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