Butternut?

[n stephenson]

Does anyone know much about Butternut trees and, the use of such for gunstocks. A friend has one in his yard and is thinking of cutting it. Any info. would be appreciated as I don`t know much of anything about it.                Thanks Nathan

[Robert Wolfe]

Closely related to black walnut and similar except the color. It's more of a tan. Supposed to carve well.

[Paddlefoot]

I've been reading up on Butternut recently. It is prized for it's even grain but it is about like pine or a little harder than basswood so I would not think it was a good choice for a gun stock.  Nice for some decorative items though. I don't recall what was said about it's stability during humidity changes.

[JBJ]

It is actually lighter weight per cubic foot than many pines. Average dry weight for butternut comes in around 27 lbs./cu.ft. Black walnut around 38 lbs./cu.ft., loblolly pine around 32. I would not consider it as suitable for a gunstock. Just to soft.
J.B.

[Mauser06]

Makes a fine turkey box call.....

[BartSr]

Sell it to Mountain/Appalachian Dulcimer makers (luthiers).

BartSr

[Tim Crosby]

 Here's a Pic of a piece, just cut that piece off this morning although the plank is very old. In my opinion it is to soft to use for stocking. I use it for carving, last pic.

  Tim C.

[ron w]

fairly stable, but to soft for a decent gunstock. that said, it has been used, but in all respects, most every wood there is, has been made into gunstocks at one time or another. can be a bit fuzzy, sapwood decays easily. as mentioned,.. related to walnut,....nickname is "white walnut" beautiful wood for large furniture like hutch cabinets and large book cases. I once made a set of raised panel doors and drawer fronts for kitchen out of it very good looking finished natural.

[Steve-In]

I used butternut for a .54 I made.  It is a soft wood and I would not make another rifle from it.  It has held up OK but I had to re-bed the barrel after about 10 years of hard use. 
It will give you almost instant patina though.  I think it dents just standing in a corner.  If you do use it stain it unless you like blonds.
I would think it would be OK for a small caliber rifle but is better suited to turkey calls.

[FALout]

Butternut is used a lot by carvers that want projects to look like they are carved out of hardwood without resorting to oak.  Carves really well, but is way too soft for a rifle.  Nice looking wood. 

[PPatch]

Seal those plank ends asap.

dp

[n stephenson]

Thanks to everyone for replying . I had a feeling it may be too soft. We will deffinatly keep the wood for other projects.    Thanks        Nathan

[JCKelly]

Oh, Tim, do make some furniture out of those planks. Soft, maybe not best choice structurally, but makes good looking furniture.

This is an older butternut table. Federal Period, original hardware &c, bought in Delaware, November 1968, when a regular person could still pick up nice antiques.