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About Juglans regia - English Walnut This is the thin-shelled English Walnut, also called Italian, European, Circassian, French, Royal, Russian, and Turkish. It’s all the same wood, but color and grade vary by location of where it grows. This is the king of the gun woods and most sought after and most expensive in the gun world today. Grading of this wood is all about the amount of streaking and marbling in the wood, and the colors of this wood can vary from very blond to very highly colorful pieces. There are many misconceptions about what part of the tree produces the best gun wood. Many people have the conception that root wood is the best, when in fact this is totally wrong. Root wood has no strength or durability, and is very difficult to become stable. Root wood is very pretty and has the typical zig-zaggy lines seen in much of your Turkish blanks. We, at Old Tree, will not, and refuse to, cut root wood, as it is not stable type gun wood. The roots are more porous from being underground the whole life of the tree. Now if this root wood is also steamed or kiln dried, then you’ve taken a bad piece of wood and made it worse. Yes, it’s pretty, but that’s all it is. The best gun wood is at ground level where the trunk flares, going clear up to the first forks. Stability and Layout Stability is the single most important issue in gun wood, along with correct layout. Correct layout means the gun wood is straight grained through the wrist area and flows straight into your receivers. There are many in this industry that are selling blanks with bad layout. Bad layout can be determined by looking at your wood going into your receiver. It should never be going in at an angle or going down your forend area on a rifle at an angle. This wood has to be straight. The wood can have color patterns and mineral streaking in these areas, but the grain of the wood itself has to be straight. If it is not, you have a problem piece of wood. Correct layout is guaranteed at Old Tree Gun Blanks. Air-Drying and Seasoning Wood Steaming and boiling remove the oils in the wood, therefore making it cure and dry in as short as 2 weeks after being cut. This is not a practice that should be done on gun wood. These practices were designed for structural wood, not gun stocks. Kilning, steaming, and boiling will leave traces of these practices. The wood will not want to take a high polish, and many times the internal fiber structures of the wood will be damaged. At Old Tree Gun Blanks, all of our wood is air dried and seasoned the way it should be. For more information, view our How We Select, Mill, & Air Dry Our Wood page. Exotic African Rosewood Bubinga Gunstock Blanks We offer these blanks in 2-piece only. Very beautiful hardwood, very stable, the gun wood of choice by many African big-game guides. This wood is 3-dimensional, changing colors in different light conditions and angles. Takes a glass finish, and is very nice to work with. Very comparable in weight to walnut. If you want gunstock wood that gets attention, this is the wood you want. As far as we know, this is not offered as gun wood by anyone else in the US. Gallery of Pictures Click here to take a look. Custom Gun Maker Referrals View our Custom Gun Makers page for information on where to start when it comes to restocking a gun or upgrading your existing gun with fancier gun wood. Also look here for custom gun maker referrals. English Walnut, Black Walnut, Bastogne Walnut, and Screwbean Mesquite Rifle Blanks and Shotgun Blanks in inventory. If you do not see the perfect gunstock blank for your project posted on our web site please consult with us to find out about additional stocks we have in storage. We also have more Screwbean Mesquite in storage if you do not see what you need on our web site. Why Buy Turkish Walnut When You Can Buy US Walnut? A review of how walnut gunstock wood is cured around the world. Read about how we select our trees, mill and dry our wood, and what you need to watch out for while shopping for walnut wood around the world. And then, read the DoubleGunshop.com article "The Proper Drying of Gunstock Blanks" for yet more information. |
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