In praise and defense of Wood & Blue

[Phil Giordano]

Well, just as the title says, these few lines - and the ones that will follow I hope - are in strenuous defense of rifles with wood stock, and blued steel. Sure a synthetic stock is more stable and makes a gun more accurate over time, doesn't wrap, doesn't scratch. And sure, a cerakote, inox or wathelse, does far better in whet, salty climate.
But a classic, well made rifle from the previous generation can still do very well if properly cared, can shot as accurately as the best of todays sticks, and is incomparably more beautiful. Also, it can age very well, make a nice patina, and be more fashinating by far, over time.
So, if you agree, show one of your favorite Wood & Blue rifle, you candidate for the equivalent of a Classic Car, your go-to gun, ready for the worst weather just like your Dad's rifle succesfully was.
Here is one of my favorites :
A Sauer 90, made May 10, 2001, in 300 Wby.
A good Schmidt & Bender Summit in EAW mounts completes it.
It shots very well, and well enough up to 350 yrds, and there are very few hunts it can't feel at home in.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Same here. Walnut stocks & blued steel just feels different in one’s hands. I’ve got absolutely nothing against synthetic stocks or stainless steel barrels, but they can never even remotely match the traditional beauty of an old school firearm.

My Churchill Gun Makers Model Deluxe in 7x57mm Mauser would probably have to be my favorite rifle which has served me the best over the years (till now)

My first ever photograph with it.

My first ever hunt with it.

 

[Phil Giordano]

Thank you Sir for sharing these great pics - beautiful rifle indeed, a nice example of what I'm talking about

 

[WAB]

A photo after a bit of a gunfight in the Save Conservancy.

 

[Phil Giordano]

Fantastic trio
The one on the right looks to have a lot of hunts on the shoulders
What about it?

 

[WAB]

Fantastic trio
The one on the right looks to have a lot of hunts on the shoulders
What about it?

Custom ‘98 in 450 AI. The PH’s rifle, one of the old Rhodesian Grey Scouts.

 

[Rare Breed]

Well, just as the title says, these few lines - and the ones that will follow I hope - are in strenuous defense of rifles with wood stock, and blued steel. Sure a synthetic stock is more stable and makes a gun more accurate over time, doesn't wrap, doesn't scratch. And sure, a cerakote, inox or wathelse, does far better in whet, salty climate.
But a classic, well made rifle from the previous generation can still do very well if properly cared, can shot as accurately as the best of todays sticks, and is incomparably more beautiful. Also, it can age very well, make a nice patina, and be more fashinating by far, over time.
So, if you agree, show one of your favorite Wood & Blue rifle, you candidate for the equivalent of a Classic Car, your go-to gun, ready for the worst weather just like your Dad's rifle succesfully was.
Here is one of my favorites :
A Sauer 90, made May 10, 2001, in 300 Wby.
A good Schmidt & Bender Summit in EAW mounts completes it.
It shots very well, and well enough up to 350 yrds, and there are very few hunts it can't feel at home in.
View attachment 608476

Could not agree more!!! Here is my Rigby CA in 470 NE

 

[Pheroze]

I agree! But....I went with cerakote on a stainless barrel.

I feel like I let the team down.

I actually think wood is the best material. It recovers nicely from dings and looks great over time. It feels alive. It's gorgeous. It requires great skill from the maker.

 

[C.W. Richter]

My favorites (and all they had when I was a kid-what most of us grew up shooting with!) However, I treat them with respect in the N. U.S. as the climate during hunting season can be brutal (and as the "camp cook," I need every millisecond to get things arranged upon return after dark-no time for oiling/wiping, etc.) The SS guns can simply be placed in the hotter air near the woodstove. Although they were made to hunt anywhere, I find them most at home in the American S., Africa, and on bright, sunny days just about anywhere!

 

[C.W. Richter]

My favorites (and all they had when I was a kid-what most of us grew up shooting with!) However, I treat them with respect in the N. U.S. as the climate during hunting season can be brutal (and as the "camp cook," I need every millisecond to get things arranged upon return after dark-no time for oiling/wiping, etc.) The SS guns can simply be placed in the hotter air near the woodstove. Although they were made to hunt anywhere, I find them most at home in the American S., Africa, and on bright, sunny days just about anywhere!

'Very first rifle was a .22 WMR (Mossberg 640KD "Chuckster" model.) Cost $90 plus Weaver mounts/rings and Bushnell 3-9x (total around $150.) Bought it out of the proceeds of plowing snow w/ a '65 JD 110 garden tractor at age 10. Still have both. That damn .22 Win Mag is my most favorite rifle....(the stock is walnut-stained Birch lol, decent checkering and a long, heavy barrel with a rather poor quality matte blue finish.) This stock would swell when wet (the bbl channel was unfinished, so I hit it with stain/varnish and sanded (and the problem was resolved-likely inspired by a visit to Paul Jaeger to get my Win 94 action repaired for $12 two years later lol.) As my Son loved it so much (so accurate to ~150 yds,) 'had it re-blued years back (another $150 lol) but this time a proper gloss hard blue by a former Kimber gunsmith that lives nearby. I can attest that Birch can be dinged by fingernail! The memories of all my childhood hunts with that rifle (i had every empty ammo box piled up on a beam in my Father's barn, and that was a rough tally of all the woodchucks (and some squirrel, rabbit, woodcock, grouse, turkeys) taken over the years (it exceeded 1,000!) This is not mine (but nearly identical for sale by auction elsewhere.) Because of the tame velocities involved (<2,400 fps) and the relatively non-corrosive powders used in rimfires, the bore is like new and it's still a tack-driver today. And, it's NOT a .22 LR-MUCH more powerful. Large game animals have been taken with them by others in the past. Now I'm reminded of the accidental 2-stage trigger it sports...you get to a 1st, hard stop and then you know it's ready for the more accurate, lighter firing pull. Others would call it extreme creep! lol

