Gunstocks and New Guinea Rosewood

I am one of those fellas that has to have a go himself . I am also muzzleloader shooter-- you know old timey guns- Davy Crockeet era etcetera.
Rather than slavishly follow what the others do , and make my stock out of American gunstock timbers, I would like to make a gunstock with a suitable Aussie timber.

I have been shooting muzzleloaders for 11 years and feel confident of the construction side of it. Being a manual arts teacher with access to most of the machine tools I need, does not hurt either.
The plan is to make a try stock out of lamimated pine or some cheap timber to get the process sorted and make sure the piece fits me well, then make the real one after making my stuff ups on the practice piece.

I would like to approach the project on the basis of what timber would a rifle stock maker of the Australian 1800s have made a stock from ,given there were only local timbers available to him.
I have a nice seasoned slab of New Guinea Rosewood but have no idea if it would be suitable in lightness to strength terms.

Is there anybody who would like to offer advice ?
Thanks
Grahame

Hi, and welcome

Do you think there would have been any New Guinea Rosewood around in the 1800's?
Maybe Tassie timber was more the go at the time?

Al :confused: :(

black walnut is the gunstock timber most people use. tassie blackwood would be a good substitute.

I think Qld maple was used in old gun stocks. Trouble is what was used then was probably of a different character to what's available for now. Recently milled Qld maple is I believe much lighter, and possibly with straighter grain, possibly due to the trees growing quicker in more exposed areas or similar. I think a sllightly interlocking grain verging on fiddleback might be good, for strength and impact absorption. All supposition. Bruce Hoadley's book on Australian woods names the Aus timbers traditonally used for items such as gun stocks. Someone on this forum is bound to have access to a copy.

cant help with timber choice but welcome from 1 charcoal burner to another :D
Pete

What size of material are you looking for as i might be able to help you with some blackwood here from our Tassie timber stock pile................

Reguards Tasman :)

Let me know how it goes as I'm in the process of building a 17 ackley bee on a Ruger #1 action and now I'm considering stock material. I have a piece of white mahogany about 75mm x 1200mm x 200mm from the but of the tree, displaying fabulous curly figure. Waiting.

For a muzzleloader any australian hardwood and many of the softwoods would be more than enough. The peak pressure developed by blackpowder is very very low, I would even go so far as to say something like banksia or silky oak would do. Birds eye maple has been used in the US and the extent of figure of some of the pieces would render it almost totally structually unstable.

If you want to be conservative, go the fine grained straight hardwood route, I understand that coachwood has been used in the past. As a target shooter, I had never really worried about weight Vs strength and for a muzzleloader you will be making such a thin stock anyway that it does not really matter.

Hello gentleman I was just reading up a little on gun stocks , if our Australian timbers are suitable due to the weight of some species . I’m considering milling a few stock pieces from some pretty desert Queensland timbers .

A penny for your thoughts gentleman or is it better your 2 cents worth.
Cheers Guy

Wow, a 17 year old post revived. I cut a few blanks for a friend who built Huge black powder rifles with them. They were buttress flares from a very large Burdekin Plum tree. Just glad it wasn't me machining them or shouldering them as well.
Rgds,
Crocy.

As this one has been revived, what did you end up with Grahame.

The old man made them from qld. Maple, also blue gum.

Thank you your replay Croc .

Australian timbers "suitable" for stock making. This is a difficult question as our timbers vary greatly. Even within the same specie.
The criteria for a good gun or rifle stock is; Moisture content, stability, straight grained (rising through pistol grip,) fine texture, weight to strength ratio, ability to take a finish and asthetics.
Some of these characteristics are more important than others, depending on the type of firearm in question.
You haven't said what type of muzzle loader you are building, ie Kentucky, Hawken, Quigely etc etc.
If you are building a long-stock, weight is important. As to is stability.
The most suitable Australian timber for a rifle stock is Coachwood. Tried and proven in two world wars on the SMLE 303 and also sub machine guns and many others and still going strong. Figure? Boring as bat poop.
I would advise against heavy timber for any gun stock other than a target rifle and even then I would prefer the weight in the barrel and action rather than the stock. I have seen and made quite a few muzzle loader stocks (long) from quarter cut Silky Oak. It looks very nice and keeps its shape well. It does need to be a trim pattern to keep the weight acceptable. QLD Maple, QLD Walnut, Kauri, Huon Pine, Red Cedar, Blackwood, Beech are all of potential but some are a bit on the soft side.

Hello Rusty thank you for all that information All of those Queensland timbers you mentioned I have in my stash . I wonder how Silver Quandong would go as a gun stock . Apparently it is good for musical instruments and steam bending.
Cheers Guy and all the very best for 2022.