Why isn't maple used in more shotgun/rifle stocks?

[Slamfire]

Because you will cry if you scratch it:

 

[JohnBiltz]

Maple CAN make a very serviceable, very nice looking stock. But it is more expensive, harder to work with, and heavier. In spite of that at one time it was the preferred wood for stocks. No reason it couldn't be used today as long as someone is willing to pay the price and deal with more weight.

Walnut wasn't chosen as the preferred wood because it was pretty. It became the standard because it was the cheapest readily available wood that met most of the qualities stock makers needed. Not too hard, nor too soft. Fairly light weight and strong for it's weight.

But over the years good walnut is getting very hard to find and expensive. Synthetics today are more common for exactly the same reason walnut was initially chosen. It is the cheapest alternative.

Rifles are stocked with synthetics because at one time they were all wood and people were buying synthetic stocks to replace them. It was probably the biggest after market item for rifles after optics. After a couple years of this manufacturers got the idea if we just put synthetic stocks on the rifles ourselves people will buy our rifles because its already got the stock that a lot of people really want. Eventually it pushed wood aside because they really sold. It was not the case where they pushed synthetics on the public and told them to pound sand if they did not like it. They were giving the public what they wanted.

 

[hdwhit]

bushmaster1313 asked:
It seems that plain maple is not used as much as plain walnut.
How come?

Maple will readily cleave along the grain.

Also, maple, unless finished with a pigment, will stain lighter than walnut and the fashion for many years has been blue metal and dark wood.

 

[hdwhit]

I once bought a stock for an M1 Carbine that was supposedly made out of birch. Rather than follow tradition and either 1) saturate it with boiled linseed oil, or 2) stain with an artificial walnut pigment dark and then varnish it, I elected to finish it without a pigment using tung oil; lightly sanded and buffed between coats. The result was a stock whose color I can only equate to brass after being tumbled with steel pins that looked like it was under water.

I liked it. Mostly because I had made it. My mother, charitably, said it was "nice". My father, mercifully, refused to say anything.

 

[DeanV]

Actually, maple needs a dye stain to get really dark. Maple is too dense to take pigments stains well. If the molecule size of pigment stain is the size of a skyscraper, the particle size of a dye stain is the size of a single brick. That allows it to penetrate into denser woods like maple.

 

[CoalTrain49]

Walnut is generally lighter than maple. Maple cracks when it dries.

If you have ever cut any maple for firewood you would see it for yourself.

Cherry does the same thing.

 

[GBExpat]

If you need more evidence just watch the bats break in in Major League Baseball. Though not all maple, a significant percentage are -- with the majority of the remainder being ash, I think.

Interesting. I have always thought that wooden bats (what I will always consider to be the only proper baseball bats), especially those used by MLB, were ash.

 

[quest4perfection]

How would Myrtlewood hold up? Too soft?

Made one out of Myrtlewood for my .204...beautiful, but isn't exposed to that much impact. Checkering can be an issue because points can break off during the process but with Myrtlewood I didn't want to risk it and I don't think it would add much to the looks.

I see several posts here how different woods split and crack. It would be good to remember that burled wood, as well many of the figured woods will stand up better. Try splitting firewood at a crotch. Even pine.

 

[CoalTrain49]

I look at this a little differently since I grew up in the furniture refinishing business. I'm not thrilled with maple or walnut because I grew up with it, I do wonder why some gunsmiths/manufacturers or stock/grip distributors don't buy a small supply of some "exotic" woods and try them. I consider cocobolo pretty common but how about some tulip wood, snake wood, basswood, red heart, purple heart, osage orange or even English yew? I've only worked with these woods in a non-gun way so I don't know if they could handle the stress but if that was my business I would find out and see if someone wanted to buy it.

I think mostly because those are very heavy woods. Adding weight to a shotgun or rifle generally isn't acceptable for sporters. Target guns maybe. Those are beautiful woods and make desirable picture frames and pistol grips but are limited in their use.

 

[quest4perfection]

Seasoned maple...

is alot harder than walnut. I did a birdseye stock back in the 60s and I will never do another one. Walnut is a dream to work with compared to maple. I learned my stock making at Trinidad St Jr College. Class of 64....chris3

Given your training, would you want to jump in here and talk about if birdseye will hold up to impact, vs. straight grain, vs. burled/figured?

Yes, Walnut melts like butter, however you tool it. American walnut anyway, which is where the limits of my experience with Walnut goes. Any thoughts about European Walnut regarding standing up to impact, as well as tooling ease? Beautiful stuff out there.

 

[quest4perfection]

It seems that plain maple is not used as much as plain walnut.
How come?

