Is walnut suitable for a half stock Hawken

[Alan Gommel]

I am gathering parts for a half stock Hawken and was wondering if walnut would be a suitable choice for the stock.

[caliber45]

Alan -- You need to realize that this forum includes some of the most incredibly talented firearms builders extant -- and some of the most anally retentive. There isn't a Building God who comes around and inspects what you're doing. You're on your own. If you find wood that looks great, go for it. Ain't nobody (except one of the aforementioned a-r folks) gonna come around and nag you about a wrong choice. If you like it, and it looks good, and it works well, go with it. (fyi, walnut is almost always good; oak and yellow pine and balsa wood aren't. Common sense and a close inspection of potential stock material will tell you.)  -- paulallen

[Frank]

Absolutely!

[omark]

i am certainly no epert, but my understanding that walnut was probably the most used wood on hawkens.

[Kentucky Jeff]

In terms of surviving rifles the wood that is most used is Maple.  But there are existing originals stocked in Walnut as well..  Either is correct.

[sz]

Yes, there are 2 originals here in Wyoming at the Buffalo Bill Museum that have walnut stocks.

[bigsky]

If you look through Baird's books as well as other sources you will notice that there are several examples of walnut stocked Hawkens.  They seem to be more common in earlier J&S Hawkens whereas later S Hawken guns seem to be more commonly stocked in maple.  I believe that the Modena Hawken was stocked in walnut.  To be correct, make sure that the walnut is eastern black walnut rather than claro.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

You bet it is.  Walnut makes a super Hawken stock.  here's some pics of four different Hawkens I've made over the years with walnut for stock wood.

[Dphariss]

I am gathering parts for a half stock Hawken and was wondering if walnut would be a suitable choice for the stock.

It is historically correct. So long as its black walnut. I have no idea how may originals were stocked in Walnut, its less common than Maple, but there are several surviving examples.
You probably should get a copy of Baird's  "Hawken Rifles..." if you are going to build one.
Dan

[Dphariss]

Alan -- You need to realize that this forum includes some of the most incredibly talented firearms builders extant -- and some of the most anally retentive. There isn't a Building God who comes around and inspects what you're doing. You're on your own. If you find wood that looks great, go for it. Ain't nobody (except one of the aforementioned a-r folks) gonna come around and nag you about a wrong choice. If you like it, and it looks good, and it works well, go with it. (fyi, walnut is almost always good; oak and yellow pine and balsa wood aren't. Common sense and a close inspection of potential stock material will tell you.)  -- paulallen

Ahh yess... All those nit picking gun makers.
But if one is going to make a "Hawken" it should not look like a TC when completed or a Dimmick for that matter.
So asking questions its good.
I have a couple of dislikes concerning walnut so I tend to use curly maple a lot. One should use a mask when sanding either but Walnut seems to cause more immediate discomfort. But I use walnut where its correct.
I am actually posting as an excuse to sneak in a photo of this monument I walked out to today. But the rifle is stocked in Walnut (English).

Dan

[Chuck Burrows]

In terms of surviving rifles the wood that is most used is Maple.  But there are existing originals stocked in Walnut as well..  Either is correct.

Yep and the few existing purchase orders from the Hawken shop bear out that maple was the most widely used as well.

One of the most famous Hawkens still extant, the Mariano Modena/Medina is stocked in black walnut.
Originals in maple were often stained dark (and/or they oxidized dark) and that has led to some mis-identification........

[Roger Fisher]

Alan -- You need to realize that this forum includes some of the most incredibly talented firearms builders extant -- and some of the most anally retentive. There isn't a Building God who comes around and inspects what you're doing. You're on your own. If you find wood that looks great, go for it. Ain't nobody (except one of the aforementioned a-r folks) gonna come around and nag you about a wrong choice. If you like it, and it looks good, and it works well, go with it. (fyi, walnut is almost always good; oak and yellow pine and balsa wood aren't. Common sense and a close inspection of potential stock material will tell you.)  -- paulallen
[/quote
Ahh yess... All those nit picking gun makers.
But if one is going to make a "Hawken" it should not look like a TC when completed or a Dimmick for that matter.
So asking questions its good.
I have a couple of dislikes concerning walnut so I tend to use curly maple a lot. One should use a mask when sanding either but Walnut seems to cause more immediate discomfort. But I use walnut where its correct.
I am actually posting as an excuse to sneak in a photo of this monument I walked out to today. But the rifle is stocked in Walnut (English).

Dan

Holy Kats, not a tree in sight - round here we seldom get a shot over maybe 50 yds.. Just have to ask what was the monument for?? 

[Leatherbelly]

Look like North East Montana, just north of the Musselshell. JMHO.

[Evil Monkey]

That aint no monument Roger. Dan just piled them rocks there to lean his gun against.

[Dphariss]

Nobody knows what they are for. They apparently are pre-Columbian but
They run from Canada to Mexico, I have read, along the eastern front of the Rockies.
This is on state land east of Melville Montana just about a mile from the closest public road.  I was out there to see what was there and maybe find an antelope or maybe a coolee with some trees with a Mule Deer worth shooting a mile from the road. It was an interesting tour. Wonderful spring at an old (treeless) homestead and this. There are some small trees about 1000 yards farther ENE.
The barely discernible hazy dark spot above the apparent horizon at the right edge is the Granite Peak area of Montana about 70 miles SE.
Surprised the slow elk have not rubbed it down. But there is little reason for them to get up there.
This shows Granite Peak a little better. The peak is SW of Red Lodge MT.
I can actually see this things shadow on Google Earth.
Dan

[Dan'l 1946]

These piles of rock often mark the easiest route through an area. Usually called cairns, they marked  points along a seacoast and  sometimes marked buffalo jumps on the plains. Today they make a sturdy place to lean one's rifle.
                        Dan

[Roger Fisher]

That aint no monument Roger. Dan just piled them rocks there to lean his gun against.

Jeez never thought about that.   

[Alan Gommel]

Thanks for the replies. This one won't look like a T.C. have ordered drawings to go by plus I have both the Baird books to study up on. It is being built around a 1 inch Bill Large barrel of 54 cal. and the rest of the parts will come from Track of the wolf. The walnut is a leftover  piece that's been laying in the rafters for 20 years so it's time to use it.
Again thanks for the input.

[omark]

i stand by my reply!!!!!!!!!!   ( i am certainly no expert)