marlinguy wrote on Aug 27^th, 2018 at 4:18pm:


Don't recollect having heard about this before. However, there is a very well established methodology of pressure impregnation of wood with protective solutions. No idea if that was ever applied to gunstocks.

If wood is allowed to repeatedly expand and contract due to changes in temperature and humidity, over time the result is shrinkage.  That's why, for example, table tops made round in the 18th century are now so often measurably oval if not visually so.

So, I wonder, is that why old guns - and even some new ones - are stocked with the wood just a smidgen proud of the metal rather than flush with it?

Bill Lawrence

calledflyer wrote on Aug 27^th, 2018 at 4:51pm:

Quote:


A depressurized holding tank sounds sorta like a vacuum tank, doesn't it?

Bill Lawrence wrote on Aug 27^th, 2018 at 5:12pm:


Bill,

It has been my impression that most "custom" stockers have clients that want the fanciest wood they can afford, purely for appearances. Seems that using stock wood impregnated with preservatives would be outside that mind set. Maybe for military or "rough and ready" all weather stocks, but, not for bragging material. However, some of those laminated stocks may indicate a different mind set.

Furthermore, NOT a single new rifle I have ever bought had any protective coating/finish/etc. applied to the interior of stock. 

I first learned of the advantages of sealing interiors of rifle stocks from Jack O'Conner's articles way back in 1950 or 1960s. This thread is giving me impression that maybe his advice never caught on, at least with ASSRA folks.

svartkruttgris#369 wrote on Aug 27^th, 2018 at 6:04pm:

Turners and knife makers can and do stabilize the wood that they use and it will generally be very nice to exceptional examples of the wood type, because of the cost of the process and corresponding prices of the finished pieces. My suspicion of why stabilizing hasn't caught on with the gunstock folks is because the wood ends up quite a bit heavier. Not all, but most gunmakers have turned to bedding stocks with various synthetic materials and techniques for stability.

Schuetzenmiester wrote on Aug 27^th, 2018 at 7:40pm:

Agree, Bob.
More stabilizing material can flow into wood having higher porosity, which usually, but not always, also means wood that has less density to start with.

svartkruttgris#369 wrote on Aug 27^th, 2018 at 7:53pm:

Same physical process, Grisen, whether you are dealing with the formation of gas vesicles in molten magma approaching the surface, a scuba diver with nitrogen forming bubbles in the blood stream causing the bends, and with so many many other applications... which is why they call it Applied Science.   

I can't seem to quote Gris on this phone.

It is not likely one will experience severe, non reversible, non repairable wood changes on a short hunting trip.  Certainly minor changes can occur during a severe short term exposure.   

I once had a .280 Ruger 77 that tracked sideways as the barrel heated shooting 4 or 5 shots.  I tracked it down to a spot of rust on the barrel between the barrel and forearm.  Carrying it through snow covered brush the previous winter was more than it could stand I guess  . It had so much ice and snow packed and frozen between the scope and action it became a single shot     

It was not permanently damaged.  Leaving it that way waiting for spring thaw may have yielded a different result.

The basic rules of wood stability is to do the same thing to both sides; ie, plane on side, plane the other. Musical instruments are made of relatively flat material. Gun stocks are out of that catagoery.  Odd shape, fancy grain, one side inletted and the other basically flat.  No amount sealer will absolutely prevent the shrinkage mentioned moving from MN to AZ.  I doubt it was noticeable in less than 6 months or possibly a year.  The differences wood moisture content between different parts of the country is usually less than 4 percent.  The arid SW may be an acception to that.  I am not personally familiar with that area.  I notice some minor changes in our RV woodwork during seasonal changes here in the PNW.  I didn't notice any changes spending 3 weeks in the SW.