UTILIZATION OF BLACK WALNUT. 69 
able, for it is said that the heating of the rifle barrel will cause suf- 
ficient warping to make the gun shoot inaccurately. Figured walnut 
is highly prized in the butts of sporting rifles on account of its at- 
tractive appearance. Such stocks must be finished by hand, however, 
because the machine tool will follow the grain of the wood, inaccurate 
cutting of the stock will result, and the metal parts will not fit 
accurately. Army-rifle stocks are manufactured by very specialized 
machinery. The rifle blank (PL XI, fig. 1) is subjected to between 
40 and 50 different machine operations ; it is then dipped in stain ; the 
excess stain is rubbed off; and the metal parts are fitted to it. 
Sapwood is used with the heartwood without discrimination. Ameri- 
can walnut was the standard gunstock wood in the United States 
during the late European war, and was also used extensively by Eng- 
land and other European countries. 
In 1861 the subject of stocks for guns was formally discussed at a 
convention of gunsmiths at Atlanta, Ga. The consensus of opinion 
among those present was that black walnut was superior to all other 
woods for muskets; after walnut, maple was to be preferred, and 
persimmon was ranked third. It was then claimed that no artificial 
seasoning would suffice, and that gunstock material should be air- 
dried for 20 years. Walnut for gunstocks was, therefore, procured 
both in the North and South by taking floors, beams, and joists out 
of old barns and mills in which some of the walnut had been seasoning 
for a quarter or half of a century, and also by purchasing miles of 
fence rails. Modern methods of kiln drying the wood have largely 
taken the place of air seasoning, and with much more satisfactory 
results. Black-walnut stocks are now dried from the green state in 
special kilns in about 60 days. The modern rifle and shotgun re- 
quire much less wood for the stock than was used by the old-style 
long musket, which was incased in wood nearly its entire length. 
Gunstock blanks for the United States Army rifle are clear cuttings, 
approximately 4 feet in length, made from 2J-inch flitches, sawed 
from the log, and equivalent to a little better than the No. 2 common 
grade. 
Although black walnut is the best wood for this use, yellow birch 
has been found to be an excellent substitute. Yellow birch is about 
equal to black walnut in weight, strength, and toughness, but is not 
quite so good in holding its shape, shrinks more, and is more apt to 
be cross-grained. It is light in color, but may be readily stained. 
Gunstock manufacturers report that birch, when properly seasoned, 
makes as good a stock as black walnut. Birch is more difficult to 
" machine," however ; the production is slower ; and there is more 
waste in the " machining " operation than with walnut. Birch tim- 
ber is quite often wavy and cross-grained, and that kind of stock 
