ORIGINAL: stalkingbear
As a matter of fact, you CAN keep walnut from adsorbing moisture. All it takes is attention to detail and good quality finish. The kicker is the moisture level already in the wood when it was finished/sealed. When I make stocks from blanks, I make SURE the moisture content is less than 5%. I realize you've had bad luck with stocks but when properly free floated, bedded, dried before finishing, and pillar or bedding block, you CAN hunt with wood from now on without having to worry about the stock causing the barrel to walk. I have several customers/friends in Canada AND Alaska that swear by my work and havn't had ANY problems yet with walnut stocked rifles I built for them. Of course you might be talking about factory rifle stocks only.
I agree 100%, this is something I think stock makers and other wood workers don't follow and should.
I do the same with hickory bows I am making. I keep near my wood stove and can get moisture down to 9% or less while building (5% for walnut and hickory for a longbow is way too dry for me, it can explode) but for gunstocks, be pefect. Then seal it several times with poly or whatever. Its been proven time and time again with trad bows, you can make a whitewood bow a real shooter if you build it in dry climate and seal it in dry climate. A moisture meter seems handy. I don't have one, but thinking about it. And I have seen several times that they don't get that moisture back if you do it right.
I have even seen some do it so well, the bow became brittle and blew up in the summer, which is strange with hickory and walnut.