Beech stocks...

[Peter Laidler]

There are two sorts of wood. That which HAS warped - and that which HASN'T warped........... yet!

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[Ridolpho]

There are two sorts of wood. That which HAS warped - and that which HASN'T warped........... yet!

I'm constantly amazed at the condition of the stocks on my Sniders- 51 inches of wood on a 3-Band type, and all of mine straight as an arrow after as much as 160 years. Were seasoning practices that much better or, perhaps, the quality of the wood? I have several SMLE's and No. 4's that are corkscrew shaped (and not all wartime in the case of the SMLE's).

Ridolpho

[mrclark303]

Same on my 2 band volunteer P56 and all the three banders I have had in the past, both percussion and Snider, all straight as a dye, not a hint of warping.

[Flying10uk]

I seem to recall hearing that years and years ago wood was seasoned for a very long time indeed, decades, if it was required for carpentry that needed good quality wood that wouldn't warp or shrink.

Would it be reasonable to assume that much of the suitable Walnut available in the U.K. would have been exhausted during WW1?

[browningautorifle]

much of the suitable Walnut available in the U.K. would have been exhausted during WW1?

This was where I was with my original statement, walnut had been consumed at an exponential rate and other wood needed examination for suitability. Australia is a shining example of the different woods used... Yes, wood needed to be seasoned a bit. Thus Kiln drying...

[mike16]

kiln dried wood warps more easily when exposed to moisture, and is weaker and more brittle.
that pretty much applies to all wood

walnut is excellent but has the added characteristic that it maintains its strength when exposed to oil and some of the other cleaning products used then and now.too much soaking and it will rot eventually

birch and beech are also very good woods and are durable when exposed to oil. they are beautiful in thier own right but stain badly with cleaning and lubricating oils

If you are carefull about how you apply linseed oil you can counter the effects of warping. Be carefull about steaming the wood to unwarp it. lots of patience. Even wet steemed wood can easily split, moreso if it was origonally kiln dried

[amadeus76]

Awesome... Thanks for all the replys. It satisfied my curiosity and I ordered a Beech stock set for a probable future project. Or if that falls thru a replacement set for my current rifle.

[Flying10uk]

I have heard one or two U.K. traders say that Beech stock sets/parts are getting more difficult to get hold of than Walnut.

[mike16]

a good piece of wood will take up to 6 years to dry out below 4-6% humidity. Thats when it sits up in the rafters here in slower Arizona. Up north 7 plus %. When they get as low as can be expected thats when you seal them with boiled linseed oil. I saw on Y tube where some body wiped down thier walnut stock with walnut oil. I did not believe it but in the salad dressing section of my local safeway they have walnut oil for sale. Go figgure.

linseed oil works best if its what was origonally used on the wood.

Beech/burch were an expedieant measure, not because they were of a lesser standard/quality than walnut but because walnut takes alot of effort and resources to process. long drying time. Lithgow went thier own way with indigenous flora when thier walnut supply was exausted and none more was forthcomming from England. Winchester ran into a similar problem with walnut on thier m1's. They got stuck using existing supplies to ramp up initial production. early winchester m1's were some of the most beautiful rifles ever.

The German plywood solution came about because thier advanced chemical industry in general and the wood glue side specifically was able to solve the problem and loosen up production bottlenecks.

In 2012 Roger Wedham wrote a book "The 2012 Complete book on Lee Enfield Accurizing" ISBN 978-1-4716-1465-1. in it he addresses issues relating to warped wood and using linseed oil to reverse the warping (page 53).

[mrclark303]

The German plywood solution came about because thier advanced chemical industry in general and the wood glue side specifically was able to solve the problem and loosen up production bottlenecks.

The amazing thing about the German Laminate K98 stocks is the fact after 70 years they are still as good as the day they were cut from the sandwich block!