Does anyone know what non-walnut wood is used in older Marlins and Glenfields? I've seen it as birch and beech. Birch, especially yellow birch seems more legitimate as it is a more common furniture wood. Beech is almost ironwood and isn't common in the woodworking trade but I could see something that hard use as being millable. Any ideas? I've seen both mentioned, but nothing definitive.
i think most of them use birch as a cheaper alternate to walnut. my Glenfield Marlin M60 i think has the birch stock on it. biggest problem is they are harder to stain, because wood grain they have. they just don't come out as nice as walnut or oak or some of the fancier woods do.
I'm thinking my 30AS is birch. I got that from fairly reliable source. I have seen beech, also. I dont know if it is just an error since beech and birch sound similar. Unfortunately both are straight grained white wood. Its not like they say cherry and pine, woods easy to tell apart.
birch is a cheaper wood they use to make gunstocks out of to save some costs in making firearms so they can produce a cheaper economy model of that firearm. birch is also a softer wood than walnut and doesn't stain as nicely as walnut.
I dunno about that...I've seen some mighty impressive refinished Birch stocks...it all depends on what the individual does to it Most of the time it beats heck out of the Mar-Shield...
i agree Big Shreck. it just in my experiance harder to get the desired look from birch as walnut is for me is easier to get a nice looking finish on. my M60 has the birch stock and it came out nice, but it was much harder than walnut to me to get that result.
I tried posting this from my phone. This might repost... 1) I called Marlin and talked to their historian. She looked up the production figures and said it was birch. Hard to argue with that. 2) I has since seen pictures of German rifles with beech stocks. Although the same color, the beech has flecks in it like an oak. 3) I like walnut to look like walnut, and birch to look like birch. Birch is a clean straight wood. It lacks the depth, color, and complexity of walnut but is straight and strong. My Mosin-Nagant is silver birch and is beautiful in its own way, a pure utilitarian tool. My Marlin isn't as pretty as a walnut stock model but the birch is strong and smooth with a rich honey color. Thanks...
Being an avid wood worker...... Birch is a Harder wood than Walnut. Walnut is Prettier grain and prefered for a lot of furniture applications....hence the expense. A gun-stock if dropped will break made of Walnut before Birch. White Birch is heavier than American Walnut. There are some exotic Walnuts twice as heavy and hard as White Birch. The difference between hardness is not huge but it is there. Birch will get little dents before Walnut. Walnut being softer will tend to spring back before Birch. And with the tighter grain and density Birch dosnt take stain and finish as nice as Walnut.
beechnut.. Hi turkeyoke.i owned a gunshop for nine years and dealt with alot of military firearms and would buy them by the crate.on the forum of other guns of other than gun weapons, i posted a sks i did that had a beechnut stock.you will be impressed.every yugoslavian sks came caked in cosmoline as did most all other crated military firearms.people paid me up to seventy five bucks a pop to take their guns apart and remove the cosmoline. A little trick.my stock on the sks was black with cosmoling soaked in.i took the nastiest gun for me.i took the whole gun apart and bought a case of brake cleaner and sprayed the cosmoline off completely and does not afftect the blueing one bit.it took the cosmoline right out of the wood on the sks.it also took off the discusting varnish it had on it.i let it dry well in the sun for a day or two and the pores opened up and it almost turned white,i sanded it with 180 down to 320 then steel wool.it was as smooth as a babies bottom.i oiled all the metal parts with a thin layer of gun oil and put the gun back together i rubbed a thin coat of gun oil on the stock and it turned a beautiful blonde beachnut,the big pores make it look great. Like i said the proof is in the pudding.just bring up the posts i started and first off you will some of the finest rarest guns you will ever see and you will see the yugo m59/66.like i said it is either in other than marlin guns or made a mistake and put it in all else but guns and while you are there check out some of the worlds finest and rarest i posted from my personal callection.i think you will dig the hard chrome ak47 done in satin hard chrome,not bumper chrome,there is a huge difference.if you want to see up close a beautifully refinished beechnut stock look for my yugo sks.hope it helps brother.
