Did South Korea use chu (aka catalpa) wood?

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   I'm looking at a second block Underwood mixmaster carbine for sale.  It has an unmarked M2 potbelly stock on it.  The wood's grain has some similarities with Chinese AK and SKS wood.  Sure does not look like walnut.  
There is a big problem with the wood under the ALCO-marked T3 band, basically there is not enough of it to allow the band to be tight.  It can be wiggled around, much, even when fully tightened.  No worries on the band, it allows a good fit on an Italian FAG Circle K stock.  

Just wondering if the Koreans made their own replacement stocks, maybe out of Chu wood.  

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Quietus Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Recruit Joined: Aug 10 2019 Location: north Wyoming Status: Offline Points: 63	Post Options Post Reply Quote Quietus Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Did South Korea use chu (aka catalpa) wood? Posted: Aug 04 2021 at 4:11pm
	I'm looking at a second block Underwood mixmaster carbine for sale. It has an unmarked M2 potbelly stock on it. The wood's grain has some similarities with Chinese AK and SKS wood. Sure does not look like walnut. There is a big problem with the wood under the ALCO-marked T3 band, basically there is not enough of it to allow the band to be tight. It can be wiggled around, much, even when fully tightened. No worries on the band, it allows a good fit on an Italian FAG Circle K stock. Just wondering if the Koreans made their own replacement stocks, maybe out of Chu wood.

Quietus Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Recruit Joined: Aug 10 2019 Location: north Wyoming Status: Offline Points: 63	Post Options Post Reply Quote Quietus Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 04 2021 at 4:15pm
	Forgot to say earlier, I believe this gun to be a Korean 80's import due to the Ar Ord stamp under the barrel.

bonnie Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Recruit Joined: Aug 28 2016 Location: N.C. Status: Offline Points: 89	Post Options Post Reply Quote bonnie Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 04 2021 at 8:04pm
	I have had several Korean imported M1 carbines with stocks that were the Korean "Chu' wood. No expert on the wood but that is what I have heard it called also. The ones I had were M2 potbelly stocks. While the stocks looked good and fit properly it was a fairly soft wood which I soon replaced with USGI stocks. I was stationed in Korea in the early 70s. The ROKs all carried M1 Garands or M1 carbines. The police carried M1 carbines also. The mountains were pretty much barren and rocky except for a lot of small pine trees. I always figured these to be the Chu wood used in the stocks. I know the Japanese razed the county during WWII and then the Korean War was soon after that. Edited by bonnie - Aug 04 2021 at 8:25pm

tenOCEE Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Hard Corps Knows rear sights! Joined: Jan 01 2016 Location: East Tenn Status: Offline Points: 1330	Post Options Post Reply Quote tenOCEE Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 04 2021 at 9:37pm
	I call it Chu wood. The large shipment of stocks from South Korea several years back had a lot of those. I thought it was also called Kapur?
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New2brass Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Dan Pinto, Photo Editor Joined: Nov 29 2015 Location: CT Status: Offline Points: 4664	Post Options Post Reply Quote New2brass Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 05 2021 at 10:41am
	Interesting stuff. Seems Kapur and Chu come from two different trees. From the web Kapur is a hardwood and comes from lowland tropical rain forests of Malaysia and South-East Asia. It takes about 100 years for the tree to grow to 30 meters. Some of the old growth that was between 250 and 1000 years old! Chu wood is a softer wood from the catalpa tree. Different species grows East Aisa, North America and the Caribbean. It is fast growing. When I look up Kapur wood images I get lumber with a bland straight grain. When I look up Chu wood images I get gun stocks. when I look up catalpa wood images I get lumber and furniture which has a decent grain to it It would seem that Chu would be better suited due to being fast growing and quickly replenishable. So the question is if both types of wood were used for the carbine?
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Quietus Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Recruit Joined: Aug 10 2019 Location: north Wyoming Status: Offline Points: 63	Post Options Post Reply Quote Quietus Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 05 2021 at 11:44am
	I was thinking that the M2 potbelly stock that came on this gun, looked similar to Chinese AK and SKS wood. I had known it as Chu wood. Then when I got to looking up Chu wood, there was some "also known as" results came up, that Chu was Catalpa. It's all up in the air anyway, I do not yet know how "for sale" this gun is. I've made an offer, we'll see. The Korean stock is fixable to make a shooter, with a lot of time.