I Love Beautiful Wood!
"There is nothing like a good piece of hickory..."
So says Clint Eastwood's character in the movie Pale Rider- one of my all time favorite movies, and one of my favorite movie lines! Hickory aside, I have to say that I love good, figured wood on my firearms. (And Hickory won't cut it...)
I don't have many pieces in my collection that particularly prove that statement, but I can appreciate a wonderful piece when it comes into my view. Take this past weekend for example. I was working as a volunteer at the local Sporting Clays range. I was general 'lacky', station puller, and 'gofer'. Not that I minded, you see, I was outdoors doing what I love best. Enjoying nature with gunlovers and getting to ogle a few wonderful over/unders that showed up for the tournament along with their owners.
About half way through the day, I was driving a cart down to one of the stations that was running low on targets. As I pulled up, someone was already locked and loaded ready to fire on the combination rabbit/crosser. Not wanting to be rude, I stopped the cart and parked it so as not to distract the shooter. What happened next, distracted me! I watched with great interest as this young fella' began to annihilate each target in turn. (He only missed 1 of 8!) As he turned to leave the station, this wonderful flash of bright yellow mixed with broad, dark stripes caught my attention. He had a custom stocked Beretta 391 Ulrika with a beautifully finished Tiger Maple stock! I was in awe. Turns out, he had recently purchased the weapon from a local stock maker who, as he put it, "is literally on his deathbed." The young man purchased the gun as an investment, but he couldn't bear not shooting it, so brought it out to the tournament to give it a proper wringing out. If you have never seen a wonderfully finished piece of Tiger Maple (Also known as "Curly"), I've included the pic above. I tell you truthfully, I was salivating long and hard this past Saturday. I also filed this information way back in my 'ol brain for a future project...now where did I put that draw knife?
So says Clint Eastwood's character in the movie Pale Rider- one of my all time favorite movies, and one of my favorite movie lines! Hickory aside, I have to say that I love good, figured wood on my firearms. (And Hickory won't cut it...)
I don't have many pieces in my collection that particularly prove that statement, but I can appreciate a wonderful piece when it comes into my view. Take this past weekend for example. I was working as a volunteer at the local Sporting Clays range. I was general 'lacky', station puller, and 'gofer'. Not that I minded, you see, I was outdoors doing what I love best. Enjoying nature with gunlovers and getting to ogle a few wonderful over/unders that showed up for the tournament along with their owners.
About half way through the day, I was driving a cart down to one of the stations that was running low on targets. As I pulled up, someone was already locked and loaded ready to fire on the combination rabbit/crosser. Not wanting to be rude, I stopped the cart and parked it so as not to distract the shooter. What happened next, distracted me! I watched with great interest as this young fella' began to annihilate each target in turn. (He only missed 1 of 8!) As he turned to leave the station, this wonderful flash of bright yellow mixed with broad, dark stripes caught my attention. He had a custom stocked Beretta 391 Ulrika with a beautifully finished Tiger Maple stock! I was in awe. Turns out, he had recently purchased the weapon from a local stock maker who, as he put it, "is literally on his deathbed." The young man purchased the gun as an investment, but he couldn't bear not shooting it, so brought it out to the tournament to give it a proper wringing out. If you have never seen a wonderfully finished piece of Tiger Maple (Also known as "Curly"), I've included the pic above. I tell you truthfully, I was salivating long and hard this past Saturday. I also filed this information way back in my 'ol brain for a future project...now where did I put that draw knife?
posted by Troy M. Stirman | 12:07 PM
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