Gun stock wood

[Twdmar]

I am preparing to build another wooden prone stock for long range and I am trying to decide what kind of wood to use.
I would have used walnut and laminate in the past but am looking for something a little different. I like the mango that doan trevor uses but not sure I can get any.
I have considered cherry but it's a bit plain and considered staining maple a colored stain.
Basically, what lesser known woods are there that still satisfy the physical characteristics for a target stock? Thanks

 

[Cloudrepair]

I am preparing to build another wooden prone stock for long range and I am trying to decide what kind of wood to use.
I would have used walnut and laminate in the past but am looking for something a little different. I like the mango that doan trevor uses but not sure I can get any.
I have considered cherry but it's a bit plain and considered staining maple a colored stain.
Basically, what lesser known woods are there that still satisfy the physical characteristics for a target stock? Thanks

I think a hickory maple Lamanate would look good but not sure how suitable hickory is for this purpose

 

[Dusty Stevens]

How about redwood? Ash?

 

[Twdmar]

I have read that hickory never truly stops moving which is a shame because someone is really cool looking. Mesquite is also gorgeous. This will probably be a 3 piece laminate.
Ash is hard as nails but not too sure about anything else. Something to think about and I dont know where to find redwood except my friends deck

 

[Bc'z]

My brother in law does custom guitars.
He did one in a nice maple with great figure.
Sprayed with a blue candy with a lil extra highlight on the edges.
Freakin beautiful.

 

[swd]

Koa can be very beautiful but pricey. Heavy if you need the weight.

 

[mikeeg02]

Redwood is very light, but can be miserable to machine and very very easy to "ding" even after finished. I would be cautious using it on the exterior panels. It is also a little miserable to sand. The grains are very hard, while in between is very soft. So it takes a lot of patience and awkward holding to sand it and take out the ripples you just made. I have a full size stock similar to a tooley mbr that @jghoghunter made for me for my 12# silhouette gun. Hes done several now.

 

[Papa Charlie]

I have always loved the look of Birds Eye Maple with a nice dark stain. Here is an example of a light stain.

 

[JFrank]

My brother in law does custom guitars.
He did one in a nice maple with great figure.
Sprayed with a blue candy with a lil extra highlight on the edges.
Freakin beautiful.

Is your BIL familiar with Lawler guitars??

 

[Bc'z]

Is your BIL familiar with Lawler guitars??

I'd have to ask him. I'll get him to send me a pic of the blue one so y'all can see it

 

[JFrank]

Lawler guitars
Is owned by Jason and Stephanie,
(My ex wife) now located in Tacoma wa. They sell and ship his humbucker designs and products world wide.
Jason is a great guy that started from scratch.

 

[mikeeg02]

Heres one Jesse did that the owner wanted a few things changed and I refinished it for him as a surprise. The ripples you can see are not actually ripples. It's hard to get a good picture. I like the way redwood looks cleared.

This is also a 12# silhouette gun.

 

[butchlambert]

I like redwood laminate with carbon fiber cloth.

 

[akajun]

stay away from elm, looks funky and does not take color well, it strong and tough. I have seen a pecan/hickory stock, again, a tough wood, does not take color well.

Kind of odd but I saw one made of persimmon that was cut down locally. It was actually really nice looking, took color, and was fairly dense. Guy finished it in a clear coat high gloss finish.
I don't know where or if you could find that commercially though.

Maple is always nice, either curly or birds eye.

A live oak stock from a tree that is "twisted" ( anyone that has ever tried to split this for firewood will know what im referring too) would probably look great. Oak takes color and finish well, is dense and tough.

 

[Twdmar]

The carbon fiber cloth is a good idea but how does it machine? I am leaning heavily towards ambrosia maple.

 

[dskogman]

I’ve got some nice grooves in my planer blades from carbon fiber

 

[joshb]

It all depends on the piece more than the type of wood. I like Walnut. Just about any piece of walnut looks good for a stock. I just tried Sapele’. When it’s quarter sawn, it’s gorgeous and pops. The piece I got wasn’t. Bubinga is nice. I have a few blanks in my line up. I also have some Mesquite that I’m letting stabilize in my shop. It can be hard on tooling. I did a few out of Epe’. Dark and pretty, it chips easily. Turns out, I’m allergic to it and I had to wear a hazmat suit to finish them. I went to Home Depot a couple weeks ago and found a nice tiger striped piece of maple in thier pile. Cost me $40.
I wouldn’t use hickory or Ash. It moves!
Sapele. The piece glued on the forend is quartered.

Epe’

1x6 Maple from Home Depot glued together

A nice piece of Walnut

 

[tobnpr]

I like A-Fancy or better Maple sometimes for a change...

 

[LitLBoy]

Beech from a 100 year old barn beam!

 

[polebilly]

I'm new to stock building, but if you are looking to keep weight down don't discount cherry. Yes it can be plain but I remember a guy with a custom cherry stock that shot XTC a number of years ago and he had a cherry stock that would turn your head like a hot redhead.