no.4 wood/ maple?

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ratter179

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hello all , my 1945 Longbranch no.4 has me in a bit of a quandry . all the wood except the front handguard appears to be maple. the front is walnut and darker. i've seen and owned other no.4's but have never seen maple on any of them. i'd like to put a maple front h/guard on my rifle but can't find any maple wood for sale . any ideas would help , thx for looking............Bob:bangHead: aka ratter179
 
Most likely yellow birch. LB experimented with maple, but never used it as standard. Keep your eyes open, one will turn up.
 
thanks guys for the replies. i'm going to try to post a photo of the wood on the rifle. the forend and buttstock did seem to be heavier than the walnut examples i have. the grain also is not as tight as the beech or other birch i've seen. been collecting since 62 when i bought my first Enfield for about $19.95 and just don't remember seeing this type wood before . this is driving me crazy......................thx for the help......Bob aka ratter179
 
There was one small lot of maple stocks done and most ended up at RMC and then got dispersed to museums in the 50's and 60's.
The difference is quite noticeable and you can tell the weight is not normal by picking up a regular No.4 and then a maple stock. Quite a difference. Apparently there was a problem with the butt stocks splitting at the butt socket, taking out huge chunks of wood. Not quite the thing for RMC cadets to be pounding on the pavement during rifle drill.
 
http://www.hunt101.com/showphoto.php?photo=478954&size=big&cat=&ppuser=33267

This is a Long Branch that was re-stocked in beech when FTR'd in Fazerkerly. The Brits used beech, I don't believe Long Branch did. Beech looks a bit like birdseye maple with the little "eyes". Maple and yellow birch would have long grain lines. I would expect the maple to have a bit more prominent grain, but it depends on the individual piece. I used to have a yellow birch stocked Ross, but I no longer have photos of it.
 
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This is a BEECH stock on a Long Branch that was FTR'd in Fazerkerly. It looks a bit like birdseye maple with the little "eyes". I would expect a yellow birch or maple stock to have more prominent lengthwise grain lines. I used to have a birch stocked Ross, but no longer have photos. Birch and Maple can look pretty similar.

33267P1010077.JPG
 
I have a guaranteed maple No.4 stock. It is a NOS birdseye maple foreend. It came through another man's hands from Tommy Richardson of Greenfield Park, Quebec. Apparently, it was the only one he ever encountered. I'm looking for a buttstock blank of birdseye maple to go with it.
 
Interesting spread of dates on the maple stocks. Mine is 1943 LB (5L###X) and the other shown is 1945. The stock on mine is numbered to the rifle serial number
I also have a letter of provenance with mine detailing its travels.
 
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