Wood species for rifle stock

New Camper

New Camper

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Lurking in the woods near SFRC.
Seems that I cannot find a long distance rifle manufactured for my needs (caliber and stock especially) so I am set on a Tikka T3 stainless since Tikka still offers 6.5X55, however I will have to purchase an aftermarket stock or build my own.

Having dispensed with the background, I am embarassed to ask considering my profession dealing with wood, what species of trees yield what is suitable for a long distance rifle stock? I don't want a heavy wood so that rules out oak and maple species, leaving beech, birch, walnut etc. If all I ever did was shoot in a match, a Red Oak or Sugar Maple stocked rifle weighing 15 pounds would be fine, but I'd like to use it for sniping rodents as well. I will likely rip the wood into strips for a laminate stock. I only ask for lack of information available at this time online and my reference books don't mention applications aside from the most common... Yes, a quarter sawn this or that is stable for making a bench, but a bench isn't shot in the sun or rain.

What species of wood has been used successfully (aside from the obvious walnut) as rifle stock, proven to be stable and strong while not sharing density properties with lead?
 
I can understand why you prefer wood so I won't try to talk you into one of the carbon fiber stocks on the market now.

IMHO, the next best thing though is one of the laminated stocks that are being offered.

By the way, the plastic stock that comes on a Tikka T3, is hard to beat for stability.

Now you also have to ask yourself if you're looking for stability or pretty.

Google hardwood stock making and there will be a few sites that indicate many different woods as well as walnut for decent stocks. Preferrably, the straighter the grain, the better.

Many European stockmakers prefer to use well seasoned beech. I had though this was because of price but that doesn't seem to be the case.
 
Birch and walnut are the best rifle wood. Maple is strong enough and fairly workable but it is heavy and not quiteas strong as birch or walnut. Birch would probably be my choice for a laminate stock, buty walnut will look better.
 
I would look at the Boyds Gunstock industries site for some inspiration. They do sell some uninletted stocks for the purpose in a thumbhole or classic style, solid or laminated.
Cheers.
 
I think if you pillar bedded the action and a free floating barrel, using a stable wood is probably not much of a concern. Essentially the stock could move anywhere it wanted without touching or altering the barrel and action. If the pillar was big enough and rigid enough, you could use relatively soft woods because there would be enough surface area on the metal pillar to compensate

cheers mooncoon
 
bearhunter - Yes, I prefer wood stocks one reason being they look best so that is a factor. I'd use the factory plastic stock except that my build even with a T3 sporter, lying down to shoot the stock would have a small contact patch on my shoulder so repeated shooting even a 6.5 would eventually become uncomfortable. My first thought was American BeechFagus americana but read that it is more susceptible to being unstable. It seems to be used as a cheaper alternative to birch and walnut which around here doesn't make sense: It is more common on the Canadian shield though. I think it looks fine so solicited a general question on this forum hoping that someone would have experience to the contrary.

jethunter - Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis (so we are not confused by the many common names was also a choice I had in mind, second to American Beech. It is more difficult to find than Maples, Beech and the common White Birch, but is harder, and stronger than its sibling.

I've viewed bobfortier's stock building threads and was very impressed by his workmanship as well as those found on the links provided here.

What in essence I need is a classic hunting stock, with no fancy changes to the stock itself, except 6 way adjustable butt plate, 4 way adjustable cheek piece. bearhunter's post clarified that beech isn't necessarily a cheaper alternative, and is used in Europe or I'd be fine using Yellow Birch I expect then I'd need the adjustable kits for the stock or to simply cut the stock to fit only me.

Getting the wood is a simple trip to the bush (perks of my livelihood) but I don't have thousands to spend building a rifle or having built: New Tikka and scope will already exceed 3grand (which is why I intend on buying the tikka with cheapest stock)

mooncoon - I saw on the Doan Trevor link that he was building a spruce stock. The only trouble, aside from that mitigated with a large pillar, is it would dent very easily. It is surprising how hard a soft wood like Trembling Aspen or Hemlock becomes when it dries though. On the subject of pillars: Are they something that should be special ordered or will a DOM pipe of nominal diameters suffice? I know a gunsmith who uses bits of barrel blanks for very large pillars.

Thank you all for the helpful links and advice.
 
New Camper said:
: Are they something that should be special ordered or will a DOM pipe of nominal diameters suffice? I know a gunsmith who uses bits of barrel blanks for very large pillars.
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Partly it depends on your ability and what tools you have available. Were it me, I would start with a block of aluminum and mill and drill it to be a solid secure insert that the action bolted to and which in turn was inletted and epoxied into the stock. I suspect that provision for a magazine might be a bit of a challenge. The basic point being that I would have the action secured to one or two large basically rectangular blocks which themselves were epoxied into the stock wood. The barrel would be completely free floating

cheers mooncoon
 
If you don't care that it'll be as ugly as sin you can laminate some birch or beech and go from there. Light-ish and stable which seems like what you're after.
 
New Camper, it isn't nearly as easy as taking a walk through the bush to find a suitable tree. A decent stock blank takes a couple of years to cure and stabilize before it can be fashioned into something consistent and reliable.

Do you have an aversion to laminated stocks????

As for your T3 causing you pain with the 6.5x55 cartridge, it won't happen.

I am very recoil shy. I have a frozen right shoulder and heavy recoil causes me extreme pain. I shoot my T3 regularly without grief. I also use a shoulder mounted "Past" recoil pad.

As for the rifle only fitting you, YEAH, that's what personalized rifles are all about.

It sounds like you're trying to build one rifle for several different shooters. That would end up being a complicated pain in the neck. That's being polite.

