Using Oak For Making Stocks

mkrainc

mkrainc

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Recently, I was given a 3 foot long section of an oak tree by a buddy of mine who removes and trims trees as a business. This gave me the idea to make an oak stock for one of my rifles. I thought the idea was unique as I hadn't heard of oak stocks before.

So, I googled the subject of using oak to make a rifle stock and on oak stocks. Of course, the internet being what it is, there are conflicting ideas on using oak for a stock. One concern that was brought to light, was the amount of "tannins" present in oak. According to some, that is supposed to promote rust on metal parts, which would make using oak undesirable.

There are a few CGN'ers who are very talented and experienced stock makers, and wondered if they would chime in here and give some practical advice on using oak as a stock. Any info is appreciated, pro or con.

BTW, I've milled this piece and got three very nice blanks out of it. I'll be leaving them to dry for about a year in a dry cool environment.

Thanks all in advance.
 
It's no worse than Maple or Walnut other than it can tend to split a little more easily.

Before things go too far be sure to seal the end grain spots with some latex paint. From there you really want to wait one year per inch of thickness for them to dry. Even then I'd suggest you do a rough undersize inletting and general shaping, allow to cure/dry for another few months and only then go back to the wood and finish the work.

The grain found on oak isn't my cup o' tea. It can be much stark in some cases. But in specific cases it could look REALY nice. For example if the stock has a goodly amount of quarter grain checkerboard like look to it that can be very dramatic.

It's also more dense than typical gun stock woods. So an oak stock for a field gun might not be the best option. But as a stock for a chunky benchrest rifle it could be right at home.

It does like to chip out easily though. So watch your direction of cuts both with power tools and hand tools such as rasps or coarse files when shaping.
 
Three draw backs come to mind: weight, oak and maple are heavy. The grain, oak is a very open grained wood which mean's the grain will have to be filled well to help keep out moisture and dirt. Third, stability, oak loves to warp and move, all woods do, but oak has a bad habit of it.
Traditional walnut is also open grained but not as much as oak and weighs a lot less, and is fairly stable. It can't be any uglier than some of the laminated stocks you see around these days in every colour of the rainbow.
 
Oak does have a lot of tannins...the wood itself will turn a blue-ish colour when exposed to steel...not sure what that means in the context of "blued" steel, but if you're out in any wet weather, lots of water can get into the nooks and crannies and potentially make a mess of both the steel and the metal.
I suppose you could seal the oak really well with one of the modern urethanes, and take your chances.
Do you want weight? Oak's got it in spades. And it is true that oak will " move" quite a lot with seasonal humidity changes, which might affect your point of impact.
I personally like the grain structure of oak, but It clearly isn't for everyone.
I don't think I'd use it for a gun stock personally, but that's just me.
Good luck with your decision making.
 
Let er buck, either way your gaining experience building stocks and that is way more important than what wood you use. Hell I built my first stock out of popsicle sticks.:p
 
Thank you all for the replies this far. The weight of the wood is a plus because it's a bench shooter. A tendency to warp is a problem though, don't think I care for that aspect.

My friend has brought me walnut, although not black walnut. The blanks are milled from that already. Any advice for that would be greatly appreciated also.
 
You will be much better off working with a wood that is suitable for gunstocks... it will make your learning process easier and you may end up with a useable stock. Oak sucks.
 
As a hobby I worked on gunstocks for some 60 years. As gunstock wood oak would be my absolute last choice but it is your choice at the end.
One thing I learned early, proper grain flow is / should be the prime consideration in a gunstock. By this I mean - fancy grain in the butt - follows the pistol grip (no little short runs there- and finally as straight as possible in the action to fore-end area. The main area of concern should be the grip, short runs of grain here spell disappointment, if not disaster.
Remember any wood can present problems but my choice in order, thin shelled walnut, black walnut, maple, cherry, myrtle, sycamore, etc. etc. etc. ----- oak.
JMHO-FWIW. --- John
 
My 2 cents drwn from a very limited experience of under 10 stock built...It take a long time of very patient work to whittle a stock out of a chunk of wood. For me now, since I am going to invest many tens of hours into the project, I start with a nice chunk of wood. If I am going to go to the trouble, I want the resulting stock to be "up to" the time investment.
 
Wrong Way said:
Pardon? What kind of walnut is it then?
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I'm not sure of the proper name for that species. It is a walnut, only the variety where the wall nuts have a light colored shell. The sap wood is very white and the heart wood a grey color. I noticed the heart wood and sap wood is drying at a severely different rate, causing the boards to bow. I'll have to put weight on the center as they dry.

It may not be a good choice either, that's why I ask.

I do have access to maple and cherry also. I have a piece of maple that has been drying in a cool place for the last 13 or 14 years. I should mill that up and check it out.
 
Hard rock maple is good for stocks, soft maple is not. Most walnuts work, some species much better than others.

The layout of the stock profile is very important. It's more than just cutting a profile from a slab of wood.

You would be way farther ahead to buy a blank from an established stock suppler.
 
guntech said:
You would be way farther ahead to buy a blank from an established stock suppler.
Click to expand...

True, but what fun would that be? I have a lot of time on my hands and access to different woods.

When I was a teen, my mentor told me, "The day we stop learning, is the day they are burying you." If my whole story was told, all would understand I have to keep my mind and hands busy.

Thank you all kindly for you replies.
 
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