Enfield stock

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Enfield stock

I have not heard of anything other than walnut and beech in use for the P53 but that doesn't necessarily mean that it wasn't. Pear wood (or any fruit wood for that matter) is almost never seen in use for military arms and oak is a tough wood but has two drawbacks, it tends to check and split when used for gun stocks and it is considerably heavier than desirable.

Well a military arm should not have cones that shatter or hammers that break either, but both happened to Enfield armed soldiers in combat. There are several quotes dealing with Enfields with stocks of "wood of unknown origin."

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Enfield stock

Hallo!

Not that I have ever (yet) encountered on "Enfields."

However, fruit woods such as apple and pear did show up on Revolutionary War American made copies of "Brown Besses." And in the civillian side, cherry as well.

I havd never (yet) seen oak being used as it is very heavy and dense, does not work well, and splits and cracks really easily.

Curt

[Archie R. Lib]

Re: Enfield stock

Gents:

Speaking of all things "Enfield stock" does anyone know if the P53 stocks from Dunlap Woodcraft are correctly proportioned 3rd model stocks? Or are they simply blanks for "Italian reproduction" 4th models?

The only info I see on the site is that they are copies of original Tower stocks, but there is no reference to which model Tower.....

Thanks for any help,
R

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Enfield stock

Hallo!

My "impression" is that their stocks are for "originals."

A good question to ask.

Curt

[ACo.]

Re: Enfield stock

Well a military arm should not have cones that shatter or hammers that break either, but both happened to Enfield armed soldiers in combat. There are several quotes dealing with Enfields with stocks of "wood of unknown origin."

Very likely the "wood of unknown origin." was beech, occasionally used before it had a chance to cure properly. American beech is almost never seen as a stock wood and the author of the above phrase probably wouldn't have known beech if it bit him, therefor it is "unknown".

As Herr Schmidt mentions, fruitwood was occasionally seen on a few military arms of the colonial period (therefore my qualification of "almost never seen in use for military arms"), and it is seen on civilian arms fairly frequently before 1800, especially in the New England area. However it was not used for military stocks on a production basis and it was not a wood of high availability in Europe since fruitwood was considered more useful as a cabinet wood and was therefore fairly expensive when available. Also, fruit trees generally do not grow to large size so the blanks of a size required for a gun stock (minimum 2 inch by 10 inch) are few in comparison to fully mature walnut, beech and maple. Also, elderly fruit trees that have managed to grow to a size giving promise of enough wood for more than one or two gun stocks tend to have problems with rot that will reduce the amount of usable wood in the trunk. Apple in particular is an extremely hard wood and is not popular with wood workers who have to make complicated forms like a gun stock.

[Todd Watts]

Re: Enfield stock

Incidentally, there is a southern iron-mountain rifle of abt .45" percussion in a private museum in Monroe Co., Ky that is purported to have been used by a local Confederate-sympathizer that is stocked with Osage Orange (Mock-Apple) that is really cool looking, but has opening grain typical of that wood that strings and splinters as it dries. But it shows that some gunsmiths were usung that particular wood for stocks. Apple and Cherry were popular as well when they had those trees large enough to use. A friend of mine inheritted a magnificent family gun collection that has a short-land pattern Bess in it that was re-stocked with American black walnut in a very well-done manner. I am facinated more by the small-time gunsmiths' work on military guns than in how they were mass-produced. It kind of tells a 'tween-wars' tale that is lost to us.

[ACo.]

Re: Enfield stock

Todd, that is very interesting. The use of osage orange for stocks has been known for a long time but, as you say, it is very rare, especially in the east. I would love to see that rifle. I once decided (long, long ago) that I would use apple wood but was never able to locate a source for a blank large enough for even a half stock rifle. The local saw mills occasionally came into possession of large, elderly apple trees but those that were large enough were usually rotten in the center. I did acquire a small piece large enough for a pistol but, after inletting the barrel I gave up, it is a hard wood and the tools require constant resharpening. Anyway, I went back to walnut and pretty much stayed with that on most of my stocking. I do like cherry though..... :)

It would be very interesting to see the Short Land Bess you spoke of. My money would be on it being one of the Rev. War captures that was restocked at Springfield between the end of Revolution and 1800 when the US Army was still relying on refurbished captured/surrendered British arms or the French supplied muskets from that war. The re-work program of these weapons kept experienced men as well as apprentices working at both Springfield and the new arsenal at Harpers Ferry during the early years. Springfield in particular was very busy with this work before the new French style M1795 went into production. Other locations for the restocking and refurbishment were the Schuylkill Arsenal in Philadelphia and New London Arsenal in Virginia. None of these were, of course, your "small-time gunsmiths" but their work was vital in arming the fledgling US Army and the state militias. For more information, see:

U.S. Military Flintlock Muskets, and Their Bayonets, the Early Years, 1790-1815 , by Peter A. Schmidt

His chapter on this early work is fascinating and a basic necessity to understand US arms production.

Sorry to wander off topic.......

[Eric Hageman]

Re: Enfield stock

There is no reason to stain the stock. When I de-farbed my Enfield I used raw linseed oil, not boiled. I got the idea from an old BAR manual that specified whiping the stock yearly with this. I did this seven years ago and it has held up. I do not use wax, and it has a more authentic look than the muskets I did with boiled linseed oil. WARNING!! If you use paper towels, do not dispose in trash as they can be combustible.
Good Luck.
Eric Hageman