doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Claro or Black Walnut

Where does "Bastogne" Walnut fit in the scheme of things?

Just another specie of walnut from France

Steve,

How do imagine Bastogne translates into english? That is the meaning. It is a cross between various varieties of trees.

As for black walnut, it shows tremendous variation in annual growth rate, nut production and grain structure depending on where it is growing. As little a 25 mile north to south difference can yield very different wood.

Pete

No 1 looks English
No 2 might be as well but with no figure but the picture isn't as clear.

Bastonge, try " bastard"; also try mule as in a previous post.Crosses between species are tried a lot. Most of the time they do not work.Some of the time they do. Try the cross between a double gun owner and a spouse who does not like guns.

So, does this mean that Bastogne is not a desireable stock material?

This is a subject that I have followed with interest, more than just a few years ago a friend and I spent our winters scouting and cutting walnut trees here in Central California. Trying to determine the different species of walnut growing in this area is difficult, most of the thin shell walnuts are grafted on a thick shell root stock, it might be Black, Claro or Bastogne. Most of the nursery trees that are planted now are on Bastogne rootstock because of its disease resistance and success as far as grafts are concerned. Bastogne is supposedly a hybrid between Juglans Nigra and Juglans Regina. Quality of the wood can vary from tree to tree, depending on where and how it has grown and to say that Claro is soft and brittle is not always true, I have seen Claro that was dense and quality wood and thin shell that was soft and useless. When cutting a tree you never knew what you had as far as color and quality until you cut it open. I have seen Bastogne in many different colors and quality; the dark brown colors seem to be very dense and have excellent figure. My experience is that each blank should be individually judged, keep in mind that most walnut in California is from orchards, with a few trees that were yard or wild trees.

Jim A.

Thin shell is english,french,turkish, and many other names for the same tree. The stock pictured above looks black to me. Claro has a reputation of being more brittle than black but there is a huge varation from tree to tree.
bill

Apperson, check your PM's.

Whatever type of walnut this is, I don't know or really care.
Here is the finished stock , received buttplate today fitted it and spent 20 minutes French Polishing to bring out the grain. Normally don't like a bright finish, but I think it does it justice. If I don't like it later, I'll remove it with my mixed drink of George Dickel.