I have had this Mannlicher bug for a few months now, looked at Gunstocks stuff and wouldn't mind going that way, But recently at an exotic wood shop picking a choice piece of hickory for a tradition English style longbow I will be making soon for a friendly competition with my bosses son while we have archery time left , I ran across the sexiest piece of rippled grain black walnut I think I have ever seen .. It looked like dark silk bunched up at the foot of the bed and this was without a finish on it ... Absolutely convinced me that I need to put my wood working talents towards a new area of the craft and that wood would be just drop dead gorgeous on a rifle. Only thing I need to double check is width of the wood to be sure it is thick enough, Though if it sells before I can get back there he does have a great aria of curly maples, oaks and some tupelo ( black gum ) that looks similar to this piece I recovered falling a tree for my in-laws.
