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10-21-2011, 09:40 AM | #3 | ||||||
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Don, I am in awe of your wood talents. Thanks.
Abou the best I have is a couple blanks of J. nigra cut from a tree blown down in my back yard. ... its typical G grade figured wood and will take a couple years to dry. So how would you suggest I go about figuring how to tell Hindsii from nigra and French from Turkish, franquette from whatever? Just look at a lot of blanks? By the way, both stocks are gorgeous. |
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10-21-2011, 09:53 AM | #4 | ||||||
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Bruce, I'm with you. Its not easy for me to tell one from another.
I found this on the web and it helped me, a little. http://www.hearnehardwoods.com/hardw...lnut_wood.html note the selection box on the left, select and compare. |
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10-21-2011, 10:59 AM | #5 | ||||||
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Guys, I am with both of you, sometimes its easy to tell and others....I have no clue..
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10-21-2011, 11:41 AM | #6 | ||||||
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Like the man said when someone asked him on the street in Manhattan, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? He replied simply. "Practice"...Hindsii is really what is called Claro walnut almost always from California grove trees- bright, lots of banding, often lots of fiddleback, reddish mineral line (not black), colorful and a bit soft with rather open pores, Western black is really just claro (hindsii) specimen grown in the NW often hard to tell from nigra. Eastern Black (nigra) is dark, harder than hindsii and rarely as colorful and almost always comes from east of the Great Plains. (I am looking at hundreds of them out my window now), "English walnut" juglans regia is usually from California, Turkey and "other". Turkish is the finest walnut in the world for gun stocks. California is often a bit softer and brighter with lots of dark mineral lines. It grows all over however. I've had great blanks from even here in Pa. Franquette is just a type of grove grown regia from California that usually evidences a lot of straight parallel tightly packed mineral lines.
If you think of nice classic Winchesters you usually see good examples of feather crotch nigra at its best. For Turkish regia, think high grade Perazzis. For old European regia like the classic Teyssier supplied to the London trade, think Purdey, Holland and Boss guns from the early 20th century. Parker Ds and above (except late Remington nigra stocked guns) have a distinctive look that says I am regia grown west of the Urals. Claro is very easy to spot (think late Browning Superposed)it is the bling covered gangsta of the walnut world. Western black is easy to confuse sometimes with nigra but if someone from CA, WA or OR is selling it as "black walnut" it is almost always hindsii. Bottomline, look at a lot of wood and buy from reliable suppliers if you don't know what you are doing. |
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The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Don Kaas For Your Post: |
10-21-2011, 01:05 PM | #7 | ||||||
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Don, thank you for the illuminating response. What I do know is that I will print off your post and keep it in my Parker book. And I don't know what I am doing so rely on reliable suppliers should I ever need wood. Do you have a recommended source for correct Parker higher grade regia?
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10-21-2011, 02:00 PM | #8 | ||||||
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Luxus and Chiron (hunterbid.com) have some nice Turkish regia. I have bought directly from Turkey as well ( Denili (sp.)) quite a few times. eBay is actually a good place to browse. I have bought a lot of wood off of eBay. When you really look at a lot of D grade + Parkers as many of us have, it is actually remarkable how "modest" most of the wood is compared to modern guns like higher grade Perazzis. You can say the same thing about Purdeys for that matter. However, within reason, when re-stocking a higher grade Parker a little more figure in the butt livens up the their look considerably.
My one pet peeve, (I take that back- I have a menagerie of pet peeves) is when someone restocks a nice D or higher Parker with the wrong wood. G grade can have nigra (most) or regia. Ds and above need regia (unless it is one of the rarer late Remington high grade guns that originally had fancy nigra even then I'd go regia)Having said that there is nothing wrong with putting a plain piece of regia on a VH or lower grade hammer gun if you have one sitting around- you just won't get the red/brown look typical of the nigra stocked factory guns just as you won't get the blonde look typical of most DHs if you use nigra onthem I've been slowing down on the stocking in the past few years...too many guns already. As the Duchess of Windsor is said to have remarked. "You can not be too rich or too thin." but when it comes to a blank of well laid out Juglans regia, it can't be too well seasoned or have too much figure and color. The only problem is good Turkish regia is expensive. I am just an amatuer enthusiastic consumer of gunstock wood. Talk to professional stockers and they will give you the real low down (but do not assume they know anything in particular about Parkers)... Below is a rather plainish piece of regia (still probably French in origin) put on my 1893 Purdey pigeon gun when Purdey re-stocked it in 1967... |
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10-21-2011, 03:32 PM | #9 | ||||||
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Don, I have saved your comments and advice. Your wood peeve is mine also. I don't mind if somebody intentionally sets out to do a custom Parker.... use whatever wood they want......but if the intent is to restore, I like it to be correct, and that includes wood. We did a true restoration to a DHE Double Trap some years back that is considered a stunning gun now, and it was correct to the last detail. Now I have had a 16 ga CHE in restoration for 2 1/2 years and it will take longer. That gun has Rem factory replacement barrels 28", with narrow tapered rib, factory articulated and matted triggers, and the ugliest crappiest replacement no drop point stock, fat beavertail and garish cyanide striped colors. Donnie Gemmes and I must have poured through 75-100 Turkish walnut blanks before the right one was selected. I pulled out what I thought was correct Parker high grade wood, then Donnie said I was wrong about them all and he selected one and he was dead on. The new splinter forend is made, the stock is close to being finished . I found an original unfinished skeleton butt which will be engraved, and found a stunning forend tip. I am committed to a true restoration on this abused , light, fast 16 C, and its not easy or cheap. I am fortunate to have another 16 C with perfect stock and checkering which can be duplicated side by side.
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10-21-2011, 03:49 PM | #10 | ||||||
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Donnie is a good man. Unfortunately, the biggest offender in the "wrong wood" catagory were the DelGregos. They bought that load of claro and went to town. For years, many people thought that Meriden Parkers actually were supposed to look like that...and then there was the cyanide case coloring...but they were (are) the experts...they had to make a living too...
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