Wood stock

[eli polite]

i am buying parts for my next build. On this one I want to use a piece of Claro walnut that I have been hanging onto for a long time. I bought it a few years back it was a little over $1000. The thing is this rifle is going to be a dedicated long range rifle. I have done a lot of reading on diffrent stocks and materials that they are made of. Some people don't like wood stocks they say there is to much movement. But after a lot of reading and research this is what I have found.

The Coefficient of thermal expansion for thermoplastic is 17.0
all units (10-6 in/in F)
Acrylic - 130
CPVC - 37
CAB - 80-95
Polypropylene - glass fiber-reinforced- 18
Polystyrene (PS) - 38.9
Polysulfone (PSO) - 31
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) - 28
Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) - 71
Porcelain, Industrial - 3.6
Wood nearly ALL species - 2.0 - 3.0

It seams as though wood has much less movement than plastics as far as thermal go's. Switch moisture it is diffrent BUT! If it is properly sealed and finished than moisture is not an issue.

I would just like to here any arguments agents using wood for a long range rifle

 

[windermike]

Re: Wood stock

My gunsmith has a wood stock on his compition rifle. That says something to me. He could chose whatever stock he wanted and went with wood. Very classy looking.

Mike

 

[former naval person]

Re: Wood stock

You might want to find someone with a high quality bandsaw and split the blank in thirds, then turn the middle piece end for end and epoxy the blank back together. That would almost eliminate the warping from stray moisture. Be sure and seal all the inside grain with epoxy after inletting and bedding.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Re: Wood stock

Definitely agree with FNP's assessment that 'laminating' the wood would be a great help to stability.

You could also have the mostly-finished stock Vacuum Impregnated then finish it.

The VI process puts the material (usually aircraft parts) in a chamber and then you draw a strong vacuum. The chamber is then flooded with liquid acrylic and the vacuum is reversed. This draws the acrylic into the grain/pores.

Then the acrylic is cured in a kiln at a relatively low temperature. The result is phenomenal for old castings and porous materials.

The company I have used for this on old motorcycle/car parts is Impco in Rhode Island. I have never used it for wood, but I don't see why it wouldn't work perfectly. They can certainly answer your questions if you call them.

http://www.impco-inc.com/

Once impregnated/cured the stock might as well be made of acrylic, but it should retain all the beauty of the wood. Worth exploring.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[eli polite]

Re: Wood stock

thank you for all the comments.

I'm a crafts man by trade I have a granite shop and a wood working shop I specialize in high end work. I have vacuum pumps and epoxies with a viscosity about the same as water. with products out there like cactus juice you can easly do it your self i built my own chamber


http://www.turntex.com/index.php?page=sh...&Itemid=121

My real question here is why do i see so many composit stocks out there when wood stocks seam to be every bit as durable. if not more so?

all of my rifles have composite stocks I'm thinking about switching several of them over. ill see if i have a picture of the chunk of wood ill be using

 

[Powder_Burns]

Re: Wood stock

Composite stocks don't necessarily grow on trees. It might be a supply/demand thing.

 

[gstaylorg]

Re: Wood stock

One reason may be the labor involved. Composite stocks are machine-made. A wood stock takes incredible time and effort to get it right, even if it's machine-formed at the beginning.

 

[Willys46]

Re: Wood stock

Woods stocks are expensive compared to composites. And the real issue I think was no one made a "tactical" style wood stock. Joel Russo introduced his laminate A5l about five years ago. That was the first true tactical wood stock on the market I believe.

He has now started doing high end wood tactical stocks as seen on here before. Especially the one for the us optics guy. There was a thread right before shot show in 2011.

They look good, down side is they do strach and dent. For a tactical rig where you are laying it over rocks or barricades, the composites handle it better. But if your handy and can steam out dents and refinish a stock your self, a new finish every coupl of years and your set.

I'm a big fan of wood, they just seem more solid and take out some vibrations out during firing. This is not proven fact it just feels more solid as the shot goes off.

I could run any stock I want because they are all about the same price at the end of the day and I choose wood! It's classy.

Willis46

 

[eli polite]

Re: Wood stock

there are extremely hard woods out there that will resist scratches and dents very well. These harder woods are also heavy. some are rare like ebony at about $75 a board foot and lignum also an endangered wood. but there are other woods not as rare like Brazilian walnut and Brazilian cherry.

I was pretty convinced that I was gOing to do wood on this build after reading your responses I'm sure i am going to use wood

 

[UNCIVILIZED]

Re: Wood stock

Disclaimer, I Love wood, period. And were it practical for me I'd have some wooden rifle handles around. Or rather, light weight, non POI shifting, light weight stocks. IMO the biggest drawbacks to most wooden laminates is their weight [due to the large number of glue lines & the subsequent mass that such adds].

As to some of woods' drawback's not yet mentioned.
- Wood, nor naught else can ever be fully water-proofed [I've been a sailor for 4 decades, plenty of it professionally]
- Unlike wood, synthetics & composites have pretty uniform properties throughout. So that when they are subject to changing environmentals, the overall change in the stock is more consistent, on the whole.
- Generally speaking, composites don't dry out so much that they come unlaminated at the glue lines. The thermal stresses acting on laminates can be pretty fierce. Think on how wood can; crack, check, & split when it's drying out, as it's seasoning.

On the up side there are some companies out there who do sweet stocks in wood, laminates, & hybrid materials. As a sweet looking setup [laminated] I'm liking these http://kilimanjarorifles.com/features/lamination.html
And there are some interesting looking hybrid stocks HERE They're wood laminates with built in aluminum bedding blocks/systems. Plus of course the usuals like Boyd's etc.

 

[cobaltbomb]

Re: Wood stock


laminated wood should be close in rigidity to the synthethic stuff
around. mayor drawback i see in unlaminated wood is moisture.if sealed it could be avoided.
but waht when the sealing coat gets scratched or dented

in addition i have heard of several broken wood stocks on hunts etc.
when the fibre direction of the wood doesnt fit the form of the stock, wood can break. especially between the action and the grip.
when this happens in alaska on a hunt far in the backcountry that would suck

 

[doc76251]

Re: Wood stock

I love wood stocks, always have and always will. One issue that has not been addressed is the grain of the wood and the shearing effects that recoil will have when attempting to build a "tactical" or target type stock.

Look at the wrist of an "A" series McMillan stock, the wrist of those stocks turn south at almost a 70* angle. When you have 15lbs of gun connected by a 2" wrist and the grain is running long ways that 15lbs is slamming back on that wrist and the butt is in your shoulder. Given the right circumstances that wrist is going to snap cleanly in two right along the grain.

Ever wonder why stocks with really nice grain don't run long ways? It's generally at a 15* up angle or so? More and longer grain though the wrist.

Not saying you cannot, but be very mindful of how much "thumb grip" you cut out of the blank.

As far as impregnating, vacuum sealing etc. that's way out of my league, I'll just go back and add another coat of True Oil to my Monte Carlo stock I'm finishing

Cheers,

Doc