Better wood on air rifles

[Hold_Over]

CZ rimfires used to have some of the prettiest walnut of any factory rim fires, I sold the stock off one I had for more then I paid for the rifle and bought a plain jane one to put on it to squirrel hunt with.. Prettiest piece of walnut that wasn't custom that Ive ever seen on a production gun.
Really nice walnut is getting scarcer by the year, most really nice big walnuts with really crazy grain have been logged out for a long time.

Walnut has long been the classic for high grade rifle stocks. I expect in part due to beautiful patterns but also due to working aspects from a time when hand cut checkering was a thing. Now that many of the hard parts of stock making are automated there should be no reason manufacturers don't branch out into other woods that may not be as friendly to carving with hand tools.

 

[Oddhawk]

My father in law did and mother in law still works for Midwest walnut! And they have closed down the Iowa location and are just running out of Missouri. They used to supply a lot of the major manufacturers but now a lot is being bought by China and some in Italy, I have no idea what kind of impact that has had but I imagine some. The best wood I have had is on a kit muzzleloader from the 70s from a known Italian maker! And suggest for the do it yourself individual look to muzzleloaders building supply, the have different grades and are priced to it to! Just the blank is more than what I paid for the half put together kit.

 

[karl_h]

I've never seen a Henry in the store with wood anywhere near that good.

I have, memory sucks but I'd have to say actually far superior to that picture. Back in the 90's a small shop I just about lived in, was good friends with the whole family, had a couple come in for stock, one of them was stupid beautiful, the other plain as heck. Same sku, just random luck. The owner added 50 to the msrp on the good one and sold it in days, months later took an offer on the other not nice one, don't know what he sold it for but the sticker was 30 below msrp. The owner told me he should have added 100 at least but couldn't bring himself to put a price on a henry that high. I loved that shop, we had an understanding, my offers were cash all in no haggling just yes/no and he actually said yes about half the time. Went to his wife's funeral, then his son's funeral in under 2 years time, then his funeral just a few years later.

 

[Peashooter]

In old houses here in Denmark, you will often see fake marble on the walls ASO, it is however just paint, but it do look the part still after 100 years or so.

It is still faking it and so i personally always recognized it for what it is.

 

[TMH]

Seems like even though nicer/higher grade wood would cost the manufacturer more, it would also result in increased gun sales.

But at least since about 2021, what manufacturer has really needed increased sales? For a pretty long time it seemed like lots of different brand and model air rifles were just not available anywhere - the manufacturer was immediately selling all which they could produce. Even now when inventories are so much better, it appears to me like most (at least high end) guns are selling well, and at the manufacturer's list price. So why would the manufacturer want to increase their internal costs by specifying better wood?

We might see the return of some nicer wood (at least on special or upgrade models) as sales cool off due to the down economy.

From a personal perspective, I had been casually thinking about a standard power Daystate Wolverine to go along with my HP, since most of my regular shooting is inside of 40 yards. Handier length and a little less weight. I hadn't pulled the trigger, so to speak, on the buy - until I saw the gun model I wanted sporting some nicely figured wood on AoA's 'pre-owned' page. And since they show photos of the actual gun for sale, I bought it and am very happy to have at least a prettier-than-normal stock on my new Wolverine. The better wood turned a 'thinking about it' into a 'sale' for me.

 

[JDR]

I always thought the stock on the HW 35E was as gorgeous as any manufacturer's (not custom) firearm except maybe the ultra expensive ones (Blaser etc.).

 

[Hold_Over]

In old houses here in Denmark, you will often see fake marble on the walls ASO, it is however just paint, but it do look the part still after 100 years or so.

It is still faking it and so i personally always recognized it for what it is.

If a company is faking wood grain, the cost effective method would be to establish a pattern that works and make all of them the same. This would eliminate the so called luck of the draw between 2 rifles of the same make and model.

 

[357cal]

That has better character than my high price Kalibr guns in the ($1800) price range. The gun above would be hard to hunt with in my water log state (westside), it would be a wall hanger.

For states such as yours, you must properly seal your wood stock:

 

[RobBonnell89]

I’m sure that Henry was a cherry picked one for the picture. Probably a edited photo to. Although my personal Henry does have a pretty decent stock.
I was at a Airgun show over the weekend. The UK stuff seems to have the best stocks by far. Especially some of the older stuff I seen. They reminded me of a higher end powder burner. Nice wood that was checkered and shaped for comfort. Then even had a really nice blueing.
I’m kicking myself for not grabbing an older Falcon or webley pcp. I’m newer to airguns but was really surprised by those airguns. There was new stuff that had nice wood also. Something special about that older stuff(springers too).

