Wood blank for a longrifle

[andy49]

I am always scouting for nice and unusual wood. I have only built one flintlock pistol and would like to build a longrifle. I don't yet know which type so my question is, what size piece of wood (thickness, width and length) would fit most longrifles?
Thanks
Andy

[jamesthomas]

 For thickness ie. width you need at least 3 inches I would think. Length would be around 60 inches.  44" for the barrel, 16" for your LOP. unless you want a 46 or 48 inch barrel. Its a lot easier to shorten a stock than it is to stretch one. Check out AMarten's Red Maple stocks in the classifieds, while they may not be able to make a fowler, but as he says they would be fine for a Southern Mountain Rifle Etc. in a .32 to 45 cal. in a "A" weight swamped barrel. Jason at Rice barrels has a Southern Classic profile barrel that would work in Martens stocks. FYI I did break down and bought 2 of his stocks. Might make a 40 cal. I. Haines rifle out of one. Stuartg, a member on here has made a VERY NICE I. Haines .40 cal. with a 38" barrel.

[Lucky R A]

      I have seen some really nice wood ruined by neophyte builders.  Yes, we all appreciate beautifully figured wood, but for your first rifle you would be better served by learning on a less than premium piece of wood.  A number of builders have proven that you can build an outstanding gun on rather plain wood.  I would advise you pick up one of Allen's inexpensive pieces and make your mistakes there. 

Ron

[andy49]

Ron,
That's good advice. I already learned that lesson on my pistol build and almost forgot!
Andy

[WadePatton]

I'd stick to the regular longrifle-stock-blank-supplier food chain, unless I really knew my wood.  They will know what dimensions you need for a given bbl length and will sell you suitable wood for a gunstock.  Other sources may have pretty wood that could be unsuitable for a gunstock for any number of reasons-they might be quite ignorant (no fault of theirs) of what exactly makes a proper gunstock blank.  

Really hard to comprehend how much wood we need to begin with in order to find the pretty little stocks contained within.  

Having two blanks handy on hand right here, I'll measure them for the record.  


Blanks (in general gunstock shape):

Curly Ash from the Harrisons: 62.5 x 10* x 2.25" - 11lbs

Walnut from Jim Kibler: 64 x 9* x 2.375" - 12.5 lbs

A finished stock weighs what? a couple-three pounds at most?  

*Also note that the middle figure represents how wide the blank would be from end to end if rectangular.  The butt is not that wide, there is drop in the shape of the blank.

Green wood will be thicker and heavier of course.


Oh and also, I "messed up" my first stock somewhat, but decided to live with it.  I mean i fixed a lot of errors (that's learnin') but another 1/4 inch of this particular error would have trashed the whole piece (short of a large patch).  As it is, it will always bear saw tooth marks on one side, and be a bit "unsymmetrical" left to right.  BUT then i spent half as much on that wood as I did these (samples above)...pretty wood is such a temptress!!!

[andy49]

Thanks,
Those dimensions are exactly what I was looking for.
I am looking at claro walnut from the west coast. Anyone have experience with this?
Andy

[smallpatch]

Nice wood, but very expensive.  Also, probably not traditional. Maple is probably most common, followed by walnut,cherry, as well as other fruit woods and ash.  Unless you get a really fancy piece, they will all be MUCH cheaper than Claro.
I believe that Claro walnut is an imported species of Turkish walnut. Spectacular figure, very expensive. You'd probably have a rough time finding a piece big enough for a longrifle as well.

[Jim Kibler]

Someone suggested a 3" thickness minimum.  This is more than is needed.  2 3/8" is generally sufficient for just about any longrifle.   There are perhaps a very few exceptions, but not many.  I have some stock blanks available.  Contact me if you're interested.

Thanks,
Jim

[JTR]

Claro looks great on a nice Modern double barrel shotgun!
On a longrifle, en,,, probably not so much,, unless you build it with some gold inlays with engraved hunting dog scenes!

John

[Kermit]

I believe that Claro walnut is an imported species of Turkish walnut.

"From Professor Gene Wengert
Claro walnut is called Juglans californica. It is native to the USA. Common names include California black walnut, California walnut, claro walnut, southern California walnut."

Size is easy. I used claro when building our dining room table. I started with two book matched slabs of curly claro that were 2 feet wide, 9 feet long, and 3 1/4 inches thick. I first learned about claro from a sculptor friend when I was 20-something. He carved a three panel set for the sanctuary of a Portland, Oregon church. The three panels were slip matched from a single log and were about 3 inches thick (finished, after relief carving), about 40 inches wide (each!) and 11 feet long. I made one single slab live edge claro table for a client that was 44 inches wide and 10 feet long.