Would it be similar to work to hard maple? Would an early colonial flint rifle be out of place with an oak stock?
White Oak is rot resistant and you cannot blow bubbles through the end grain--unlike red oak (which rots so fast). So I don't understand Rich's comment-all woods are "open" where the end grain is cut, but there's the structure of white oak doesn't work like a the straw-effect of red oak (and other rotty woods).
White Oak is often rich with medullary rays.
It's quite heavy, and more so than any Maple. It's harder too. Differences in density and hardness REALLY show up when using powered tools. Don't seem that bad with sharp hand tools. A white oak gun stock will be heavy like black locust or osage orange.
Here's Louis showing the end-grain permeability of the two oak types. (Yes, there are dozens of oak species, but all are either white or red under the bark.)
NOT that we need any rot-resisting wood for gun stocking--if we did, we'd never use Maple! It makes a big difference in fenceposts and boats and porches though.