\

Plain is the operative word here. Plain Walnut has been used a very long time because of availability. In the present day, plain/unfigured Walnut often appeals to traditionalists who prefer the straightforward, simple appearance and beauty.

Unfigured Maple is indeed plain. Some people even paint them. Hmmm. Figured Maple, especially burl can be spectacular, if you like clearcoat. Staining doesn't always go well, due to variability in grain texture and how it absorbs into the grain differently

If you get a rifle stock blank, I would advise you to find out with as much certainty as possible how it was aged and for how long. Figured maple, such as burl, is used by major companies and independents in higher calibers. The irregularities help prevent splitting.

 

[quest4perfection]

Maple is beautiful but not as strong as walnut. I have a custom rifle that the smith fitted with a fantastic maple stock. Broke on first shot.

Re: your quote- AMEN! Cowards have no place in my world either.

 

[quest4perfection]

I used to work in a woodworking shop.
It's a guess, but i bet maple isn't used much because it's tough on tools. Most maples are harder than walnuts. It would be labor intensive making a stock by hand and tough on bits machining it for mass production.

While it is harder than walnut, it does tend to split easier along the grain than walnut like others have suggested.

Agreed on hardness. If you look up hard in the dictionary, it should have
see also Maple somewhere in there.

 

[Jim Watson]

I think it was stockmaker Hal Hartley who used the "Suigi" method on maple. He LIGHTLY scorched it with a blowtorch to bring out strong grain.

Birch and beech are common cheap gun and Euro military stock woods.
I recall little ads in the back of gunzines for "Amwal" which was actually stained sycamore.
My 788 .223 stock is some such substitute wood, but my .30-30 is walnut.
Winchester is well known for making lever action stocks out of gumwood.

 

[quest4perfection]

Myrtle wood is hard as all get out and not easy to work plus its always "alive". It will never stabilize so acts like wet wood all the time.

That's interesting. Never heard that before. I have a .204 in Myrtle wood but the blank had been shed cured for over thirty years. And I sealed the barrel channel, etc. and Never take it out in any wet weather. Built it as a keepsake for a family member.

 

[Walkalong]

When Maple fails, it tends to do so spectacularly. Makes some pretty stocks.

 

[Jackal]

Maple makes for a beautiful stock. I cut maple guitar blanks from logs. Patterns include quilted, fiddleback, tiger, up to AAAA grade. While a quality blank will cure in a kiln under very specific parameters, variance in temps, humidity, grain structure, grain direction, cut direction, heartwood presence, can all lead to a warped or cracked blank. Its very hard to work with. Meanwhile, throw a walnut blank under your workbench for a season and its good to go. Here's a AAAA quilted maple stock I had for a Winchester M70 Featherweight. It exploded during shipping due to the huge swing in temps/humidity between Northwest WA and West TX.

 

[quest4perfection]

I once bought a stock for an M1 Carbine that was supposedly made out of birch. Rather than follow tradition and either 1) saturate it with boiled linseed oil, or 2) stain with an artificial walnut pigment dark and then varnish it, I elected to finish it without a pigment using tung oil; lightly sanded and buffed between coats. The result was a stock whose color I can only equate to brass after being tumbled with steel pins that looked like it was under water.

I liked it. Mostly because I had made it. My mother, charitably, said it was "nice". My father, mercifully, refused to say anything.

You are blessed with a good family. Rudeness tends to rule the present day. IMO

 

[JeffG]

Maple is a great stock wood. It's hard to get it to take stain. Maple is a go-to wood for muzzle loading rifles. I use Fiebing's Leather Dye and Watco Danish Oil, or urethane.

 

[mnrivrat]

I built three custom rifles over the years. One was stocked with #2 fancy Maple which I made full length holding a Model 1903 action. I can attest to the Maple being hard to work with and a lot of time went into that stock. I shot it for about 5 or 6 years before a gentlemen who was collecting Hap Ahlman guns decided he wanted it. It had fairly nice stripping, 20 coats hand rubbed linseed oil finish and was in 30-06 caliber. No problems with cracks but it was also notably heavier than Walnut. I used Cherry wood on my second build with a FN Mauser action in 7mm Magnum.
That barreled action came from Herters and was in a close out barrel for $25 at that time. They had a 55 gal paper barrel near full of Mauser and BSA barreled actions for $25 and $35 respectively . (good old days)

 

[hemiram]

A friend of mine bought an old S&W 27 with Birdseye Maple grips on it. Wow, I really liked them. I tried to get him to sell them to me and put his "coke bottle" grips on it when he sold it, but he would never name a price. He got offered an insane price for the gun with the maple on it, and off it went.

I haven't seen a set of grips I liked as much as those since.