 

[Newboomer]

'Very first rifle was a .22 WMR (Mossberg 640KD "Chuckster" model.) Cost $90 plus Weaver mounts/rings and Bushnell 3-9x (total around $150.) Bought it out of the proceeds of plowing snow w/ a '65 JD 110 garden tractor at age 10. Still have both. That damn .22 Win Mag is my most favorite rifle....(the stock is walnut-stained Birch lol, decent checkering and a long, heavy barrel with a rather poor quality matte blue finish.) This stock would swell when wet (the bbl channel was unfinished, so I hit it with stain/varnish and sanded (and the problem was resolved-likely inspired by a visit to Paul Jaeger to get my Win 94 action repaired for $12 two years later lol.) As my Son loved it so much (so accurate to ~150 yds,) 'had it re-blued years back (another $150 lol) but this time a proper gloss hard blue by a former Kimber gunsmith that lives nearby. I can attest that Birch can be dinged by fingernail! The memories of all my childhood hunts with that rifle (i had every empty ammo box piled up on a beam in my Father's barn, and that was a rough tally of all the woodchucks (and some squirrel, rabbit, woodcock, grouse, turkeys) taken over the years (it exceeded 1,000!) This is not mine (but nearly identical for sale by auction elsewhere.) Because of the tame velocities involved (<2,400 fps) and the relatively non-corrosive powders used in rimfires, the bore is like new and it's still a tack-driver today. And, it's NOT a .22 LR-MUCH more powerful. Large game animals have been taken with them by others in the past. Now I'm reminded of the accidental 2-stage trigger it sports...you get to a 1st, hard stop and then you know it's ready for the more accurate, lighter firing pull. Others would call it extreme creep! lolView attachment 608733

Amen to wood and steel. I have that, laminates, and synthetics but the overriding favorite is wood and steel. Just has much more personality and feel.

 

[C.W. Richter]

My favorites (and all they had when I was a kid-what most of us grew up shooting with!) However, I treat them with respect in the N. U.S. as the climate during hunting season can be brutal (and as the "camp cook," I need every millisecond to get things arranged upon return after dark-no time for oiling/wiping, etc.) The SS guns can simply be placed in the hotter air near the woodstove. Although they were made to hunt anywhere, I find them most at home in the American S., Africa, and on bright, sunny days just about anywhere!

*the A-Sq is actually coated SS (i had forgotten) and the entire bbl channel of the stock is FL bedded with (plastic) spot putty, so it's exceedingly weatherproof. No checkering, monster "coil chek" stock but it's a beauty (and tied with 2 others for best accuracy! #1 if factory rig.) I'd like to use it in AK on bear oneday with my Son, although the SS 416 would be tempting (the 338 A Sq is a longer range rig that packs more of a punch than a 375!)

 

[HankBuck]

Well, just as the title says, these few lines - and the ones that will follow I hope - are in strenuous defense of rifles with wood stock, and blued steel. Sure a synthetic stock is more stable and makes a gun more accurate over time, doesn't wrap, doesn't scratch. And sure, a cerakote, inox or wathelse, does far better in whet, salty climate.
But a classic, well made rifle from the previous generation can still do very well if properly cared, can shot as accurately as the best of todays sticks, and is incomparably more beautiful. Also, it can age very well, make a nice patina, and be more fashinating by far, over time.
So, if you agree, show one of your favorite Wood & Blue rifle, you candidate for the equivalent of a Classic Car, your go-to gun, ready for the worst weather just like your Dad's rifle succesfully was.
Here is one of my favorites :
A Sauer 90, made May 10, 2001, in 300 Wby.
A good Schmidt & Bender Summit in EAW mounts completes it.
It shots very well, and well enough up to 350 yrds, and there are very few hunts it can't feel at home in.
View attachment 608476

@Phil Giordano - agree that any “fine rifle” MUST have a wood stock & blued barrel, anything else is Just a “firearm”. You cannot compare a real “walnut stock and rust blued barrel” to the more modern “plastic/paint/creosote” rifle du jour of today. Traditional rifles combine form, beauty and function There is more required to be considered a GREAT RIFLE then just being able to perform “accurately” —- just like there is more to a Great “Wife” then just sex & cooking (Any Hooker can learn to cook and likely “put 3 in the “same hole”!).

 

[Kalthoff]

Schultz & Larsen Victory

Bought new in 2022

 

[Phil Giordano]

...and, another benefit of wood, is that you can fit and fine tune the stock to your personal lop and measures! Here, I'm working in order to change the pad - pic shows to old holes plugged, new holes ready!

 

[Mauser3000]

View attachment 608626

A photo after a bit of a gunfight in the Save Conservancy.

Did Leroy Berry stock those two on the left?