would you prefer beech or walnut wood?

some of the new exotic stocks coming fron the far east are very dense woods that included China, Brazil and other countries

and by the way PLASTIC stocks are the RAGE now, look at the Panther stock for an example

but getting back to "wood", is it still beech or walnut maybe another kind of wood

what is your preference for a wood stock and what kind of wood

warren

PS: remember the wood grain, humidity of the wood and weight has an effect on the air gun, SOO please select your wood carefully

and remember "it's 30% the gun and 70% the shooter"

I don't really care what it looks like as long as it shoots accurately and powerfully.

Especially American black walnut, and tiger-striped maple's good, too. I asked about this maybe here or on another forum and it seems that beech really is about the best wood for airguns that put a lot of vibration/shock to the stock.

If you want a really, really, really tough/dense wood, you could go with ironwood. It's the only wood the US government approved for use as rollers in heavy machinery applications. But it would weigh a ton!

Seen some nice laminates. Not bad if the glue doesn't up the weight there, as well.

RF:

heard a lot of good things about laminates but they are custom stocks not OEM, besides laminates stocks can come in different flavors of wood.

the Jesus wood from Panama grows next to the beaches and are REALLY dense they are not trees about 2-3" in diameter in the base but are they strong

Brazil still has some incredible woods and so do some parts of the far east

warren

and remember "it's 30% the gun and 70% the shooter"

In my country we use to bern beech for hit in winter. So it is easy to understent that nobody likes this kind of wood in any stock, shotgun or airgun. Walnut is one of the best for this job espessially when it is a blank from root. I have a lamminate OEM stock in my 97K but it is with out chekering ,something hard done in this kind of wood but not imposimble, but i have see in custom made stocks some very well done designs. i have also a litlle experiance with tropical woods ,teak-sono,and i am happy with their performance untill now. I have hear that Heudua is suitable for airgun stocks also. Also one stock of mine is made from American walnut and i can say that is suitable for this job when it has good "waters". Sorry about expressions .

Ever since I bought a Beretta shotgun with a synthetic, stock I have changed my mind on wood stocks.I personally think they are superior to wood. I wish not I have bought a Panther 34 as opposed to the classic wood version. just op.

Dave

My Weatherby O/U wears a beautiful walnut stock that I really like.
My Weatherby rifle in .308 has a fantastic composite stock that is pretty and impervious to the weather.
My Ruger 10/22 and Mini 14 came with PLASTIC stocks that were ugly and cheap. Both have been replaced with Hogue Overmolded stocks that I like and are quite functional. Bottomline is you get what you pay for as with most items. Cheap plastic stocks have no place on any gun. If you don't want good wood the Hogue is as cheap as you can go and still get decent quality. McMillan makes some nice synthetic stocks for the money, I think that is who makes the Weatherby stocks. I have not seen the Panther stock but if it is like the plastic on the Rugers I couldn't deal with it. I have many other guns with varying quality of wood stocks that I much prefer over most synthetics.

James

I was just viewing the "Accuracy international" sniper gun. The starting price is around $6000.00 plus about 2 grand worth of accessories. Here is a probably the best long range sniper gun made. A rifle that can be used from the Arctic to the jungles of South America to the hottest deserts. Weather it be a nice Italians shotgun or a modern military weapon it appears that synthetics can out perform wood in all conditions. jmo

http://www.impactguns.com/store/accuracyinternational.html

Dave@vabch

Dave said:

"Weather it be a nice Italians shotgun or a modern military weapon it appears that synthetics can out perform wood in all conditions. jmo "

James replies:

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I would say my guns are split about 50/50 in wood/syntheteic stocks. It's the cheap plastic stocks I object to. The synthetic stocks are a real comfort and certainly have an advantage in the cold, wet mountains but there is just something sexy about picking up a nice over/under with a pretty wood stock. I certainly can't imagine my lever guns being anything other than wood though. Deciding on a stock is always a compromise as with most decisions in life.

James

the PRO's:

they are cheap, don't have to be replaced, pick your color, rugged meaning no dents or nicks, low maintenance

the CON's:

you cannot carve it or change it, what you see is what you get, no modifications' allowed, mostly made for right handed shooters (no lefties) lightweight, maybe not so bad but you cannot add weight (unless you FOAM the butt)

warren

PS: love the laminated stocks but they are the same in some way's as Plastic, you cannot change them easily

and remember "it's 30% the gun and 70% the shooter"

Some additional cons of plastic stocks.

The cheaper stocks as found on some rifles will warp and twist due to heat. Many have also had problems with getting brittle and cracking after too much UV exposure. One really needs to be careful when choosing a plastic stock. With many of the better synthetic/composite stocks you will not have these issues. Just out of curiosity who makes the stock on the panther and what would you consider it's quality to be?


