This mythical king of gunstock woods is a variety of the Persian walnut that grows in Turkey and the area at the southeast part of the Black Sea, which is now Russian Georgia, where the walnut most likely got its name. It is the parent of all European walnuts via Italy and England. These trees are huge, due to age, and produce some exceptionally fine blanks. Many Circassian stock woods marketed today are most likely some form of English walnut grown in California. A rare genuine Circassian blank is encountered now and then that has found its way to the U.S. from Russia, Turkey, or it may have been cut right on the border of Iran. Just after World War II, one wood vendor extolled the merits of his Circassian walnut as being “The World renowned Circassian… the very finest of all stock woods. Every blank features the rich color and tight grain found exclusively in beautiful Circassian walnut. One of the few stock woods that will hold a sharp 32 lines to-the-inch checkering.” An exhibition blank was described as “The rare and very finest grade available. Beautifully colored with deep rich dark smoky grain running the full length of the stock.” This wood has a rich brown color with a distinct figure and color pattern which is used as a basis for calling some California English blanks ’Circassian. ’Like all Juglans regia this wood ranks at the top of the list for use by the custom stock maker. This fine and firm wood checkers well and is one of the top woods in this respect. See the section on Juglans regia for more information on this wood as adapted to gunstock usage. Figure 13 shows a high-grade Circassian blank before the custom stock maker started and then the completed stock installed on a Ruger #1 rifle. |
