Better wood on air rifles
- Thread starter Hold_Over
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I love my wood stock airguns. Yes, I have an FX Impact, with AR stock and yes getting used to it. I'm mainly into bench so a classic wood stock suits me better. I just ordered a K&L butt stock w bag rider and hoping this works for me.
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The factors that make walnut the preferred gunstock wood for most seem to be a combination of it's color (dark but not too dark), weight (fairly light for a hardwood), strength, stability, semi ring porus grain (oak is ring porus, cherry and maple are fine grained, walnut is in between) and the fact that it has fairly common fancier grain. Cherry and maple have figured grain about as much as walnut but are lighter in color and lack the somewhat interesting semi ring porus grain. Hard maple is heavier but soft maple and cherry are similar to walnut in weight. Oak is heavier and stronger and very rarely has figured grain patterns. Beech is often used in inexpensive stocks and is pretty similar to oak in weight and strength and lacking figured grain. It is usually stained darker. Many woods will work. I wouldn't use gum and some others but I might make a stock of southern yellow pine. It is harder than most think, quite strong and relatively light. But I would want a piece without a lot of resin in it. I used some western red cedar for drawer interiors recently and thought it was interesting looking. Very light but also quite soft. I made two of my stocks for P35s out of wood from old church pews. Traditionally it would be mahogany but I am pretty sure this is luan - the same material often used in reddish 5mm plywood. It is light and strong and reasonably hard. And it was free. The grain is not very interesting but I put a forend cap of my figured oak material on one of them.
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Some company like Daystate and AirArms source their stock from Menelli. What I don't understand is why they stain and cover the wood grain. Here is my BSA R-10 after I striped the stain and finish with Ostermayer Jagd oil.
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Another thing that would be nice would be to see them step up the quality of the fake wood. There are a LOT of airguns that just don't cost enough to make real wooden stocks profitable, but we've come a long way from where we were in 1975 when it comes to making realistic, high quality fake wood and there's no reason for a Crosman 2100 to have a stock on it that looks as fake as a three dollar bill. They need to make the fake wood look and feel real.
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Some times you just got to do it yourself if you want a nice wood stock. This Gamo Urban I restocked a couple of years ago. The last pic is my current project using California claro walnut.
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I almost pulled the trigger on a walnut stock from Pyramyd for my TX200, but fortunately didn't. It was probably just a fencepost. Better get your wood stocks now, because I think they are going the way of the dinasour.
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Those AA wood stocks are actually really, really nice. I’ve got beech on my S410 and walnut on my TX200 and I’d be really happy if the rest of my guns had similar quality wood on them.
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I much prefer synthetic or composite. Preferably glass or carbon fiber. I would rather spend the money on stainless and titanium.
And this is my Marlin 39A Mountie .22S/L/LR manufactured and purchased the year I was born and has been with me my entire life and has fired zillions of rounds. I have a number of Marlin rifles and none of them have painted on figure but many lesser models had beechwood stocks. That ain't painted on:
The 39(A) was the longest produced shoulder firearm. In today's dollars it would take about $1,500+ to produce one new. Which is probably why thus far Ruger has not.
A lot of air rifles in this thread do have nice wood figure but they are all awfully chunky. Air rifles as a breed need to go on a diet and slim down some, weight and girth. Just too bulky.
And this is my Marlin 39A Mountie .22S/L/LR manufactured and purchased the year I was born and has been with me my entire life and has fired zillions of rounds. I have a number of Marlin rifles and none of them have painted on figure but many lesser models had beechwood stocks. That ain't painted on:
The 39(A) was the longest produced shoulder firearm. In today's dollars it would take about $1,500+ to produce one new. Which is probably why thus far Ruger has not.
A lot of air rifles in this thread do have nice wood figure but they are all awfully chunky. Air rifles as a breed need to go on a diet and slim down some, weight and girth. Just too bulky.
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gorgeous and soooooo cleanI much prefer synthetic or composite. Preferably glass or carbon fiber. I would rather spend the money on stainless and titanium.
And this is my Marlin 39A Mountie .22S/L/LR manufactured and purchased the year I was born and has been with me my entire life and has fired zillions of rounds. I have a number of Marlin rifles and none of them have painted on figure but many lesser models had beechwood stocks. That ain't painted on:
The 39(A) was the longest produced shoulder firearm. In today's dollars it would take about $1,500+ to produce one new. Which is probably why thus far Ruger has not.
A lot of air rifles in this thread do have nice wood figure but they are all awfully chunky. Air rifles as a breed need to go on a diet and slim down some, weight and girth. Just too bulky.
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"A lot of air rifles in this thread do have nice wood figure but they are all awfully chunky. Air rifles as a breed need to go on a diet and slim down some, weight and girth. Just too bulky."
