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Stock Blanks

If you are buying a stock from us, we can use our wood or you are welcome to send your own.  Our standard wood is original type thick shell American walnut from the Midwest and is the best quality that we can find. We also have a good supply of English walnut and maple. Other species are available from us in limited quantities, please contact us for more information.

If we do not have what you want, you may order from your supplier and send to us for machining. If there are hidden defects in the wood you send, the machining will still be charged for.  

Figured wood is expensive, but very fancy wood is not required for a handsome stock. Very fancy wood for forearms is not desirable, as it is not stable and will cause problems. Forearm wood is matched as well as possible, and in some cases, especially in oversize blanks, comes from the same piece of wood. The various grades of wood are listed below. The grades are difficult to describe exactly due to natural variation.

Grade

 

Description

Wood Prices
Buttstock Oversize* Forearm
1 Plain straight grained, properly laid out, with no real figure. This wood is typical of original lower grade rifle stocks. 40 50 10
2 Semi-Fancy. Distinguished by some modest figure, at least on one side. 95 105 15
3 Standard grade on our rifles. Figured in the butt area, but not equal on both sides. This grade is suitable for high grade Stevens rifles, and is the best value in fancy wood. 150 175 20
4 Fancy. Very good figure on the right side, typically crotch grain, not as highly figured on the cheekpiece side. 225 250 30
5 Extra Fancy. Very fine figure on both sides, but not fully covering the butt area. Figure runs farther forward on drawbolt rifles, as tang styles require straighter wood around the grip. There will be color contrast, normally combined with heavy crotch grain or other fancy elements. 300 350 40
6 Exhibition grade. The best available and selected for the type of grain that you prefer. Click here for photos and prices.
Maple We have a nice supply of fiddleback and quilted maple in all grades. Click here for sample photos. Priced same as walnut above in Grade 1 through 5
English Special English - New stock of beautiful English walnut at very reasonable prices.  We also have lower grade Californian English Walnut, Claro and Bastogne in most grades priced similar to American Walnut. Click here for photos and prices.
Turkish Turkish walnut has always been prized for gun stocks due to its strength and fine grain structure.  Standard grade Turkish is straight-grained and priced the same as American walnut in Grade 3.  Special Turkish blanks are more figured and priced as shown. Click here for photos and prices.

* Stocks requiring oversize wood are noted with an asterisk (*) in the catalog.

For stocks without cheekpiece, two inch thick wood can be used. Cheekpiece styles for Winchesters require a full 2 1/2 inches, while Stevens and Ballards can use wood 1/8" thinner. Your wood should be 18" long and wide enough for the stock design. Shorter wood can be used with a $10 lengthening charge added. Forearm wood should be 2" square and 12" long. Larger wood is fine; all wood is band sawed before use anyway.