I took a gamble and bought a gunstock blank lot off ebay. The listing stated that the seller's father made custom gunstocks and kept a few special pieces that he planned to use some day. The seller thought they were 'English Walnut', but he didn't know.

I'm curious what you all think about whether I got a good deal (as far as you can tell from the pictures). I'm not planning to sell them. Just curious-- and hoping I can tell my wife that the "walnut chips", as she called them, that arrived at the house were worth at least as much as I paid.

Without my saying (for now) how much I paid, what do you all think this collection of blanks might be worth?



Blank #1:



Blank #2:


Blank #3: (does the 9/62 on this stock indicate that it was cut in 1962? If not, what do the marking on blanks mean?)



Other Odds and Ends that came with the lot:

I love #3. It looks like God grew it specifically to stock a POW or pistol grip with.

First thing I look for in a blank is how the grain runs through the wrist. #1 looks a bit iffy, #2 looks good except for what you might encounter at the butt end. #3 is definitely the best. The rest of the wood looks like an odd assortment that might fit any of several older guns. The one with the rubber pad looks like in might fit a Browning Superposed. And I'd say 9/62 is the date the blank was cut

I'm guessing you paid $350 for the lot and could sell for twice that.

What are you seeing in the wrist of the first blank that would make you concerned?

Need to see top, bottom and both ends to properly assess. The flash is but a small part of the equation.

The grain is not exactly in line with the force. Maybe OK, but not ideal. The other side may be OK. I'm basing my conclusion on only one photo.

actually, without actually seeing the pattern placement, I think it is likely that #3 over rotates that grain and may well chip out on top behind the fences. I like #1 a lot and maybe more than #3. The blank in photo number 5 might be a sleeper once it is planed down and that wood can be examined a bit more.

In any event, some nice wood that is certainly with a couple hundred bucks each (including that photo #5). And perhaps a lot more.

I do love looking at wood. Thanks for the pictures.

I have to disagree fairly strongly in that regard.

The chip out on the photo #5 blank might mean it doesn't take too kindly to planing? A good look at the end grain of that stick and the forend blank could be a good idea, it may have wicked up some unintended moisture. It still might be a nice blank, maybe look over the whole stash for little checks and splits?

I saw that lot on EBay. For what you paid for it you did OK to possible very well. Everything will work, if you are looking at a through bolt stock job. Others are right about the grain structure in the wrist being a concern based on limited photos. When you are buying blanks off photos you need all six side as a starting point. Many blanks are only great on one side or have grain which is more surface oriented which can run out when shaped. I have a couple blanks with crotch which might be nothing fancy when shaped that I bought long ago based on two photos of the sides. If I had seen a top and end grain photo I would have seen that the blank was all flash and not substance. Lesson learned.

Another thing photos can not show is the density of the wood. Orchard grown wood, tends to be faster growing wood and more open grain structured. If you can dent the wood with a finger nail it is too soft. We fall in love with fancy grain, when we should fall in love with a blank which is perfect grain flow with a bit of flash grain when finished.

Glad you bought the lot and that it went to a god home. Now you need to decide what to use it for.

Turned into a long work day and night. I'll take some more photos of blanks 1 & 3 and send them along later today when I get home.

This was my first venture into buying blanks, and I knew I was taking a risk. I paid more than the starting price by a good bit KyJohn. Still hope it was a good deal. Will see what everyone thinks once the other photos are up.

Im hoping that at least one of them will be worth using to upgrade the wood on an AyA no 2 that I've got. It has surprisingly plain wood for such a nice gun.

What matters is what your stocker thinks, not us here on the BBS. We can all love them but he must make them work and in person inspection by a stocker will show you almost all the blank problems, if any. Have you selected who is going to restock your gun? If so, ship him the blanks and gets his opinion. After all he is the one who will be using them to create your dream stock. A buyer might see the beauty on the surface but the stocker makes his living seeing problems long before he starts a job.

Have we decided what species of wood we are seeing ? The first one looks like American Black Walnut to me.

Gotta' go with #1. Grain couldn't be any better through the wrist and the butt is spectacular.

#2 has that knotty looking thing that could prove problematic. Would have to see it in person.

#3 would be okay if you didn't need the leading 3" or could maybe put it on a thru-bolt gun.

Blanks 1 and 2 are American Black Walnut Blank #1 has best grain and figure.
Blank #3 is English Walnut and the grain through the wrist seems like it may cause problems

1 & 2 are laid out upside down and look like black walnut. Rare as hell to find a feather like that in English.

A few more photos of blank #1. Also roughly drew a straight stock pattern flipped the other way, since it was suggested that the outlined stocks would be better the other way.
Ran out of time to clean up the endgrain, but here's both sides and the top grain.

And of stock #3.

i would suggest taking your photos with a tape or yardstick along side...that gives everyone a better idea of how layouts might proceed...

your additional shots of #1 look like a very good grain flow through the wrist...

developing a taste for nice walnut is just one more step along a predictable set of personality disorders...i have numerous blanks that i occasionally take out simply to admire...

Since I said I would say how much I bought it for, I got the lot for $300. So you were pretty close Dave.

Brent D, the sleeper in photo 5 does look like it has some nice wood, but it is pretty small and has some sapwood on one side of the front. There is a buttstock in the lot from an old gun that he appears to have been replacing. Here's the blank with some mineral spirits on it (the other side had less sapwood, but I didn't take another picture):




As for the odds and ends, the one I am puzzled by is the stock and forearm. Does anyone recognize this symbol?

The checkered stock & forend look like they belong on a Ruger #1 rifle. The grip cap is Ruger.

Ruger

Nice blank, even if small.

I think that emblem is Ruger, no?

Ruger. I couldn't figure out the s part of it, and Google wasn't helping. Sturm Ruger.

Thanks all.

From what I'm seeing on ebay, I might be able to cover the cost of the whole lot just by selling that Ruger no 1 stock and forend. Looks like a fancy factory stock would probably fetch a decent price. Will have to get the tape residue off first...

The butt stock is from an early #1 based on the checkering pattern.

Yep, a Ruger No. 1-B (or maybe a 1-V?).

To circle around to my original question: The factory stocks in the 'odds and ends' are currently selling on eBay for more than I paid for the whole lot. Pretty pleased with the payoff of the eBay gamble.

Nice buy Jim!

Thanks! There are several days left in the auction. I'm hoping to cover the shipping costs of my purchase as well. That was another $90. We'll see.

I did really well wit some blanks at auction last fall. I could tell from looking at them that they were good quality thin shell and after I purchased them a board member contacted me giving me the back story on them. Turns out all the wood was at least 20 years dry and the wood came from an estate. The kind member here mentioned to me that one unmarked blank was Tessier, he knew because he was the original purchaser and traded it to the former owner. I found one more Tessier blank in the batch as well. I sold off three blanks and ended up with four really nice blanks in that batch that I kept for myself.