American Walnut Company is one of the premier American black walnut
gunstock manufacturing mills in the world.
American black walnut logs are harvested exclusively from mature (30-50 years old) trees grown in the five state region of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Each American Walnut Company log is labeled with an inventory control tag to assure timely cutting and to negate premature drying and checking from undue exposure to the weather. To maximize the grain qualities specified by customers, each log is opened by the chief sawyer, an exceptional judge of walnut.
Cut walnut is inspected for defects. Pattern makers reinspect the wood and trace patterns to include the highest quality grain and color. A third inspection is conducted after the blanks are cut. They are then planed to an equal thickness and dipped in hot wax to prevent rapid drying and checking. The flawless blanks are scientifically kiln dried over a specific schedule, which could last as long as eight months. American Walnut Company kiln dries each individual blank with a tolerance of approximately 3%. The blanks are equalized and conditioned to prevent any internal stress. The kiln dried blanks are then inspected for any drying flaws that would occur during the drying process. The dried blanks, with absolutely no warpage or grain separation, are then reinspected, packaged and ready to be loaded.
American Walnut Company wood technologists and
designers have engineered standard patterns as well as
custom patterns to provide our customers with the
most efficient use of the wood blanks. American
Walnut Company can also provide blanks, machined
on both faces, and profiled to a specific size.
Stock blanks are submitted to the customer ready
for their locating machines.
STANDARD STOCK PATTERNS
J.C. RIFLE STOCK
Ideally suited for rim fire rifles and bolt action shotguns.
|32 in||2 in.||6 in.|
|812 mm||51 mm||152 mm|
SPORTER RIFLE STOCK
Engineered for the production of high-power, centerfire rifles.
|34 1/4 in.||2 3/8 in.||6 3/4 in.|
|870 mm||60 mm||171 mm|
O/U SHORT STOCK
A popular pattern for double barreled shotguns, both Over & Under and Side-by-Side models.
|19 in.||2 3/8 in.||6 1/2 in.|
|482 mm||60 mm||165 mm|
COMBINATION SHORT STOCK
A standard blank for all shotguns.
|15 3/4 in.||2 in – 2 3/8 in.||5 3/4 in.|
|400 mm||51 mm||146 mm|
LEVER ACTION SHORT STOCK
A precise pattern designed for the efficient manufacture of lever action rifles.
|15 1/4 in.||2 in. – 2 3/8 in.||5 3/4 in.|
|387 mm||51 mm||146 mm|
|EXHIBITION GRADE||#1 GRADE||#2 GRADE||#3 GRADE||#4 GRADE|
|80%-90% Figure||35%-50% Figure||20%-30% Figure||10%-15% Figure||10%-50% Figure|
|Both Sides||Both Sides||Both Sides||Both Sides||One Side|
As you will note from the following information, American Black Walnut is undisputedly harder and stronger than European Walnut.
|Strength||Moisture Content||Rupture Strength||Elasticity Strength||Crushing Strength||Shear Strength||Hardness Strength|
|American Black Walnut*||8%||16,456||1,756,000||9,291||1,430||1,051|
|American Black Walnut Strength Advantage||-||+26%||+14%||+27%||+8%||+22%|
EUROPEAN WALNUT (Juglans Regia): Other Common Names: Akrot, Ancona Auverge, Austrian Walnut, Basilikon, Carua, Caryon, Charmagz, Caucasion Walnut, Circassian (area in Caucasus/Black Sea) Walnut, Englische Wallnuss, English Walnut, European Walnut, French Walnut, Gemeine Wallnuss, Italian Walnut, Jaoz, Nogal, Nogal America, Nogal Comun, Noyer, Persian Walnut, Persicon, Russian Walnut, Turkish Walnut, etc.
AMERICAN BLACK WALNUT (Juglans Nigra): Other Common Names: American Walnut, American Black Walnut, Black Walnut, Burbank Walnut, Eastern Black Walnut, Eastern Walnut, Gunwood, Virginia Walnut
* Data Published by United States Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Products Laboratory