Thanks for all the info. Beech is my favorite tree (I grew up in the beech-sugar maple woods of Ohio) but I don't know much about it as lumber. It was so hard they cut the maples and left the beech in our area. #SW01 - Thanks for the insight into the beech vs. walnut issue. #Moparman1911 - I am looking for an SKS. I think I'll take your advice, make sure it is beech, and finish it as you recommended.
sks hey brother,i am happy you appreciated me taking the time to write it.i have every sks ever. i mean every sks imported into america.the best bang for your money is a yugoslavian m59/66,just clean it up as i said and it will be a beautiful piece.if you find a yugo m59 that sks is rare so it is worth more.norinco makes a beautiful sks.one is a very short paratrooper model,worth a bit more,then a paratrooper sks that takes ak47 mags from the factory,the standard full size sks full size chrome bore.the yugos don`t have chrome bores and they all used corrosive ammo,so check the bore.most are discusting and black.but i have a trick which works very well,i take a cleaning brush on a drill and go back and forth til most of the black is out and then i can actually see the bore.even nasty barrels,you can shoot them fairly clean.so now we get to russian sks.any russian sks with a beautiful laminated stock was refinished at the factory and are masterpieces,some numbers may not match but we are talking sks here.the muddy dark brownish red russian ones are the unrefinished ones.don`t let looks fool you.most have brand new chrome bores and all matching numbers.the russians are usually the most desired,then the norincos.the only reason i am saying yugo`s are lower on my list is thy have a gas shut off valve for making it only shoot one blank for the grenade launcher,it is a button that switches left or right.if you don`t know what you are looking at.you will own a sks single shot.romanian ak47 are always beat to death and carved on and just used and beat on.but i say that, but they are rare.the holy grail,king of kings of sks is the bulgarian sks`s.they don`t even look like a sks,a box magazine,long forearm,longer gas tube and a huge pike bayonet and only 5k came into the country,i having one.it makes the norinco pike bayonets look small.norinco has a pike bayo,bulgarian have a pike bayo the rest are blade bayos.gunbroker will have a great, maybe new in the box with cleaning kit and green sling for about 400 to 500 bills.but we are talking about an unfired one.which they are out there.the most wanted ones are the paratrooper models especially the one that takes ak47.man,i don`t know you. but i sold guns for nine years and just giving you a tip.leave it alone,clean up the wood and metal and have fun shooting [email protected] yards with wolf steel ammo you can do 6 inch pie plate groups all day with open sites.don`t turn your gun into a 6 pound gun with 8 pounds of crap on it.take it from me,it is all shit.then they call them assault weapons which drives me insane.because they where made for conscript russian army that where farmers and where not on the front line.yeah you can take out the 10 round mag and put in a 30 round detachable mag.they never work.a scope never keeps it`s zero because it is the receive cover held in by two tits in the front and a bowel like pin,plus it has to be a small 4x scope because sks shoots the spent shells up and a big scope would be destroyed,they make a bullet shield but get`s beat to death and breaks a couple hundred rounds.you want to change it.a 7.62x39 round is the equivelant to a 30/30 round give or take,go buy yourself a simple plastic overmolded monte carlo stock,take out the ten round mag.they are out there and work,five round hunting mags that drop free and get some 154 grain soft points and kill deer and pigs all day with it.i have a 60 gun safe with only sks`s in it.i can post pics of sks`s for days.if you have not, check out my refinished yugo,you will love it.i am going to post a beautiful laminated russian sks next.i hope my long and rambling message helps you brother.
turkeyoake sks info detailed hi,i left a detailed description on all sks`s and posted a pic of my beechnut stock sks and i posted a beautiful laminated russian sks.i think you will find my information usefull and like i said when i doubt ask,in 9 years i have handled and fired more than i can count at my gunshop.so i hope you dig the pictures of the stocks and sks`s.just ask if i can help in anything i will.mopar
TO , I like Beech a lot as well , especially around camp. When we have a good mast of beechnuts they fatten up the deer and bears pretty good . Also love it for firewood in the wood stove . Used to only like it for the heat , but with a gas powered wood splitter now I love it
Forgot to mention, if you want to have a great-looking birch stock, do NOT use Minwax stain. It simply is Sherwin-William's offbrand, and is of lower quality than most stains on the market... however, its been heavily advertised and sold cheaply thru Walmart...so most folks don't know that there are FAR better stains on the market...Bullseye, Formby's, Old Dad's, General Finishes...etc... Through many years of woodworking I've used quite a few stain products...believe me when I say that Minwax is the WORST! Got more color options...but it is the stain of last resort for most professional antique restorers due to the low quality. There's a reason folks complain about Minwax being Blotchy...
