Grip/Magazine Base Wood???
 

Alvin threw out an interesting comment in another thread, that Luger [wood] magazine bases were 'supposed to be walnut'...

I had never thought about the type of wood used, whether in mag bases or grips...

But in looking at six German rifle stocks I have here (all pre-WW I), the woods are all different...

Was there a specific wood used for grips and/or mag bases, or was whatever [maple, walnut, birch, beech, etc] was available at the time used??? :confused:

I am asking about both grips and magazine bases... ;)

woods used!
 

Hi Rich! About 20 years ago, I was wondering the very same thing....Soooo, I took samples of about a dozen different stocks, and sent them to the department of Agriculture to be analyzed, a service which was free at that time.. As they ranged in color from blond to brown to blood red... I expected the results to be very diverse and fascinating....but, the reality of it was they all came back as European walnut... :eek:... I personally think, after pursuing this very same wood for 30 plus years, that the wood used for Lugers was picked and bought just like free lance walnut buyers do it now... People travel around selecting certain trees that are either being harvested, or to be harvested in the future, and buy them one off.... One guy, one region, same type of tree every time.... one big walnut tree will make a lot of parts... add to this, at that time, there were still trees in higher elevations, and cold climates that grew extremely dense with little figure. With that, you have the best stock available for years to come... Steamed red beech wood was a second choice, I think the only reason was appearance, as they both work the same... anything other then this would surprise me.... High, cold, dense, walnut!!!!! Best of the best... probably almost completely gone by 1918.... :eek:.....best to you, til...lat'r....GT:cheers:

European walnut is nothing like American walnut by the way..

Interesting topic! I have an Arisaka 99 rifle that I shoot a pretty good bit. When I first got it I completely stripped the gun for cleaning and noticed that the stock on the gun was a very light material. The upper portion of the stock that covers the topside of the barrel appeared to look like bamboo or something of that same type. Any ideas on that particular gun?

Some Yugo SKS have teak stocks, a good indicator that this is a quality product, at least, the raw material is not common these days (probably teak was cheap in Yugoslav, God knows). And indeed, it's excellent.

Hi:

I know the Yugos used a lot of local Elm on their M48 Mausers, but never teak.

Sieger

Strange woods??
 

On the Japanese side, I have no idea as to what they used?? Also do not know why they glued all the buttstocks up in two pieces??... It would be interesting to find out, as I've never seen any variation in color and/or grain on Arisakis.... (sp.?) 99's anyway... Always looked like a fairly light wood..lot'sa straight grain... Best to all, til...lat'r....GT:cheers:

From what I have researched:
Japanese rifles used Japanese Walnut which in some ways is a blanket term which include different Walnuts.
Walnut,Beech and Katsura up to Type 38's.
Walnut on Type 99's.
The original finish applied was with Urishi which is a skin irritant by the way. Towards the end of the war with the Type 99 the wood quality diminshed along with the Urishi finish.

I had a few Yugo M48 and SKS in the past. The M48 and some SKS have elm stocks. But some SKS stocks.... Looks to me,,,, I would say it's teak. This subject was discussed in SKS forums, some people thought it's beech, some even thought it's walnut (which I am sure it's not). The origin of the raw material was also a myth. Either from Africa or local from Europe. Since most SKS collectors were busy on refurbishing/customizing their rifles, no one has digged this out in depth in the past.

This from the NRA Firearms Assembly Guide -

"The stock construction is unusual. The butt is made in 2 pieces dovetailed together. This method allows the use of smaller blanks and a stronger grain direction through the pistol grip area."