mahogany for stock wood

[Kenny]

I have a big mahogany plank that has been sitting in a basement since 1963. Would this make a decent gunstock?
thanks

[smallpatch]

Mahogany inside wood. Won't see one on an American rifle.  Mahogany is tropical.

[E.vonAschwege]

I have an original 1820s English fowler stocked in Mahogany, and a plank of flame grain mahogany that I'm saving for a halfstock English sporting rifle.  You won't find it on American arms, but Europeans occasionally used it.  If you're doing an American gun, sell the plank of mahogany to a boat builder and use the $ to buy some Walnut or Maple. 

[tallbear]

There is a stunning Iassic Haines attributed Lancaster rifle in the Kindig collection stocked in Honduran Mahogany.It is in the color Lancaster book that came out a couple of years ago by Patrick Hornberger.

Mitch

[mr. no gold]

The finest known Lancaster made rifle by Jacob Hoake, which is in the Kindig collection, has a rich red mahogany stock made all the finer by the grand carving it bears. This gun is in the display at the Reading Museum with the rest of the Kindig display pieces. With the dim lighting it is somewhat difficult to fully see the color, but it is quite red in good light. This one alone is worth the trip to see the rifles. 
Dick

[smallpatch]

I stand corrected. Never say never.

[JB2]

would your old mahogany plank be a different species than is available today?  I just remember that 'old' mahogany is different than what we get today, but can't remember when, how, or why there was a change.  Old species all used up? 

I know that it would make a very nice case for an English style double gun.

[JBJ]

If it is a dense enough piece (and it can vary widely) and perhaps some figure, it maybe useable. Why not carefully calculate the cubic footage of your board and the weight? Once you know the weight per cubic foot, go to the Wood Database (http://www.wood-database.com/) and compare it to the average for walnut and maple. Should give you a reasonable idea of what you have it and the potential for a gunstock.
J.B.

[Hungry Horse]

 Honduran mahogany is what would have been used in the past. It is quite rare today. What we see today is its lighter ( in weight, and color) cousin, Luan mahogany, from the Philippines.
 I think Luan is too soft for a gunstock. JMO.

                             Hungry Horse

[tallbear]

Horse

I must dissagree with you.While Phillipine (Luan)Mahogany is often seen in the building supply houses true Honduran Mahogany is readily available (I purchased whole drafts of it when I had my cabinet/furniture shop) from many hardwood suppliers.While I agree luan is not suitable for gunstock the many furniture grade mahoganies(Honduran,cuban and several other South American specis) will make a fine gunstock.

Mitch

[Kermit]

Lauan is not a mahogany at all. Probably a marketing ploy. It's also known of late as meranti. I've used some meranti in both boatbuilding and furniture. It can vary a lot in color, density, hardness. Some more honest vendors simply sell it as "Philippine hardwood." Not all of it is cut in the Philippine Islands. I suspect it's "mixed species." I'll venture not many longrifle stocks were done in lauan/meranti.

In one shop I worked in when much younger we called it "philistine misogyny."

[galamb]

Luan (Red or White is typical) and Meranti (name used interchangeably) are actually tropical "cedars" (with almost 100 sub-species falling into that named group) that grow in the Philippines amongst other places in S.E. Asia which is probably why they (collectively) are called Philippine Mahogany.

There is also an African Mahogany, the street name (mostly) for Khaya or Okoume/Gabbon (so named for the country of origin) that is also NOT a "true mahogany".

There is also a couple of (other) South American "mahoganies" that have made their way into the boat building market in the past 10 years or so that, while they are hardwoods, are not "true mahogany" either.

Genuine or "true" mahogany is still available but it mostly of the "farmed" variety (mostly from Honduras, and controlled under one of the CITIES agreements for endangered plants/animals) but doesn't have the same density etc as the "real stuff" from years gone by.



  

[JB2]

golly!  Now where did I put that lid for this can?

[oakridge]

I have a percussion pistol made about 1848, or so, stocked in mahogany.

[Levy]

It seems like I remember that Herters (many years ago) used to have mahogany stocks for bolt-actions.

James Levy 

[Chris Treichel]

The Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC construction inventory lists the staircase made of imported mahogany. So it was definitely available in the colonies as early as 1760s.

[Cory Joe Stewart]

To bounce off of Chris' point.  A lot of fine furniture in the 18th century was made out of mahogany, or veneered with it.  I would put the emphasis on fine though.  I would not make a "barn gun" out of it.  It seems that the examples that have been mentioned in this thread are above average rifles.

Coryjoe

[Chris Treichel]

I would say that is about right here are the lines from the inventory. 
Boards and Scantling, including Mahogany for ye Staircase   £600
Carpenters and Joiners Labour, including Nails and Brads   £1900

That was probably one of the most expensive staircases in the entire colonies at the time.