I just picked up a used Browning A-blot and it has a composite stock, I'd like to make my own wood stock. I have a chuck of Ash, would that hold up to a 7mm Remington Mag? Otherwise I can get my hands on White and Red Oak. What's do the experts think?
Custom gun stock
- Thread starter go_deep
- Start date
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
Stocks are traditionally made of walnut. It has great strength to weight. I personally do not like oak, to heavy and more difficult to work with.
Do you plan on sending a piece of wood to a shop that has a profiler? Unless you are an experienced wood worker, making a stock from a blank hunk of wood will be difficult. I have made around 100 stocks and I start with an inletted blank that has the general shape of what I am looking for. Lots of people make inletted blanks. A good piece of walnut with some character and good grain will cost you several hundred dollars.
Here are several stocks I've made that are mine. The maple stock was made over 50 years ago, been refinished several times. The thumbhole is a really nice piece of walnut, probably 500.00 today. I made it 25 years ago.
Do you plan on sending a piece of wood to a shop that has a profiler? Unless you are an experienced wood worker, making a stock from a blank hunk of wood will be difficult. I have made around 100 stocks and I start with an inletted blank that has the general shape of what I am looking for. Lots of people make inletted blanks. A good piece of walnut with some character and good grain will cost you several hundred dollars.
Here are several stocks I've made that are mine. The maple stock was made over 50 years ago, been refinished several times. The thumbhole is a really nice piece of walnut, probably 500.00 today. I made it 25 years ago.
I'm going to do it all myself, well that's the goal. You've got a stock from maple CC? What kind of maple? I can get my hands on a fair about of that too. I've heard maple is prone to cracking?
I cut a blank out of ash already, but then after I cut it I wondered if it was as durable as walnut?
I cut a blank out of ash already, but then after I cut it I wondered if it was as durable as walnut?
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
It is eastern fiddle back (also called tigertail) maple. It has not cracked, but the forend did twist slightly. I reinletted the barrel channel and refinished the inside so it wouldn't absorb moisture. Maple has been used for years for stocks. Almost all the early "Kentucky Flintlocks" had maple stocks. Good maple is harder to get now than walnut. Whatever you use, make sure the wood has been kiln dried. It will be much less prone to cracking, shrinkage & twisting.
crzy_cntryby
Active Member
- Dec 9, 2014
- 269
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Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
Naturally right handed, but amberdexterous (sp?),I can shoot a pistol with either hand. My left eye is my master eye and it is just more natural feeling shooting lefty. Shot that way with a long gun since I was 7 years old.
Thanks...shooting lefty is why I started building stock as a teenager. My first ones were pretty crude!
Thanks...shooting lefty is why I started building stock as a teenager. My first ones were pretty crude!
I don't expect mine to win any awards, but you got to start somewhere.
Thanks for the advise!
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
In some respects thing today are a lot more forgiving. When I first started there was no glass bedding or pillaring. Today you can do an exact fit on the inletting, which is where most of you stock precision starts. Have fun, it's a great hobby.
libidilatimmy
Veteran member
In theory, black walnut is one of the softer hardwoods with ash and maple being 30-40% "harder" so to speak. As CC said, walnut is a popular choice with stock builders in respects to the woods work-ability, beauty, availability, and weight (it's less dense than some of the other choices). With a stock, you want to make sure that your blank has uniform grain for strength (i.e. free of knots) and the hardware is fitted correctly without binding against the stock anywhere as it will help alleviate any proneness to crack.