Bob, I know I'm a little late to the party but I do have a couple of questions. What variety of walnut is this? When was it cut? If wood dealer can't answer the last question that could be a problem. I would also suggest that you put a couple of coats of finish on the blanks and retake the photos so the wood can be seen as far as layout goes. Also, and maybe most important, take a photo of the top and bottom of the blanks to see if there is any runout in the head of the blanks. Riff or quarter sawn probably won't show much if any but slab sawn sure will. I will say that I personally am not a fan of crotch figure in the grip area of a stock but that's just me.

I will say that I agree with Ted on wood choice, for my own use I use California English or Turkish. That said I have two French blanks that are elegant and more restrained than Cal English of fancy Turkish. Yes I own these to blanks but they already have a home.

Good luck with your project, it's your gun and do with it what you want.