It's hard to beat the beauty of highly figured black walnut but the more figure it has the higher the price. I've got three custom wood stocks, one black walnut, one claro walnut and a flinter in curly maple. They all have figure through about 80% of the stock, I think that's what makes them look sharp, more than the type of wood they are. If the grain runs true, they'll all handle anything you want to mount in them.