Ash squirrel rifle

[sdilts]

With this being my third ash stocked rifle, I have come to the conclusion that I really am not that fond of working with ash. But I thought I would post a few pictures. It has a 38" 32 cal Early American Rice barrel with a small Siler lock. Per my friends request, it was painted with 2 coats of Krylon flat black paint rubbed down and then stained with LMF American walnut stain. The oil finish is Chambers oil rubbed down with rottenstone. All metal parts are rust blued. I did the steam thing on the barrel.

[gusd]

I like the look of the black in the grain. Looks great!
Gus

[Marcruger]

I find your finishing method to be much better looking than many ash stocks I ‘ve seen. Nicely done. God bless, Marc

[Mike Brooks]

Yep, seen the Krylon right off. I'm a Rustoleum guy.

[RJD-VT]

I agree with Marc. You made that wood look really nice. Here the locals call Ash firewood. But then they give Maple the same name
Any squirrels yet?

[wattlebuster]

I'll give it a redneck thumbs up. Nice Job

[Sawfiler]

Best y'all enjoy your ash stocks now. The borers came through here last year and wiped out all the ash on our farm in southern VA. From what I understand there will be very few ash trees left after these bugs have finished spreading across the country. The trees are very recognizable after being infected - the bark sloughs off in large sheets.

[Jeff Durnell]

No ash left here in western Pa. All dead.

Very nice, clean looking gun.

[flehto]

Have 3 smaller ash trees that didn't bear leaves this year but 2 made it....wonder how long these 2 will last.

Watch pro baseball on TV  and noticed a lot of broken bats....ash is no longer used  for bats and  maple is now used  which evidently doesn't have the strength of ash. Is it true that one of the main uses of ash was for the masts on sailing ships?.

That's a really nice looking rifle...the ash stock isn't as gaudy as some......Fred

[FDR]

Now that's a rifle for a squirrel to die for!  Extra nice.

Fred

[alacran]

Sdilts I'm surprised that it took you 3 rifles to realize that ash is no fun to work with for a rifle.
 That being said I really like the finish of this gun. What I like the most though is the quality of your inletting. I don't often comment on guns that are posted. Inletting is not the first thing I look at, the lines are. However nothing spoils a rifle for me like poor wood to metal fit. You did a great job on this rifle.

[sdilts]

Thanks for the compliments. I always try to get the inletting as best I can. I figured on my first two ash stocks I just was not used to working on something other than maple and walnut. On the third I decided it's just too chippy. I do a lot of scraping on my inletting and found out in a hurry that you have to be really careful and sharpen your tools a lot. I sure wouldn't want to try and carve it. All that being said, I have another ash stock that I'm going to do something with. I'm just a glutton for punishment I guess.

Steve

[JohnnyFM]

I’ve never heard of ash squirrels.  Are they a subspecies of the grey?  I’m sure your Beauty of a rifle gun would be just as deadly on other types of limb bacon as well, I reckon.  And what’s gonna happen to the ash squirrel once all the ash trees are da-AY-Ed!?
But, boy, that really is a good looking little rifle you made.  But back to ash squirrels. Maybe they ain’t got nothing to do with the ash tree bugs maybe ash refers to the color.  But isn’t ash really Gray? Now I’m really confused. But this here rifle sure is got pretty lines.  You did an excellent job.  So if ash squirrels really are like greys then, are there black ash varieties? Cuz ya know there are pure black grey squirrels and even pure white ones too.  So if they’re black ash squirrels then there must be white ash ones too?  Do you prefer black ash or white ash? Oh, maybe I should start a new thread on that subject.  Sorry if I’m rambling. I need to drink less coffee with this medication.
Anyway, great little rifle ya made there. Maybe one day I’ll get to finish mine, but mine is made a maple.

[Jim Spray]

I really like this style rifle. Everything you need in a simple and elegant package. Ash stock is a plus for me. No ash trees left here.

Jim

[hudson]

Beautiful rifle makes me wish I would have saved some wood from the huge ash that got chewed on in my yard.

[WadePatton]

Well done rifle. Hope my bit of Ash comes out as well. I've got a bbl and lock into one now.


As to the Emerald Ash Borer, I've seen bored wood and was advised by the Forestry dept to take all the mature ash we could when logging a few years ago, to help slow the spread of borers and to get that timber to market before it got damaged.

We did cut and sell some nice ash, but also the Borer hasn't gotten to my woods yet.  I may find different as I get back out there this Fall, but maybe this region escapes the damage they do. I certainly hope so. [still good as of 2019- just checked]

[t.caster]

You did a beautiful job on it, and the grain of the ash is killer! Speaking of which, I HAD 100s of ash trees on my property. What hasn't fallen already, and gotten chopped up for fire wood is waiting to fall anytime the wind blows. I think the emerald ash borer invasion here started about 10-12 years ago.

[scottmc]

Nice looking rifle with good lines!  Especially like the grain and figure of the wood.  I guess that black paint does work.

[hanshi]

I like that rifle!  The stock is finished beautifully and the grain really pops.