tiger stripes

[mkeen]

When did artificial tiger stripes first appear on American gunstocks simulating tiger maple? Are there any early references on the method or methods used to create simulated tiger maple? By early I mean pre-1860.

Martin Keen

[Tanselman]

I doubt anyone knows for sure when artificial stripping was first used; the best date will always be that of the earliest known rifle anyone has yet seen with original stirpping, and that can change as new guns are discovered. Most stripping I've seen occurs on late flint and then more heavily on percussion era guns, particularly those made in larger comsumer areas, such as Lancaster, PA, where gunmaking had become more of a "crank it out" industry, rather than the isolated "cottage" manufacture of many earlier gunmakers. It seems to be a later detail when stock wood selection was not as essential or critical to the builder, but he wanted to give buyers something that looked "kind of like" a good stock. I am sure there were a number of methods used to apply the stripes, the most prevelant being simply painting the stripes on with darker stain. Most such stripes lay on the surface, and are not etched or burned into the stock wood as some oldtimers have insisted...although there probably were a few made that way, or in just about any manner the gunsmith could come up with, since most were pretty inventive people when a need arose. Shelby Gallien

[Curt J]

I do think that some of the smaller, local makers, might have preferred straight-grained maple, believing that it made for a stronger stock.  The prettier they are, the weaker they are. I can think of one maker in my area, Samuel Smith, originally from Pennsylvania, who made only fullstocks.  His stocks were nearly always straight-grained maple, with artificial stripe. His workmanship was very good, so I don't think that he was cutting corners.  There were other makers in his area, who worked during the same period (about 1850-1870), who often used maple with pronounced natural stripe, so I don't think it was a matter of not having such wood available.

[Mark Tyler]

Samuel Smith was from a family of Huntingdon County Pennsylvania gunsmiths ... an area where toy typically do not see artificial tiger striping.

[flintriflesmith]

As students of longrifles we are often nearsighted about the world around their production. Artificial graining was very popular in both furniture making and the interior woodwork in houses. Looking at the bigger picture of all the period decorative arts can help us understand the evolution of longrifle art. 

Gary