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.
