried wood, thus many weapons deteriorated much faster.
Anyway, American Chestnut is a bit pourous and therefore requires a bit of filler, but it still makes a fine stock that is quite hard enough. We must remember that American Chestnut was the dominant wood of the American Colonial era so I am certain that a fair share of makeshift weaponry contained this wood.
This arm's three American brass barrel bands with their rear-side springs copied the iron bands on the newly arriving French aid muskets. A British Long Land Brown Bess 1756 pattern, in turn, provided the lock (marked, "EDGE 1756"), trigger guard, side plate, escutcheon and barrel, which was shortened from 46" to approximate the French length of 443⁄4". The colonists supplied a chestnut stock, a simplified butt plate resembling the English stepped design, and a hand-forged replacement cock still holding a crude locally knapped flint. As with many rebel muskets, no sling swivels were provided. Use as a hunting gun after the war is also apparent from the thinning of the bayonet stud to create a front sighting blade and a later dovetail near the breech to add a rear sight.
Length: 601⁄2"
Lock: 7"x11⁄4"
Butt Tang: 51⁄2"
Furniture: Brass
Barrel: 441⁄2", .78 cal.
Trigger Guard: 113⁄8"
Sideplate: 61⁄4"
Weight: 9.5 lbs.
My Virginia Longrifle is also made of reclaimed American Chestnut:
My source of reclaimed American Chestnut came from a moss-covered raft log that had been tangled in a swamp bog since the nineteenth century. The mossy swamp conditions perfectly preserved the American Chestnut logs as if they were freshly cut.
The wood was still green after it was shaven into a rectangular beam and microwaved. The wood was then carved after a Virginia Longrifle pattern and was still a little wet when the stock was completed. Because of this, the barrel had to be fitted. To the best of my knowledge, I do not believe that the original rifles and muskets were even built using kiln-dried wood, thus many weapons deteriorated much faster.
Anyway, American Chestnut is a bit pourous and therefore requires a bit of filler, but it still makes a fine stock that is quite hard enough. We must remember that American Chestnut was the dominant wood of the American Colonial era so I am certain that a fair share of makeshift weaponry contained this wood.
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ranger335v
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The little bit of chestnut I've used was light, nice color and worked easy but seemed much to brittle for a gunstock to be subjected to any significant recoil.
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