I agree with 3Crows, love of a particular attribute doesn't necessarily mean you get along with the whole thing, and not just with wood. Airgun stocks do need to go on a diet, at least the hunting stocks do. The stock on my Paradigm (a mostly hunting design) is just too bulky, even if it does look good. Get the weight less, the size down, and the strength up, and if you can do that with great looking wood, awesome! If you can't, emulate or move on, unless the beauty of wood is your actual priority. If that's the case, with current trends, it's really going to cost you, there is just no doing that well, cheaply.
I agree with 3Crows, love of a particular attribute doesn't necessarily mean you get along with the whole thing, and not just with wood. Airgun stocks do need to go on a diet, at least the hunting stocks do. The stock on my Paradigm (a mostly hunting design) is just too bulky, even if it does look good. Get the weight less, the size down, and the strength up, and if you can do that with great looking wood, awesome! If you can't, emulate or move on, unless the beauty of wood is your actual priority. If that's the case, with current trends, it's really going to cost you, there is just no doing that well, cheaply.
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Totally agree with you guys, I like classic looking guns. So when I customize my a PB's and airguns, I make it a priority to have classic line and the least possible weight without compromising strength and accuracy. Below is another Gamo Urban I finished last year. It is 4.3 oz lighter than the original plastic stock.
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The problem your showing is the Diana 48 doesn't come with walnut just beech. Also I think the issue that many are forgetting here when it comes to price wise, airguns are a LOT more complicated to make than a rimfire/centerfire. I could be wrong but I doubt it. So similar costing airguns to firearms I think more goes into the gun and mechanisms itself. Now not saying companies shouldn't add walnut to their lineup but I think the majority of airgunners will pick the cheaper stocked option. The market for airguns is way smaller than firearms at least here in the US. I'm sure they can make the difference in cost for walnut with the amount of sales vs airguns. Again could be wrong but that's my thoughts. Also chances of getting a stock like that on a cheap firearm I'd expect very very slim.I don't imagine this fits the price point I was referring to...but it is good looking.
This right here is what I am saying....
Diana Model 48 | Spring-piston Air Rifle | Airgun Depot
Check out this great deal on the Diana Model 48. Need advice? Let our airgun specialists help you today!www.airgundepot.com
If ag companies want to have better looking wood, they could. By the cherry picked advertising photo idea....this diana 48 is the best you can expect if you buy 1....boring.Henry H001t Lever Frontier Octagon 22lr
The popular Henry Lever action is now available in a frontier version with a 20" octagonal barrel, fully adjustable semi buckhorn rear sight, beaded front sight and metal band. Features the famous smooth Henry action and American walnut stock. The receiver is already grooved to accomodate a...www.smga.com
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While this one isn't quality grain wood, my first PCP (like many of you) was a Benjamin Marauder. Good shooting rifle of good quality, but as airgun and Crosman tradition goes, the stock screamed cheap and ugly. So I decided to re-shape it. After much grinding, filing and sanding, I came up with this shape and took off almost a pound of unwanted undeeded wood. Notice the cheekpiece on one side is gone too. I tried staining it, but it really looked like crap. I think Crosman must have found a truckload of old wood pallets they used to make stocks. So I painted it with bedliner. At least, to me, the shape is much more pleasing.
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Probably not the usual grade of wood for that gun. and lucky to have made it out of the factory. Had I been working there it would have gone home with me, even if I had to pay a premium. I have a 1942 Swiss K31, military rifle with a French walnut stock that looks as good as that one.
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You certainly have the skills and that indeed is a very svelte Urban! What it should have been though I rather like the OE stock too, yours is better all around, function and beauty all in one
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Thanks, I tried using the original stock, I even tried a heat gun to flatten the hump on the comb. I just can't get a good check weld without a very high scope mount.You certainly have the skills and that indeed is a very svelte Urban! What it should have been though I rather like the OE stock too, yours is better all around, function and beauty all in one
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The first stock I made for one of my P35s was mainly a 2x6 I cut in half on my bandsaw and then laminated around a piece of 3/4 thick softwood to get to the necessary thickness. Initially I stained it but then I decided to modify it to get my trigger hand a little further from the trigger so the trigger would be on the last joint of my trigger finger. I added a piece of wood and tuned up the shape with bondo. I got the fit I wanted but it looked like heck so it got painted. I do not use that stock at this point but it is the lightest I've made and it worked fine. If all you do is subtract wood you should be able to refinish but if you have to add some, I've found it hard to make it look like much which to me indicates it needs paint, not a clear finish. I transferred the knowledge I gained on the softwood stock to subsequent stocks in luan and cherry. I get the luan from old church pews. The color is a nice dark red but the grain is not very interesting. It is pretty light, however, and quite strong. Cherry looks nicer once it darkens from sunlight (gets a tan) but it is heavier. This picture is of my P35 in 25 caliber which has an after market plenum and a stock of luan with a nosepiece of highly figured oak from my deceased "killing tree".
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