Beautiful wood stocks

[egl52]

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).

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

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!

 

[gunsbam69]

Very nice :D

 

[MaxP]

Very nice!

 

[contender]

Nice! I've never bought a gun just because of the wood,,, but I have bought a few where the wood helped the decision.

 

[WMB30]

Do you happen to have a close up of the Gold sxs ?

Bill

 

[egl52]

Do you happen to have a close up of the Gold sxs ?

Bill

Sure; here's some. I think I've posted them here in the past in other topics.

 

[Danjet500]

Ever buy a gun just for the wood?

I usually GET wood when I buy a gun. :D

Those are very nice firearms.

 

[WMB30]

Very nice egl52, thanks for posting sxs pics

Bill

 

[JOHNNY WACKO]

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]

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]

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...

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.

The Ruger Express rifles are very, very nice firearms.

 

[ronipike]

egl52, where are the grouse?

 

[egl52]

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!

 

[steveodtw]

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.

 

[ronipike]

Where do you hunt?

 

[egl52]

- 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]

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]

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.

 

[steveodtw]

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.

 

[egl52]

Very nice. I like that burl (I think that's what it's called) with some fiddleback thrown in for even better looks.

 

[jeffnles1]

Some very nice wood here. I'm like a lot of you guys, something about pretty wood on a firearm that just makes me smile.

I did not buy these but I did build them but I did pick out the wood for the stocks just because I thought they would make pretty stocks.

.40 cal Flintlock Rifle

.58 cal Flintlock Rifle

20ga Smoothbore

 

[steveodtw]

Thanks egl52-They're all unique and that's the beauty of good wood. I'm a sucker for burls, usually not seen on gunstocks.
jeffnles1-you do beautiful work. Great looking smokepoles. I especially like the rifle with the wood patchbox.
Both my muzzleloder .54 rifle and 20 Ga. smoothbore have straight grain walnut stocks, so I just finished them dark.

 

[gatling]

- 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.

Yes, I bought that on GB from 77Ruger. He had some stunning fiddleback Model 77s that I now wish I had purchased, too. When I bought the 375 he told me he was quite ill and didn't expect to be around for too much longer. I searched his name on GB and haven't found anything recently.

Thanks for your kind words on the Kimber. It really was exceptional and I had no use for a .257 Roberts, but when I saw the wood I knew I had to have it.

One of my friends told me in a moment of levity I should give up on buying rifles and just buy the wood, because that was what I seemed to be primarily interested in. That must have struck a nerve, because the next day I picked up a maple blank for a song. I am going to have it inletted for a 45 70 No. 3 I have one of these days in exactly the same style as the standard No. 3 stock and fore end (barrel band and all), and have some fun with my buddies when I tell them it came from Ruger that way.

 

[jeffnles1]

Those are some really nice looking Maple blanks you have there.

Jeff

 

[Boxhead]

Well not just for the wood but I do like nice wood.

A 280 Rem on #49 of 50 Pete Grisel small ring actions.

A pre-war M70 in 270 WCF.

A Jim Wisner 7x57 on a M96 Swede.

 

[egl52]

All beautiful, Boxhead, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be that 7x57. Just something about it that speaks to me.

 

[steveodtw]

Ya sure. That Swede's the one. Crazy-beautiful grain!

 

[Tensaw]

Here is my favorite wood.

 

[APEXDUCK]

Not a Ruger but nice wood.

CZ 452 Varmint in 22lr, rescued from a pawn shop. Stock was beat bad and I had to refinish and steem out some major dents.

CZ 452FS bottom one is 22mag and the stock is quite nice for a factory gun. The top is nice as well, just does not show well in this picture.

APEXDUCK

 

[WendyZXZ]

Very nice stocks and firearms!