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.
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