Rob

 

[kayaker]

For states such as yours, you must properly seal your wood stock:

Your right , but my high end air guns never see the rain lol. The PB'S are another story complete tear down every night either in camp or home or you will have a rust bucket. Some of the best hunting is in the rain for deer and elk in my area and if you want to fill a tag you'd better be out in it.

 

[Vetmx]

Oh ya, you think air rifles have shyt stocks. This is a Weihrauch rim fire. All my Weihrauch’s put together wouldn’t score near this. View attachment 469655View attachment 469656Pictures say 1000 words. I’d pay extra to have this put on my springers. Crow

I hope I’m not the only one that became woozy and slightly disoriented when I saw your gun. Good grief!

 

[crowski]

I hope I’m not the only one that became woozy and slightly disoriented when I saw your gun. Good grief!

Music background for this stock. In a Gadda Davida by Iron Butterfly. Crow

 

[GrimJay]

CZ rimfires used to have some of the prettiest walnut of any factory rim fires, I sold the stock off one I had for more then I paid for the rifle and bought a plain jane one to put on it to squirrel hunt with.. Prettiest piece of walnut that wasn't custom that Ive ever seen on a production gun.
Really nice walnut is getting scarcer by the year, most really nice big walnuts with really crazy grain have been logged out for a long time.

I hear you on the CZ rifles, this is my 457 varmint left hand. I refinished the stock over the winter because I could see the figuring through the muddy factory finish.

 

[delooper]

I have heard all the reasons for why wood stocks are less available, less exciting in figure etc. From old growth availability, to high costs of timber etc. Yet every time look at PBs there is reason to doubt these ideas. Henry arms .22 octagon. This is a production rifle, not limited, or deluxe. Sub 500$, and yet the wood shows significantly better character than most AGs in the same price range. View attachment 469606

I have a Henry lever action and while the wood looks good, it's not quite that flashy.

 

[Hold_Over]

I have a Henry lever action and while the wood looks good, it's not quite that flashy.

I put a bunch of rounds through 1 earlier today that fits that same description...still nice though

 

[Ca_Varminter]

Here some timber on a couple of my Theoben Rapids MKII

 

[delooper]

Here's a couple close-ups of my Henry Long Ranger.

To me it looks like a well finished "good but not amazing" walnut.

 

[JimD]

I make furniture as a hobby. 4 bedroom sets in my house, 3 in each of my kids houses. A dining room table with 10 chairs for my house, a kitchen set for each of my kids. I've also made stocks for 4 of my PCPs. Only the little stock pieces for my Marauder pistol are special and the wood is not walnut, it's from the stump of an old oak that fell over. I used wood I had, I did not go looking for something special. I might in the future.

I suspect one factor for manufacturers is that some people would complain about highly figured wood. Fiddleback grain can be seen as different color in a striped pattern that others may not like. Furniture makers commonly stain wood to even out the color to avoid complaints. A lot of walnut gets steamed during drying to push some pigment out into the sap wood. This results in more of a grey color in all the wood.

The most figured wood in a typical tree comes from the stump. The part a little under the ground will have wild grain. It is not very stable, however, and people cutting down trees do not want their bar going into the ground where it will hit rocks. Rocks sometimes are in the root ball too. So harvesting that stump with it's highly figured wood does not typically happen. You want straighter grained more stable wood to inlet for the action but the butt can be of highly figured wood. Crotches are also highly figured. The area where a limb comes off the main trunk. But that wood is not very stable and is harder to work with as is all figured grain. Using a CNC router as most commercial stocks seem to be made may cause chunks to come off unexpectedly. They would need to take smaller "bites" when working with figured wood increasing cost.

There are trees where the whole trunk is figured, fiddleback grain would be an example of the type of figure they have but that is rare. There is demand, especially for walnut, so it will be priced higher. A gun maker buying a lot of wood will get some figured wood if the supplier doesn't sort it out. They may ruin it, however, if they do not adjust processing. A lot of walnut trunks get used to make walnut veneer plywood. They make more money than they do selling solid wood. Walnut also has a pithy center and the wood including that pith is not very desirable. A lot of solid walnut is cut up limbs. That is not normally very stable wood.

 

[beerthief]

I also much prefer a nice piece of walnut. And it is a shame that it's hard to get a decent piece. I know plenty of guys wouldn't mind paying a premium, myself included. This is probably the nicest piece I have. Gary Cane made this one for me from a shotgun blank. I couldn't find a replacement pistol stock anywhere since mine was stolen from storage. Thieves are dumber than dirt.

Second nicest is probably a "select" stock from custom stocks UK for my hw50. Pics don't do it justice.

Basically, if you want decent wood, you almost have to get a custom stock.
View attachment 469626

WO)W ! i would be offering money now IF this were a lefty .

 

[coastal drifter]

I had a Marlin with one of those highly figured stocks. It was just painted on somehow. When nicked, the wood underneath was plain white. No grain and no way make it match the original.

faux finish