Oak stock

[billd]

Has anyone ever made a rifle out of oak?  I saw two curly red oak blanks that caught my eye.  Were any originals ever done in oak?

Bill

[LynnC]

I have read of a couple - One was a Rev War fowler that seemed to be oak and the other a rather home spun Tenn. rifle.  To be honest, I can't remember what books I saw them in. 

Oak is rather coarse grained but curly oak could make for a very interesting look.

If I remember or run across the sources, I'll post again.
Lynn

[Jerry V Lape]

Hey if you like the wood why not make it from oak.  Friend of mine has a percussion half stock  made of oak by a well known local contemporary builder.  Don't think I would choose the oak if I were planning on doing any relief or incised carving though. 

[Dan'l 1946]

Has anyone ever made a rifle out of oak?  I saw two curly red oak blanks that caught my eye.  Were any originals ever done in oak?

Bill

There used to be an oak stocked long fowler at the Fort at No. 4 in Charlestown, New Hampshire. Probably heavy as sin as it was a very large gun but I couldn't handle it so I can't swear to that. I once had an oak stocked flintlock pistol and it never seemed overly heavy to me.  It was pretty with its curly grain and balanced well too.

[Longknife]

"Flintlock Fowlers" by Grinsdale gun #2 is a New England Fowler circa 1725 and stocked in OAK...Ed

[rich pierce]

Oak is heavy and a ring porous wood, so it will wick moisture more than some other woods.  Mostly because of the grain structure it can be hand to carve/shape finely.  But I have worked some white oak that I have used to make forms for bending buttplates from sheet brass, for adjusting guards, and nosecaps and it is a very tough wood.

[Acer Saccharum]

Just watch your grain structure through the wrist. Straight grained oak splits very nicely, if you get my drift. As Rich said, curly would be nice. White oak does not suck up water, the cells are closed. Red oak, the structure is open celled, and will suck water all day long. They use white in boats, Red they do not, for those wicking reasons.

I heard some fool may even make a gun out of hickory.

Acer

[t.caster]

I wouldn't do one with OAK, but curly ash is very similar in grain and makes a fine rifle.
I thought I had a downed shaggy barked hickory tree in my woods last spring but it turned out it was just a WILD CHERRY! Yeah!

[Stophel]

Oak is heavy, hard and VERY unstable wood.  Very unsuitable for stocking.  Without looking at the guns in the books mentioned, I would be willing to bet that they are stocked in ash, rather than oak.

[famouseagle]

I think it may be wise to just pay attention to what the old guys did and didn't do.  Oak and Chestnut were common woods in PA and, if they were suitable for gunstocking the old guys would have used them.  Since they didn't, there was probably a good reason.

[Roger Fisher]

Just watch your grain structure through the wrist. Straight grained oak splits very nicely, if you get my drift. As Rich said, curly would be nice. White oak does not suck up water, the cells are closed. Red oak, the structure is open celled, and will suck water all day long. They use white in boats, Red they do not, for those wicking reasons.

I heard some fool may even make a gun out of hickory.

Acer

I would add that if you ever split wood by hand you would find that the black oak splits/pops apart very easy, the red oak nearly as easy (and smells nicer), the White oak is hairy as $#*! and tough to split.  Just have to eat your wheaties!
Also good exercise for an ol guy!  As far as a rifle stock I'd forget it!

[chapmans]

 I was told by an old gunsmith many years ago that you should never make a gun cabinet from oak because  it will cause your guns to rust. I know there are a lot of cabinets made from oak but maybe they are sealed well enough to keep it from happening. I used to heat my home with a woodburning stove and cut wood for 30 years and every time I cut and split oak it always discolored where the steel from the splitter touched it. There was a blue or purple stain on  the wood, I have also noticed things that are made from oak and nailed together like porches , outside building etc., is  stained on the wood around the nails. I'm just thinking outloud but maybe this has something to do with it not being used for gunstocks.
     Steve C.

[Kermit]

I've been a furnituremaker and a boatbuilder for longer than I can remember. I have come to really dislike red oak. Lousy boat wood and not much for furniture or cabinets. Lots of the "antique" furniture out there is labeled "oak" by dealers, and it's actually ash. I worked for a fella for a few years when I was a pup who sold cabinets as "oak" when it was popular, and we never had a stick of it in the shop--it was all ash. Some of the veneer was actually elm. The old mission/craftsman stuff that WAS oak was almost always white oak, fumed with ammonia to make it dark.

If it's the look of oak you like, use ash, and when folks admire the oak stock, just smile. 

[Stophel]

I love Ash.  nice wood.

[T*O*F]

I know that Wayne Dunlap had a quantity of curly red oak blanks a  couple of years ago and they were all the rage at the time.  TVM had numerous requests for guns made from this wood.  Matt said they made nice guns and he mentioned no problems building or finishing them.  So, there are several contemporary, oak stocked guns out there.

[Acer Saccharum]

I totally forgot how acidic oak is!

When you just touch fresh sawn oak with iron, for just a few seconds, you get a blue/black blush on the wood.

I think if you want to use oak, you'd better get a stainless barrel and lock!

[jerrywh]

Too heavy also.

[Tim Crosby]

 Thought his was interesting as far as weight. They don't list Hickory or Ash both are heavy and have been used for gun stocks in the past. I don't think I would have the patients to fill the grain.

http://www.wwbeds.com/woodtypes.htm

Tim C

[jerrywh]

The grain on hickory, ash , oak and black walnut are not that much different, The weight is the main reason they have been historically ignored. Have you ever tried carving old oak or hickory?  Cutting a barrel channel is a real delight. Sarcastically of course. You can't drive a nail into old oak  hickory or ash. You have to drill a hole for it.

[Jaxenro]

I have seen at least one picture in the Double Gun Journal of an older English muzzleloader of large caliber with an oak stock - the comment was that some larger caliber guns were stocked in oak to add weight for handling recoil but I am not sure how true the comment was.

I do know the tannic acid in oak reacts to iron quickly - I have some vinegar/iron stain made by dissolving steel wool in vinegar that turns the oak almost black with just a quick wipe down. It doesn't stain the wood like a traditional stain as at first it just looks wet but then the chemical reaction sets in and it darkens quickly.

My understanding is that vegetable tanned leather was "tanned" using the natural tannins from oak and was dyed black by soaking in rusty water - the oak tannins in the leather reacting to the iron in the water - it makes a nice softer black than some of the more modern dyes and is in rather than on the leather