Wonderful Walnut
A Trip Through The Lumberyard
English walnut matched with gorgeous case colors is a hallmark of Continental shotguns. Photo: Nancy Anisfield
I had to suppress my glee at Susan’s misfortune. Evidently, one of those pesky fall hurricanes toppled the 100-year-old black walnut tree growing in her yard and she didn’t know what to do about it. I did, for while I was talking with her about the tree, I was emailing my stock-making buddies to see how they wanted it cut up. Their responses came back instantly, and Susan and I agreed that the following week I’d drive the 10 hours to her home, cut it up and get it off of her lawn.
The day prior to my departure I rang up Susan.
“Hey, just letting you know that I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said.
“What’s the occasion for the surprise?” she asked.
“I’m coming to cut up that black walnut tree in your yard.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet of you, but there’s no need,” she said. “I had it cut up and split the day after we spoke. Now I’ve got three winters’ worth of firewood! But what time should I expect you, and is Angela coming, too?”
This Cosmi stock’s exquisite color and figure matches the uniqueness of the shotgun itself.
The Dilemma
If you’ve framed recently with some 2x4s then you might have noticed their quality is quite a bit different from those you bought in the past. These days, to satisfy increased lumber demands, trees are being cut before they’re mature. All trees have dense, strong heartwood in the center and softer, weaker sapwood in the outer rim. The older the tree the more heartwood and the more heartwood, the better the quality. Trees harvested when they’re young results in lumber with more sapwood. When it comes to lumber as with Scotch, patience really is a virtue.
Of the many different types of wood usable for firearm stocks, walnut became the de facto choice. Walnut is a hardwood that withstands the outdoor environment, handling the hot and cold as well as the wet and the dry. It has a tight grain and handles heavy working while maintaining its shape when dried.
Drying is a process that isn’t rushed. Stock makers initiate drying by staking wood so that air can circulate easily. The stacks will be left alone for between a few months and a few years. When the initial moisture is removed, the wood is dried in a kiln for up to a week. The goal is to achieve between 7% and 8% moisture in the wood.
Walnut achieved its popularity honestly. The denseness of the wood helps absorb shock from recoil, can be fashioned to create a robust Beavertail forend, a Monte Carlo stock, a splinter forend or straight English stock. Select from a variety of grades ranging from a simple, functional blank to highly figured piece of art.
Stock makers like the ease of working with walnut. CNC machines can be programmed to work with it, too. Photo: Upland Gun Company
The Same But Different
Various species of walnut trees grow in many different counties, meaning many types of walnut are available to small gun shops as well as large manufacturers worldwide. English walnut has excellent figuring and has been a favorite of stock makers for a long time. American walnut is equally popular and has appeared on many shotguns for over a century. In the past several decades there has been an increase in the use of Turkish walnut, with highly prized qualities being its durability and unique grain patterns.
Circassian walnut continues to be popular and is appreciated for the distinctive black lines that offer interesting marbling. Other popular walnuts are French, Claro, California and Bastogne.
When looking at a piece of walnut, most folks refer to its figure. Figure describes the wood’s aesthetic characteristics. Figure can appear as a ribbon, a swirl or a wave. You’ll also see what are called mineral lines and they are straight or slightly wavy. Mineral lines come by their name honestly as they are the lines formed from the type of minerals found in the soil where the tree grew.
Walnut is the de facto choice of wood for shotgun stocks.
There are a dozen different types and grades of the wood.
Photo: Upland Gun Company
A Passing Grade
Lots of different grades are used to describe the wood’s grain, color, an interesting figure or a blemish that might be on one or on both sides. Some confusion may come as they are often described differently. Companies offer four or five different grades while others can feature up to a dozen. Some use words to describe the grade while others use letters, numbers or both.
The first point of entry is the Field Grade. The grains in these stocks are straight, but the color is uniform and there is little, if any, figure. They are durable and economical, and these Plain Janes help keep down a shotgun’s cost. Fancy grades have sharper grain patterns with hints of color. About 25% of the stock has figure. Extra Fancy has an increasing amount of figure and color, with closer to 50% of the figure appearing on the stock. Exhibition Grade is the stunning top shelf wood, with outstanding color and lines, with 75% of the stock being highly figured. There are variations within these four categories, and if you’re getting stock work done then be sure to understand the criterion for the grades.
Anything done in moderation shows a lack of interest. Truth be told, I wanted a piece of Susan’s Black walnut for a Parker VH I was going to restock. It didn’t work out, but I fell in love with an Exhibition grade slab that should have been used on a Parker high-grade gun. On one shoulder was a voice that said to stay “period correct” and go with a simple, economical Field Grade American walnut. But the voice on my other shoulder said we only go around once in life but if we do it right, then once is enough. I went for it and had the Exhibition Grade stock made to my dimensions. I smile every time I pull her from a case, and these days it’s worth a whole lot more than the price of admission.