I left my polymer stock on my T3. It's very stable. I did pillar bed it though. One other thing I did, was to take a bunch of fibreglass resin and mix it with silica sand. Then I poured it into the butt to give the stock some weight and a balance point that suits me in different shooting positions. I also changed the recoil pad on it to a good Sorbothane pad.

That's a lot less hassle and not nearly as costly as picking up a decent blank.

There are also some very good stocks available in Canada from Robinson's. Their blanks and semi inletted stocks are of top quality and have been cured properly.
 
In the 1980's or early 1990's I bought 2 beech Sporter stocks from SIR for small ring mausers. The recoil blocks broke out of both of them. I would not use beech without a cross bolt.
 
If you are looking at wood for a stock
any hard wood knot free (straight grain) first choice

med hard wood (straight grain) ie Birch, cherry, apple or other fruit tree can give a nice natural colour (med wood will mark a lot easer-- safe kiss--some are worse that others

a hard wood is dense= heavy=stronger

you might be able to use a pc of wood that has a small knot in the rear stock area or in the fore stock area but never use wood that has a knot in the grip area
 
Synthetic stocks rule when it comes to stability and durability, when you get to a wood stock it is beauty in the eye of the beholder. Personally i like walnut.
 
I don't have an aversion to laminate stocks, although a properly laminated stock does look good; the traditional wood looks best. I had originally thought of laminating beech (which I think is a nice looking wood, and especially a nice looking tree) Most Black Walnut doesn't grow abundantly in the wild but I have been waiting for fifteen years for one in my yard to grow... fifteen more years ;) A stock blank wouldn't be expensive, but for sentimental reasons, I would like to start the process, so that I may someday have a very nice rifle that will mean so much to a son etc.

bearhunter - yes, I understand that wood needs time to dry and if dried fast, will not be good. I have many chainsaws and a sawmill, tools of my profession, it is easy for me (in that respect) to select and obtain high quality logs from which I can rip stock blanks or strips for laminating. I'd quarter saw the strips, dry them properly, plane them evenly... I still have an unreasonable aversion to recoil: It has subsided considerably since I bought a 629 and shot a proper 308 target rifle for a week in June (over 200rds) practice... but I am still a slender man so if a stock doesn't provide lots of shoulder contact especially prone, there isn't much on my shoulder to squish. Sorry about your shoulder injury: If only practice could remedy that difficulty.

just having some fun - I know from my many encounters with apple, that it is very heavy, rarely are straight logs found without knots, and if that can be overcome, they grow somewhat "corkscrew" in that it grows somewhat in a gradual spiral(not easily seen on the surface) the grain is not straight as like it would be in White Cedar(was used and has given way to aluminum for arrow shafts) If those problems were absent in an apple log, it would make an attractive and very strong stock.

mooncoon - An aluminum block would fit between the magazine and (at least on a rem 700) the recoil lug, but a small block of metal would have to be used on the rear bolt so the comb wouldn't be weakened.
 
New Camper said:
mooncoon - An aluminum block would fit between the magazine and (at least on a rem 700) the recoil lug, but a small block of metal would have to be used on the rear bolt so the comb wouldn't be weakened.
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I think my main point is that by securing the action to a block or blocks with lots of area in the direction of thrust and by epoxying them in place, you should minimize the stock wood crushing under recoil.

also know what you mean about spiral grain; I salvaged a large thick branch off of a cherry tree and used a chain saw to cut it into lumber. Royal pain in the bum to work with because the branch had stuck out horizontally and under tension had developed spiral grain. I ended up with some of the pieces of wood near the center being angled down on one side and angled up on the other side (ie left / right not top / bottom)

cheers mooncoon
 
mooncoon said:
I think my main point is that by securing the action to a block or blocks with lots of area in the direction of thrust and by epoxying them in place, you should minimize the stock wood crushing under recoil.

also know what you mean about spiral grain; I salvaged a large thick branch off of a cherry tree and used a chain saw to cut it into lumber. Royal pain in the bum to work with because the branch had stuck out horizontally and under tension had developed spiral grain. I ended up with some of the pieces of wood near the center being angled down on one side and angled up on the other side (ie left / right not top / bottom)

cheers mooncoon
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Some species are more prone to growing spiral grain: They make good firewood or pool table tops. ;) I understand what you meant with the metal blocks minimizing receiver movement: Produces more consistent movement(practically non in the rifle) during recoil and greater accuracy. I thought today if Juniper trees (Juniperus virginiana), sometimes called Eastern Red Cedar grew large enough, the purple heartwood would make a very unique stock. Surprisingly strong and dense, and the grain and colour is brilliant. Because of small size, laminate may be the only option with that wood. Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) is the only cherry around here large enough to yield lumber: It is good looking wood so I know why you salvaged the branch. You probably found when the branch was ripped, that the cut was not parallel to most of the grain along the length. I found planing by hand years ago, that even if the board is straight, you have to change direction from which you plane.

cody c - I had run a search on this forum expecting someone may have already asked the same question: Maybe it's just me, but I am not the most successful with the forum search. Thanks for the link.
 
cody c said:
I posted the same question over a year ago in another thread and ended up using zebra wood, it seems to be holding up well without warps or cracks:
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=757238&highlight=zebra+wood

the original thread requesting wood types:
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=691058&highlight=bear+enfield
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I read the two threads and agree with the consensus: That must have taken a long time to make that stock and fit the Enfield to that fine work. Do you remember how long it took to make? Thanks for the motivation: It's encouraging to see someone else with presumably the same experience, accomplish what I now set out to do.
 
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