Beautiful wood stocks

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egl52

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
337
Location
Wisconsin
Ever buy a gun just for the wood? I can say now that I have. Second from the bottom is my newest addition - an Express rifle in .338. I sold an AR-15 to raise the dough (not hard to do with the current market).

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A closer shot of the Express .338 and my Woodside.

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Does anyone else feel like your chances of getting great wood are better with Ruger than with any other large manufacturer? Of course you've still got to be picky. I'd love to see some pictures of your favorite wood-stocked rifles and/or shotguns too if anyone else would like to share!
 

JOHNNY WACKO

Blackhawk
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
532
Thanks for the nice pictures.Those are some nice examples of fine wood.I always felt that leaving wood out of a gun made it more like a tool then it is.Nothing against other types of materials,but the wood can change a gun into a work of art.or encourage more pride of ownership in the piece.
 

Rick Courtright

Hawkeye
Joined
Mar 10, 2002
Messages
7,897
Location
Redlands CA USA
contender said:
Nice! I've never bought a gun just because of the wood,,, but I have bought a few where the wood helped the decision.

Hi,

Same here: if good looking wood doesn't cost any more, some one told me long ago purty girls can dance as well as ugly ones... so don't be afraid to ask one!

Rick C
 

gatling

Blackhawk
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Messages
704
contender said:
Nice! I've never bought a gun just because of the wood,,, but I have bought a few where the wood helped the decision.

I have bought rifles because of the wood. The four rifles on the left, in particular...and that 10/22 Mannlicher in the middle of the rack...and maybe the CZ Mannlicher...

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From right to left, these are...

- A Ruger 200th year Deluxe 10/22
- A Ruger Talo French Walnut 10/22
- A CZ 455 Mannlicher 22
- A CZ 452 28-inch barrel Super Exclusive 22
- A Marlin 39 22
- A Winchester Model 62 (belonged to my Dad; he bought it for $8 when he was a kid)
- An older Ruger 10/22 Mannlicher (unusually nice wood on this one, too)
- An M1922 Springfield 22 (my Dad paid $25 for this one back in the day; they are considered collectable today)
- A custom shop Remington Model 504 22 (this is probably the nicest .22 I've ever owned…the photo does not do it justice…you have to look at it closely to see that the fore end tip and pistol grip cap are made of slightly lighter wood)

And the non rimfires…

- A Kimber Select Grade 257 Roberts (one of the prettiest stocks ever; haven't shot this one yet, but I will…I have all the dies, brass, and bullets; just haven't loaded anything yet)
- A stainless Browning 308 A-bolt (this particular rifle was a gun displayed by Browning at the SHOT show a few years ago; the wood on it is exceptional)
- A relatively rare factory Model 70 in 300 Weatherby (they only made a few of these about 20 years ago, and this one has really nice wood). I am going to put a scope back on this one and play with it a bit. I like the Model 70 and this one is really nice. I paid well under $400 for it when I bought it about 20 years ago.

By the way, the Ruger Express rifle in that first post above is beautiful. I found one of these a couple of years ago and it is another I bought just because of the wood.

M-77-375-HH.jpg


The Ruger Express rifles are very, very nice firearms.
 

egl52

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
337
Location
Wisconsin
ronipike said:
egl52, where are the grouse?

Oh, thanks. Rub it in! Only kidding, but the lack of grouse in those pictures with the woodcock was not for lack of trying. I missed two very makeable shots and blew down a lot of branches on several other marginal opportunities. It was not my best performance. Next year!
 
Joined
Jan 16, 2009
Messages
1,121
Location
SE Michigan
It's a lucky man who has a Gold Label and a Woodside. Very nice wood on all. I think I might have been able to resist my Gold label if it had plain wood. But the wood sealed the deal on mine. I have asked the dealer to see different stocks when I picked out my Red Label but the Gold Label was the only one there.
 

egl52

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
337
Location
Wisconsin
gatling said:
- A Winchester Model 62 (belonged to my Dad; he bought it for $8 when he was a kid)

- A Kimber Select Grade 257 Roberts (one of the prettiest stocks ever; haven't shot this one yet, but I will…I have all the dies, brass, and bullets; just haven't loaded anything yet)

By the way, the Ruger Express rifle in that first post above is beautiful. I found one of these a couple of years ago and it is another I bought just because of the wood.

The Ruger Express rifles are very, very nice firearms.

JB,

I also have a Winchester 62, except that I inherited mine from my grandfather. I remember that he once told me that he paid $8 for his too. I imagine they bought our two rifles around the same time.

You have my agreement about the wood on your Kimber - it's really nice. The rest are no slouches either.

And that last picture of the Ruger is drool-worthy. I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty certain that's a .375 that was sold on gunbroker maybe a year or two ago. I think the seller's name was something like 77ruger. Is that correct? If it is, I'm pretty sure I put in some bids on that one. By the way, who was that 77ruger guy? He had a lot of nice guns, but I haven't seen anything from him for sale in quite some time.
 

egl52

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
337
Location
Wisconsin
steveodtw said:
It's a lucky man who has a Gold Label and a Woodside. Very nice wood on all. I think I might have been able to resist my Gold label if it had plain wood. But the wood sealed the deal on mine. I have asked the dealer to see different stocks when I picked out my Red Label but the Gold Label was the only one there.

I'd love to see pictures of the wood on your Gold Label if you got some. Unfortunately it seems like most of them had rather plain wood. Too bad for such a nice gun. The wood on mine is very straight-grained, but the fiddleback is really pronounced all the way through on both sides of the buttstock. I think it's quite stunning, and I love how the look changes with variations to light and angle. Like you I just got lucky; taking the first one I could get my hands on.
 

egl52

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
337
Location
Wisconsin
ronipike said:
Where do you hunt?

I just ride along with my cousin wherever he decides to take me. :D He has the dog(s) and is a very dedicated grouse/woodcock hunter. I'm lucky to get out once or twice a year. Those pictures were taken on some public land in north-central Wisconsin. I'm sorry that I can't be more specific, but I just don't know for sure because we drove all over the place that weekend.
 
Joined
Jan 16, 2009
Messages
1,121
Location
SE Michigan
Sorry for the glare and size. Can't figure out how to resize on new Photobucket. I like how the grain is visible through the fine checkering. I really like your photos in the field. I've gotta do that.
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egl52

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
337
Location
Wisconsin
Very nice. I like that burl (I think that's what it's called) with some fiddleback thrown in for even better looks.
 

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