Maple Stocks on Shotguns – opinions?

? for gun enthusiasts regarding maple stocks

I’m currently in the market for a new shotgun and I’ve decided I’d like to purchase an over/under. I’ve got a decent budget as I shoot clay targets and hunt pheasants quite a bit and want a quality gun. So here’s my question…

How durable are maple stocks in shotguns?

The gun I’ve got my eye on is the Winchester model 101 Maple. I’ve always loved the maple color. At the range over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to shoot several different models of guns and I really liked the model 101. In looking into them, I was pleasantly surprised to see the maple stock as an option.

I know I’ve heard in the past that maple will break/split a lot easier than walnut as it’s harder/more brittle. What about guns made in 2020? Surely they have resolved this issue, if it even really existed?

Thanks for any insights and comments.

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I have no idea, but that is a great looking gun.

Sugar maple when properly dried is surprisingly very strong. I’ve seen stocks made from Birdseye and wow, are they awesome looking.

Look up wood density charts and you’ll get a ton of info. Look at strength parallel to grain

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Hard maple has been used for gunstocks since the earliest days of firearms manufacture in America. At first, this was because maple was easier to obtain in some areas compared to walnut. Hard maple (Acer saccharum aka Sugar Maple or Rock Maple) is harder than walnut, but it is certainly not “brittle” in terms of splitting easily. On the scale that is used to classify the hardness of woods, hard maple is about a 1400 and walnut species are in the 1100 range.

But don’t read too much into this “difference”. Any blow that would split a good hard maple stock would almost certainly split a walnut stock as well, so nothing is lost by going with a maple stock.

Maple isn’t less-often-used due to any negative characteristic of the wood itself. It’s simply down to personal taste, some love the look of maple, for others the only proper wood for a gunstock is, was, and shall always be walnut.

If you like the maple stock, buy it and enjoy it. In the day and age of black plastic, I love all wood stock even more. It’s a beautiful wood, enjoy it.

Grouse