Rifle stocks, wood stock quality opinion?

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Curious if anyone has any opinions on this.
I just picked up a barreled action savage 111 in 30-06. I only need to put a stock on it and tweak the trigger, as it’s the pre accutrigger style. But I’m looking at a Richards stock blank as an affordable way to put a decent wood stock on it. I’m leaning towards a Myrtle custom rollover in whatever grade I feel like spending the money on at te time. I’m aware that they need some work to fit and look proper as they are just routered out of the wood blank. But I’m more wondering about the quality of the wood itself. As it seems to cost the same for their roughed out blank as it does for an uncut blank. So if the wood quality is acceptable, I’d rather have the rough inlay and action screw holes pre drilled for the same cost. As log as the wood will hold up to a heavy 30-06 load in a light barrel.

So any opinions?

Thanks,
Kyle

[Hawkdancer]

Kyle,
 Being an old guy, and somewhat biased, I'd go with walnut!  The outfit that took over Fajen still uses their tooling and has a wide variety of woods.   I'm not familiar with Myrtle as a stock wood though.
Hawkdancer (Jerry)

[gifford]

Ask them if they will rough out an Osage stock. :-)

[Eric Krewson]

As a flintlock builder I would say that the key to any stock strength is the grain flow through the wrist.

This cherry stock blank I cut would be perfect;



Most stock blanks cut by reputable dealers are cut with the wrist flow somewhat correct but not all.

[vinemaplebows]

You look at boyds by chance?

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Thanks for the input guys.
If I had a large enough piece of either Osage or black locust I’d see if they would mill it out.
I do love thee look of a good walnut stock. The cz527 I have came with an awesome walnut stick with good figure. But I was thinking about something different just because. From what I can see, Myrtle is mostly a light color like maple but with some dark and colorful streaks and stripes. I may fall back on a walnut though as I do like the look. And the company offers Bastogne walnut which is supposed to be tougher than American or English walnut. So is used for large African rifles a lot.
I bet that cherry stock will be gorgeous once finished. Though I’d be afraid to put it on anything with more recoils than a 223. Atleast without epoxy impregnating it.
I haven’t checked out Boyd’s in a while. I know they do laminate stocks, as I looked there when I was setting up my long range rig.  do they do solid wood too? I already have a dedicated long range rifle set up in a laminate. So I want to set this up as a pretty hunting rifle in solid wood. Once pillar and glass bedded I shouldn’t have much problem with poi shifting.

Kyle

[Tracker0721]

I prefer walnut but that’s all up to you as they both will be fine for that rifle. Also since it’s unfinished you can stain it with whatever you please. I’m preparing to do a Hawken build and am using laurel Mountain forge stain and their finish for the first time. All the forums I’ve seen say it’s some good stuff! Boyd’s does a walnut stock too, and eBay may have some stuff for the pre accu 110. I just built one this summer, super fun and came out great with that original stock getting some modifications. Whichever stock you chose, pillar bed it. Glass bed if you want too but you’ll have to pillar bed it. Mine was just 22-250 but there’s just so little wood catching on the middle screw and that one and the front are the only ones holding the rifle in, rear screw does nothing.

Also the grain running through the wrist as Mr. Krewson said is the number one choice but if it doesn’t you can drill a hole and glue a steel rod in. A lot of guys don’t even pay any attention to it and it turns out fine but grain run outs there is a big weak spot.

And lastly, I think the cascade looks better than the rollover. I dunno, it just caught my eye. Hahaha

Boyd’s will checker too if you don’t have the tools or will or know a competent gunsmith. And they do LOP and I think different recoil pads and all that.

[Eric Krewson]

I have never see a modern rifle with a stock broken in the wrist no matter what wood it was made from.

Wrist breaks are common in the M/L world, I  suspect it is because the 4 to 5 pound barrel acts like a jack hammer if the rifle is placed on the butt too abruptly.