Stockmaking: Looking for an abnormally long blank - suggestions?

fatcatbestcat

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Hey, I'll keep this short.

I have a weird Mauser 71/84 sporter project I'm working on, it's pretty hacked up so there's no value lost in further sporterizing it. I'm looking to make a new stock for it because the old one is cut up and has been hideously spliced in a number of locations. I'm having a hard time coming up with an appropriately sized blank though.

I'm interested in keeping the barrel at 31½" to keep the sights set properly and to maximize the ballistics of black powder 11mm Mauser. In theory I could shorten it down to 26" or even 22" and use a Mannlicher blank but the velocity drops fast with b/p and I intend to hunt with the thing. Plus then I'm sure the sights will be significantly off.

Does anyone have any thoughts on sourcing a large enough walnut or maple stock blank for this kind of project? I did look around at local sources for live edge slabs but the issue with those is that they're rarely thicker than 2.00" (2.75" would be ideal) and they frequently lack the straight grain needed for a gun stock. I suppose burl is fine if you're making furniture but it's not working for my purposes!

Thanks
 
Hey, I'll keep this short.

I have a weird Mauser 71/84 sporter project I'm working on, it's pretty hacked up so there's no value lost in further sporterizing it. I'm looking to make a new stock for it because the old one is cut up and has been hideously spliced in a number of locations. I'm having a hard time coming up with an appropriately sized blank though.

I'm interested in keeping the barrel at 31½" to keep the sights set properly and to maximize the ballistics of black powder 11mm Mauser. In theory I could shorten it down to 26" or even 22" and use a Mannlicher blank but the velocity drops fast with b/p and I intend to hunt with the thing. Plus then I'm sure the sights will be significantly off.

Does anyone have any thoughts on sourcing a large enough walnut or maple stock blank for this kind of project? I did look around at local sources for live edge slabs but the issue with those is that they're rarely thicker than 2.00" (2.75" would be ideal) and they frequently lack the straight grain needed for a gun stock. I suppose burl is fine if you're making furniture but it's not working for my purposes!

Thanks
I've seen blanks advertised on Prophet River.
Wouldn't hurt to send them a note. They could put you in the right direction if nothing in stock.
 
3" sounds awfully thick for a Mauser - you can generally offset your centre line on the blank to account for a cheek piece, you can also cast the butt. (assuming that's why you need the thickness) I've never had any issues building longrifles with 2.5" stock.

At any rate - don't shop for live edge, it's just inflated pricing for not making a few finishing cuts - rough cut or even partially dressed from a specialty mill is far cheaper and likely drier.

My go to has been https://woodchuckers.com/
Century Mill in Stouffville also had some good material
I did get a 3" thick piece of curly maple out of https://exotic-woods.com once.
https://amwoodspecialty.com - as well

And you would be surprised what you can find in the rough cut sheds of some lumberyards ~ https://www.peacocklumber.ca/ nothing exotic but you will be able to get red maple, birch and sometimes walnut in the thicknesses needed.
 
I would steer clear of any blank not sold buy a reputable blank guy, nothing worse then putting all the work into a stock that won’t function to good or cause issues down the road. Moisture content has got to be right, kiln dried isn’t to good. I don’t know if anyone in Canada I would buy a blank from.

I will be ordering a few Turkish walnut blanks this week from a good friend in Turkey, they’r not cheap by any means. I can easily get another added if you like. Feel free to message if you like.
 
3" sounds awfully thick for a Mauser - you can generally offset your centre line on the blank to account for a cheek piece, you can also cast the butt. (assuming that's why you need the thickness) I've never had any issues building longrifles with 2.5" stock.
Ah, that makes sense. For some reason I didn't consider that the extra thickness was intended for a cheek piece - I'm doing without on this build so that will make finding a blank quite a lot easier, I'd imagine.

It never clicked to me that a muzzleloader blank would be appropriately sized - I have another search term to try. I did look at the stock Prophet River has and they're all a bit short - they do sell them in a Mannlicher length for a 20-22" barrel of I go that route, though.
 
Ah, that makes sense. For some reason I didn't consider that the extra thickness was intended for a cheek piece - I'm doing without on this build so that will make finding a blank quite a lot easier, I'd imagine.

It never clicked to me that a muzzleloader blank would be appropriately sized - I have another search term to try. I did look at the stock Prophet River has and they're all a bit short - they do sell them in a Mannlicher length for a 20-22" barrel of I go that route, though.

You don "NEED" a "blank" - I have always bought rough planks by the board foot - usually 2.25 -2.5 thickness gets me through pretty much anything. Lengths are "what they have / how big the tree was" usually 8 - 10 feet, the last walnut board I bought was 16' I can usually get 1 or 2 longrifles out of a board + 1 or 2 half stocks, depending....
Almost all specialty mills will have all kiln dried material - but that is actually preferred (see below)


I would steer clear of any blank not sold buy a reputable blank guy, nothing worse then putting all the work into a stock that won’t function to good or cause issues down the road. Moisture content has got to be right, kiln dried isn’t to good. I don’t know if anyone in Canada I would buy a blank from.

I will be ordering a few Turkish walnut blanks this week from a good friend in Turkey, they’r not cheap by any means. I can easily get another added if you like. Feel free to message if you like.

I have never had any issues with kiln dried material - it's actually preferred. Kiln drying kills pests, bacteria, mold, mildew etc, its more stable and has a more consistent moisture level throughout and you can generally use it right away or with very little seasoning time in your shop.
Compared to air dried material having all those problems and costing over double.
 
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