Types of wood used in original production

[painter777]

This might be usefull........

http://www.inthewoodshop.org/methods/lumber.jpg

Charlie

[CrossedCannons]

I can't think of a wood tougher than hickory, but it never seems to be used.

[imarangemaster]

I'm surprised poplar was never tried.
It nearly equal to walnut in hardness. But soft enough to take dings and bumps without splitting. Used quite often on marine vessels.
Plus withstands exterior conditions for long periods of time without warping.
It was then and still is very abundant. Pretty easy to work with and takes color very well when prepped correctly.
Maybe the fact that it would have had to be stained was it's demise. As it does take a number of steps before stainning to protect against a blotchy finish color.

Charlie-painter777

The military used poplar in the mid-1800s (just before, during, and after the Civil War) to make the blocks with holes bored for cartridges in the leather cartridge boxes for carbines like Sharps, Spencer, Maynard, Burnside, and even .44 Henry. They preferred its properties and the fact it did not swell much when exposed to moisture. SO the military was familiar with its properties.

[duggaboy]

hey Painter 777, is the black walnut really dark, and really black?? ;my last carbine , which i tried to mute the black finish color to a nicer (IMO) GI b rown , would not be changed. I THINK THAT AFTER I GOT ACQUAINTED WITH THE CARBINE, that i recognized the nice tight grain and the very dark color as really just another natural color that i've got on this stock. i think the stock has grown to be a fav of mine now.

[jimb16]

Some walnut is darker than the rest. I have a Garand stocl that has beautiful figure in it, but it is nearly black in color. I've stripped the stock and gotten as much oil out of it as possible, but as soon as I put any BLO on it, it turns as dark as midnight! I've seen other walnut that is so light that you need to stain it to get it to even a medium brown. I have a black walnut limb section in the garage that I use for repair work. The top half is very light in color, but it grades to a near black at the bottom. And that is in a single limb!