James

James:

I believe the Plastic Panther stock is made by other countries, non German, maybe China, India but it is a strong stock, nice and foregiving

they are not for everyone. you have to take care of the stock being it wood or plastic

I have beech, rosewood, walnut and special laminated wood stock's, besides Plastic. my choice; special laminated wood stocks'

hard to make but "special"

warren


and remember "it's 30% the gun and 70% the shooter"

Beautiful piece of wood with dark caramel striping. Plastic may be fantastic but I would not trade that stock for all the tea in China. On a double gun plastic would be as out of place as on a Kentucky rifle. IMHO. The Hogue overmolded stocks are very nice. They have an excellent tactile quality plus they are durable.

I didn't think this thread was about OEM stocks, only. While there are custom stocks in many exotics and wild configurations, some stock makers such as S&K make off-the-rack replacement stocks that are quite nice. So did Fajaen before they went out of business. Check out S&K's website and you will see they offer 20 lpi checkering on their composites.

I think whatever works best for a given application is what you should stock an AG with. If you have choices, so much the better. Like most things, it's a matter of taste.

Just curious about one wood that hasn't been mentioned which is (I believe) Chou wood seen on many Chinese guns. I did briefly have a B-20 (yes, I confess) which had the usual light tan Chinese wood and it seemed pretty serviceable. But I have seen some guns, particularly the little TD22 clone of the Browning .22 takedown semi-auto that look like they are stocked with the same wood. On those, the checkering does not hold up (tips break easily) and they are prone to cracks in the wrist. Just doesn't seem to have the same density as walnut or beech. Maybe the air guns are using a different wood or better grade.

Warren: my choice is wood ! Walnut or beech or ............Sono Kembang !! For a nice rifle like the Diana's are I suppose wood is the best and "most honest" stock option however this is personal of course. We have to much plastic etc. on all our products these days ! Best regards from Johannis.

I guess I wouldn't mind an all weather stock if they also came with all weather actions ie nickel plated or some such material. Never had a problem with the new plastic triggers so I could get used to composite stocks.

So long as they have similar purpose built actions.

Harv

Both current Norica offerings. The beech gun has nice checkering patterns, as well.

Yeah, thanks Red', that's what I'm talking about. Dave G has made some really sharp laminates and his prices are very good for custom work. The FT lines he's created are nice.

I can see where the lams are going to appeal to more and more shooters. And it makes sense too I think. The R1, even some of the higher end rim and centerfires have laminate stock availability.

Those Noricas are nice looking. Maybe they don't have German triggers in them but neither did the early Theoben Super tens aned look what people can do with them! Hell I shot a few of those and they work. I don't see why a well crowned Norica barrel wouldn't shoot as well in the right hands. I know, I got way off topic again...

But its that nickel action and barrel in the top pic I really do like. Thanks for the pics on those.

Harv

happy as can be.
There is nothing you can do with a plastic stock.As you can see in the above post a beech stock can be made to suit your personal liking.
Walnut is the same you can it make lighter or darker depending how you finish it.Heck I even like that Chinese mystery wood on the B-3's.
Wood is real,mother nature put it here on earth.It can be repaired if dented,scratched or gouged.If ya get a gouge or deep scratch in plastic you live with it,its there forever. Of course you can always Bondo it and paint it.But once its screwed up in anyway its pretty much going to stay that way.And of course don't leave it in the sun to long or you'll end up with a banana peel.
Any kind of wood for me.
Redfeather that is one beautiful laminate stock you got there!!!
What kind of rifle is it?? One of these days I going to get me a laminate stocked gun.I really have my heart set on a HW97.20cal.in Blue.
So in short Walnut or Beech ?? It don't really matter to me as long as it came from a tree.


BBGun Bob
SE Mich.

Keeping it in the Bulls Eye takes concentration,skill and lots of practice.
Did I say PRACTICE??? A whole bunch of it Too !

The laminate is a current Norica I came across on a Spanish fellow's website. Reminded me of this thread. I then went to Norica's which shows it and the other gun. (Click on the compressed air link, then arrow down through the rifles on the left side of the page to get to the laminated.)

BTW, some Norica's have very good triggers. I recently picked up an 80G new-old-stock beginner's match rifle that is supposed to have a very good trigger. Haven't had a chance to mess with it yet. Russ Best has one and he thinks they have match barrels, as well. Not an LG55, mind you.

Yes, a lot of guns are being offered in laminates. The currently stocks are much more attractive than some of the early zebra-like models. And good hardwoods are in high demand. Same reason a lot of surplus Mauser 98K's sport laminated beech. Very stable, too. On the downside, they can still be heavy due to the bonding. Springers are heavy enough, already, so I guess you would have to watch the laminates used and styling. I like some of the atypical colors and hues which you can get with laminates, unlike solid woods.