Eddystone Birch stock?

[Patrick Chadwick]

Just as a marker, my Eddy, numbered 1,299,xxx with 11-18 barrel , has a black walnut stock, was staked on foresight, backsight and both trigger guard screws, and had an "as-new barrel but a helluva lot of dings from being shunted from store to store over 90 years. Everything was properly marked with Es, eagles and inspections numbers as per Ferris pp101-108, and I am satisfied that the rifle is as manufactured (apart from the dings, of course). So they hadn't run out of walnut a month after Coal Burner's example and about 6 weeks before the end of production (the graph on P. 88 of Ferris indicates a production rate of about 100,00 a month!).

So I would assume, unless documentary evidence to the contrary is forthcoming, not walnut = not original.

Just one further thought, Coal Burner: what did you use to strip the wood?

I recently did some experimenting with a walnut stock from a scrapped Mauser, and found that with caustic soda followed by hydrogen peroxide you can bleach European walnut right out to the color of raw beech! Look at the structure of the wood, not the color - maybe it IS walnut and you overdid the chemicals!

Patrick

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Coal Burner]

Just one further thought, Coal Burner: what did you use to strip the wood?

I recently did some experimenting with a walnut stock from a scrapped Mauser, and found that with caustic soda followed by hydrogen peroxide you can bleach European walnut right out to the color of raw beech! Look at the structure of the wood, not the color - maybe it IS walnut and you overdid the chemicals!

Patrick

I thought about the exact same thing, but the barrel and receiver inletting was never painted, and it was all light yellow before I started stripping anything. Plus the structure of the grain just doesn't look like walnut (to me) no matter what color it is, and I have a couple of walnut 1917 stocks to compare to.

I spot checked three different shades of Fiebing's leather dye on it, and they all turned out bright red. Birch always seems to turn red with that type of dye. I wound up scrubbing most of the leather dye off and using a Minwax stain to avoid the red coloration.

I'm surprised that rebuild stocks from another contractor would have the "E" stamp. Why would they even bother with that on a replacement stock years after the fact? Also surprised that they would use any type of gum wood - in my experience the grain is twisted like a rope and I won't even try to split it for firewood.

If anyone is curious enough, I can take pictures of it when I get home in a couple of weeks.

[mp-43]

I don't claim to be an expert, but I too have a birch stock on my 1917. The stock came from Numerich, described as "hardwood" and was in NOS condition. That is to say dry, dusty and slightly dinged from storage. Cost under $40 a few years back. It is marked with an R at the tip and has an eagle head 339 stamp ahead of the magwell. As far as I know, the eagle heads were phased out long before WW2, so it doesn't make sense for them to be re-applied by a contractor during ww2. I have heard the same thing that the birch stocks were all produced during ww2, but I find it hard to believe that they would bother to use the old markings.

[bordercav]

I have the same exact stock with the same stamp! I purchased it online a year or so ago.

[Dan Wilson]

Well if it has the eagles head stamp then it IS an original stock, these inspectors stamps were not used outside of initial acceptance.

Dan