Wood Type:  Juglans Regia

Native to the Caucusus Mountains

Seedling:  wild wood, normally uncultivated

Color:  blond, brown, red, to almost black

Weight:  varies, from region to region - blank to blank

Density:  varies from region to region - blank to blank

Figure:  varies according to type of cut, slab, 1/4 saw, etc. almost all has some faint fiddle back to extreme fiddle back; higher grades exhibit a translucence or inner glow as if there is light from within

Stability:  extremely good, the best of all walnut

Hardness:  varies from region to region - blank to blank

Workability:  the best in the opinion of most stockmakers

This is the wood by which all other wood is judged  in the stockmaking trade

Common Names: California English, California circassian, most is grafted or high bred, nursery patented and there are vast numbers of varieties.  There is a small amount of seedling, these trees are used as pollenators and are true California circassian

Wood Type:  Juglans Regia

U.S.A. Majority:  California, Oregon, Arizona and shade tree

Color:  straw yellow to honey red back ground, dark brown to black striping and marbling, most all wood is orchard wood and is grafted to black walnut root stock

Weight:  varies, but generally heavier than true circassian

Density:  generally heavier and harder than circassian

Figure:  all types, subject type of cut, 1/4 saw, slab, etc., some translucence but not common

Workability:  very good

Stability: generally very good

In general has the highest figure and color contrast

Wood Type: Bastogne, Paradox and who knows how many other names, combinations, etc.

Bastogne is a true act of nature, a pollinated cross between California seedling or Grafted English and California Black or Claro Walnut and or any thin shelled and thick shelled species.  It is nothing more or less than a mule.  The trees do not even bloom, let alone produce any fruit.

Region:  mostly California but sold by nurseries as shade trees, so can be quite widely spread geographically.  The bulk of the Bastogne that we have is shade tree from the interior of the state of Washington, inland cultivated desert.

Color:  dark to light browns, red to orange patches and black stripes, some yellow orange and green

Weight:  normally on the heavy side for walnut

Density:  quite dense but fairly open pored like black

Figure:  varies from cut to cut, slab, 1/4 saw, etc., very heavy fiddle back and quilting in the upper grades and some translucence

This wood has been the choice for big Magnum Rifles, over and under shotguns, etc., where lots of fancy wood is desired and weight is not a problem

Stability:  quite good

Hardness:  as hard or harder than most English

Workability:  sometimes a bit chippy, but this is mainly due to the extreme figure, fiddle back, etc.

If you like flamboyant color, extreme figure- this is your type of wood in the higher grades.

Wood Type:  Juglans Nigra

Most common wood used in American manufactured firearms

Species or Types:  South East, North East, Mid North, Wisconsin Mich., etc., South West California and Oregon.  Is not native to most of extreme North West Washington, Idaho, BC, etc., Montana

Color:  dark brown to black, some red to black, black to brown and streaks of marbling.

Weight:  varies from region to region but normally heavier than circassian or California English

Density:  varies from region to region, figure varies according to type of cut, slab, 1/4 saw crotch, etc.  Some have extreme fiddle back and some quilting

Stability:  normally not as stable as Juglians Regia

Hardness:  varies from region to region - blank to blank

Workability:  all the way from very good to poor

The best black walnut that we have encountered or used has been what we call Shade Tree Wood. This is mostly wood that has grown in yards, fence rows and parks.  This wood was planted by settlers from the east and Midwest, or purchased at a nursery and planted in a yard.  Most of this wood is found in areas where the wood is not native. In the state of Washington, east of the Cascade mountain range,  these trees could not grow in the wild due to lack of water, 90% are propagated, slow growing- extreme, seasonal changes, summer to winter, etc.  This is the black walnut that we mainly deal in and we consider it to be some of  the best.

Wood Type:  Juglans Hindsii

Sub-Species:  native to the Claro Valley in California

Color:  highly colored and figured, but quite brash and chippy

Weight:  light weight normally, varies from region to region.  

Some pieces I've had were as hard or dense as any English walnut and very good, but this not the norm.