Firearm construction materials

A wide range of woods are used in the manufacture of solid wooden stocks for rifles and shotguns one of the most popular is walnut. Taminated wooden stocks are also used, and consist of thin strips of wood that are impregnated with epoxy and compressed into a solid block. 

Synthetic stocks are gradually replacing the traditional wooden stock due to their cheapness, ease of manufacture, lighter weight, and wear ability, and are claimed to be more stable and easier to maintain than wooden stocks. Materials such as nylon, polyurethane, fiberglass, Kevlar reinforced with fiberglass or carbon fiber, or thermoplastic resin reinforced with glass and ceramics may be used. The stocks may be hollow, or have a hollow filled 

Grips maybe made of wood, plastic, laminated phenolic resin, or rubber, and rubber is also used for recoil pads. Customized or ornamental firearms may have grips made from ivory mother of pearl, or buffalo horns, and the firearm may have elaborate engraving some of which is inlaid with gold or silver. Such firearms are unlikely to be used in crime. 

Homemade firearms are encountered in crime, and materials used in their construction vary markedly. Some of them are finished with household paint, and flakes of paint transferred to the criminal s clothing can be of considerable evidential value. The grips of some homemade firearms are metal and are sometimes covered with plastic adhesive tape. Plastic adhesive tape may also be used to tape magazines together for use with commercially manufactured firearms, so that the firearm can be reloaded rapidly. Fingerprints may be obtained from the tape and a comparison of tape ends with the ends of tape recovered from a suspect s home or workplace can yield very strong evidence if a physical match is obtained. The same applies to tool mark impressions from machine tools at a suspect s home or workplace. 

The reasons for treating the surface of a firearm is to get rid of reflections from bright surfaces which could dazzle the firer and/or reveal the firing position to the enemy or game, to improve the appearance of the firearm, and more importantly to provide a degree of protection against corrosion. 

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Gun Design, Chapt 2—Gun Construction, Chapt 3—Recoil, Chapt 4-Carriages and Mounts and Chapt 5—Breech Mechanisms) 56)Anon, "Artillery Ammunition, Dept of the Army Tech Manual, TM 9—1901, Washington,DC(1950) 57)ORDIM,Office of Chief of Ordnance Washington 25,DC,"Com-plete Round Charts, No 5981(1950-1) 58)Anon, "Ordnance Proof Manual, Nos 1—1 to 70-10, years of issue 1937-1951, Office of Chief of Ordnance, Washing ton,DC 59) R.Held, "The Age of Firearms, A Pictorial History, Harper Bros, NY(1951) 60)C.R. Jacobs, "Official Gun Book,1 CrownPublg Co,NY(1951) 6l)Anon, "Ordnance Inspection Handbook on Ammunition Material, ... 

In the late 1960s Olin s managers decided to spin off Squibb (and with it. Beechnut, as described in Chapter 7), which was quickly transformed into a major pharmaceutical enterprise. With the proceeds from that move, Olin acquired in 1969 an aluminum extrusion company and two large residential construction companies. By 1971 chemicals accounted for only 25 percent of sales, metals 28 percent, fine paper 7 percent, crafts and other paper-board packaging materials 16 percent, firearms and defense 18 percent, and... 

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