In Česká zbrojovka we manufacture stocks and other small articles as are pistol grip panels made from various wood species. Those most important are particularly royal walnut, or European walnut.
Natural geographical areas of these species are the Balkans and Southwest and Central Asia, where it grows up to slopes of the Himalayas. The trees here grow under difficult conditions and due to the low humidity are not prone to rotting and live up to 400 years. Already in ancient times man began to spread the royal walnut to other parts of the world. During the existence of the Roman Empire this tree geographically reached Northern and Western Europe and in 17th century settlers brought it to America.
Among prominent producers of walnut are ranked France, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, further it is California in North America and Chile in South America. In Central Europe, the first representatives of this kind ever appeared in the Bronze Age, the more intensive spread in walnut-tree growing dates back to the early Middle Ages.
The royal walnut (Juglans regia) is a large deciduous tree of the walnut family which grows to a height reaching up to 45 metres. The character of its crown and trunk is dependent on whether it is a cultivar or the original hardy variety and also the environment in which it grows.
The hardy varieties generally tend to have tall, slender crown and long trunk, while domesticated cultivars have a short trunk and broad crown – spherical up to expanded. Slenderness and height of trunk is promoted by the competition with other trees for acquiring light and space. Contrariwise the trees growing as solitaires are having their crowns more spread. The royal walnut is one of the most grown woody species in the world. The tree is grown for its nuts, as amenity and shielding tree, melliferous plant, or for its high quality and relatively fast-growing wood. The royal walnut root system together with several meters of trunk can over the centuries develop into gigantic proportions weighing over 10 tons.
As a manufacturer of firearms the most relevant for us is the age of the tree because this closely relates to the wood density and figure, and from this part particularly the root system. Generally speaking, the higher the age of the tree, the greater the likelihood that when the wood is cut the more pronounced figure and grain appears. It is a work of art created by nature, the quality of which is subject to beholder evaluation.
The figure is produced by the capillary rise of water through root fibres up to the crown. In the course of growth the fibres twist and after decades they gradually turn black. In these places we often see rotten wood, cracks, splits and scores of knots. For these reasons it is difficult to obtain from these places defect-free stock blank intended for rifles. Consequently, attained stock blank could cost 1000 and even more Euros.
Highly valued is stock blank with effect called birds eye, which is hidden in the tumours of hundreds years old trees.
The tumours are intergrown with scores of small knots, the appearance of stock made from such a stock blank is absolutely unique.
The trees roots often contain stones and pieces of foreign material which have to be extricated before cutting begins.
After cross-cutting of logs of the trees which are older than 100 years we see dark heartwood having distinctive colourful structure and high density of wood. Here it is possible to find a quality wood as are Colored 1,5 and 2, Dark 2,5 and higher quality as is Dark+. Relation of coloured and white wood in trees exceeding 100 years of age is 60/40. As a general rule it can be said the nearer to the roots the wood becomes more dense and heavier.
Attaching and drawing profile templates on the board requires a great experience. Insufficient skill means a bad piece, inattention in a cutwork made on a band sawing machine will be quickly reflected on hands of workers..
Stock blanks are on its ends faces dipped into hot wax, placed on the palettes and subjected to steam in the steam boxes. Steaming serves first of all as treating against insects, but also to unify the colour of stock blanks. The wood is then left outside under covered sheds for the natural dry up.
For the sake of receipt the stock blanks are planed from both sides so as to allow evaluating each piece separately in terms of figure, moisture and grain direction. The precision of cut-out shape according to profile template, thickness of the stock blank its straightness and quality are all checked.
Through applying a consistent receipt procedure we have managed to reduce a quantity of non-conforming pieces up to 2.5 %. Achieving a zero percentage is a distant goal, but due to the existence of hidden defects which cannot be detected through the most comprehensive receipt procedure this is the ideal target.
We buy walnut wood predominantly from Asia, from where we transport them in trucks, but also from North America where the walnut has a distinct quality that is demanded especially by customers of that region.
We are also often approached by inhabitants from the Czech Republic, who want to sell to us the walnut tree grown in their gardens, but these types of single purchases are not representing for us any optimum procedure and for this reason we do not realize them.
The separate chapter is denoted by the wood which is well known to all of us, i.e. beech wood. We buy it from traditional regions in Slovakia, Czech Republic, but also in Italy. It is known that for the rifle stocks designed for the Guard of Prague Castle we have used hornbeam, but we have experimented also with cherry wood and looked for colourful wood in various parts of the world such as USA, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, France, Spain, Vietnam. We as well purchase and use exotic types of wood, rosewood, palisander, ebony, and also coloury, laminated wood, the layers of which are made from birch, which is painted and wood compressed under high pressure.
High quality materials, careful receipt procedure plus experience and craftsmanship of our workers in manufacturing processes make together a first-class quality stocks used for the CZ brand of firearms such as CZ 550, CZ 527, CZ 512, CZ 452 and many others.
Ing. Stanislav ŠTĚPÁNÍK,
Head of Purchase Dept.