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Mar 29th, 2024
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 127
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 127 |
I am in the process of buying a German side by in 16 gauge. Nice gun, but the wood is not the greatest. I want to replace it. I am looking at Calico Hardwoods, Santa Rosa, Ca. Has anyone bought from them? They sell French and Claro walnut. They have Triple A blanks in Claro for like around $200. I have seen their facility and it is very extensive. My late father's hunting rifle was stocked in Claro and it has some nice colors. I called them, the other week, and I told the gentleman what I was interested in: Claro with marbling. He told me when I was ready to contact him and he would send me some pictures, electronically, of blanks.
Colin L. Kendall
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 4,461 Likes: 207
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 4,461 Likes: 207 |
colin.,
I am a little prejudiced, but believe "English" should be used.
BTW, Calico has some very nice California grown English walnut.
Mike
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 13,879 Likes: 15
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 13,879 Likes: 15 |
Calico Hardwoods is owned by Reagent Chemical who's owner was the originator of the Parker Reproduction project. http://www.reagentchemical.com/I have bought a blank from them. Seemed fair. Claro can be about as pretty as wood gets, IMO. Lots of fire-like oranges and reds. It tends to be lighter in weight than black walnut from the middle or east of the country. This means it will be a bit softer, much softer than some of the dense English walnut. But much lighter in weight as well.
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,961 Likes: 9
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,961 Likes: 9 |
Good guys, I question Claro's ability to hold up to heavy loads in big rifle's and heavy 12 bore loads.
bill
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 412 Likes: 4
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 412 Likes: 4 |
Calico Hardwoods has been around for a long time. I first became aware of Claro at Kimber of Oregon as Calico Hardwoods was the wood supplier of record. Yes, we bought from others but they were the primary supplier. Weatherby, Kimber, Beretta, Browning, Winchester and others have used Claro for a long time. Claro gets a bad rap in many cases IMO. Yes, Claro is primarily an orchard wood and the pore structure is, more often or not less, dense than Juglans Regia. However, I have worked pieces of Claro that are as hard or harder than some stock wood of Juglans Regia. Pictures are great, for a quick choice of looks and layout. You need to have the stock in hand in order to check it's hardness and density. Each piece of wood is to be judged on it's own merit. Lumping wood into a catagory of good and not good by just name alone causes one to lose a great gunstock. This is just my opinion and I know it is not always shared.
Dennis Earl Smith/Benefactor Life NRA, ACGG Professional member
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 70
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 70 |
Calico Hardwoods has been around for a long time. I first became aware of Claro at Kimber of Oregon as Calico Hardwoods was the wood supplier of record. Yes, we bought from others but they were the primary supplier. Weatherby, Kimber, Beretta, Browning, Winchester and others have used Claro for a long time. Claro gets a bad rap in many cases IMO. Yes, Claro is primarily an orchard wood and the pore structure is, more often or not less, dense than Juglans Regia. However, I have worked pieces of Claro that are as hard or harder than some stock wood of Juglans Regia. Pictures are great, for a quick choice of looks and layout. You need to have the stock in hand in order to check it's hardness and density. Each piece of wood is to be judged on it's own merit. Lumping wood into a catagory of good and not good by just name alone causes one to lose a great gunstock. This is just my opinion and I know it is not always shared. I agree: good wood is good wood, no matter what the label. I once saw a piece of fiddle-back Juglans regia that had tight curly figure from end to end. The color was almost white and it felt like a piece of balsa wood. Totally useless.. As far as Calico is concerned: they have good people and good product that is fairly priced. I have been well satisfied with them.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 127
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 127 |
Many thanks for your responses. The shotgun I am buying is a 16 gauge side by with sidelocks. As I mentioned, the gun has European walnut. So, there won't be a heavy loads. This will be used for upland game hunitng. Awhile back I had a 16 gauge boxlock made by August Schuller, which I weasled out of my dad for Christmas in 1975. I bought a piece of marble cake Bastogne walnut from Oakley & Merkley in Sacramento. The forearm was Triple A Black Walnut from Fajen, which my dad had bought around 1963. I know the wood didn't match, but they sure looked pretty. Later on, I bought Fiddleback Claro for my Browning Superposed from the same outfit. Looked real nice on the gun and I didn't have any problems with it. Again, I appreciate all of your comments and I will let you know what I get. Hopefully, i will be able to upload pictures on to this site.
Colin L. Kendall
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,558 Likes: 22
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,558 Likes: 22 |
Calico Hardwoods has indeed been around a long time. When I was in Japan in 1983 and toured the SKB plant who was making Weatherby Shotguns (Athena and Orion models) there were stacks of Calico supplied hardwood in great abundance. Some of the most breathtaking wood I'd ever seen. What I recalled at the time was the wood was awesome to look at but fairly soft. Checkering done at the factory was rather course, and even at that the diamonds weren't very sharp at all. I didn't care at the time because the wood was breathtaking to look at. I think with a sidelock I'd prefer English walnut because as a rule its easier to shape/inlet for the stockmaker. Always exceptions of course. Claro does IMO give you the most bang for the buck from a looks perspective.
Last edited by tut; 07/23/12 06:07 PM.
foxes rule
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,964 Likes: 89
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,964 Likes: 89 |
The wood in the current stock is probably of higher quality, strength wise, than anything you will be able to buy today. Have you thought about having Mike Larson work his magic on the current stock? I am sure he could make it a spectacular piece. he has the ability to transform a totally plain piece of wood into exhibition grade. Hardly any wood today can equal the quality of that from 75 or 100 years ago.
When an old man dies a library burns to the ground. (Old African proverb)
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 582
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 582 |
They are still growin' walnut trees, and some is superior in color and figure and tensile/compression strength than much of what the English would stock their London guns with a hundred years ago. Older is not always better. As my friend Dennis said, judge each blank on it own merits. As for me, I wouldn't stock a Red Ryder with claro. Generally, it is softer, weaker, and does not take detail (inletting, as well as that awful practice known as checkering) as well. You can get a "prettier" stick in claro for those very reasons. If you want to be "correct," and be happier in the long run, go with juglans regia; the Germans would not have used claro.
Tolerance: the abolition of absolutes
Consistency is the currency of credibility
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