Fads in the aftermarket (the stocks of California custom rifles come to mind) are one thing. What a production maker has on hand in terms of dried blanks or can get at the moment largely determines what gets worked to go on a gun so there is bound to be some high grade wood "wasted" on field grades and some plain Jane on higher grades. Anyone who knows the Morton Salt/FN story knows that demand often outruns supply and expediency in correction of the deficit can be a disaster. Personally, I think stocks with a lot of figure and no checkering are a dead giveaway of the amateur reach that exceeds grasp. Still why anyone would dislike pretty wood on a utilitarian gun is beyond me.
jack
