Rifleman Q&A: Browning “Salt Wood” Stocks

by
posted on September 26, 2023
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
Rifleman Q&A

Q. I’ve always wanted a Browning Superposed shotgun, but I’ve heard of a stock issue involving salted wood. What happened, and is it still a problem?


A. Browning had a problem with its stocks during the Superposed shotgun’s peak popularity in the mid-1960s. That’s when the company acquired a large amount of high-grade California walnut and elected to use a faster wood-curing process to keep up with increased sales. Normally, the wood would have been kiln-dried, but it’s a slow process, and speeding up kiln drying can produce cracks in fine walnut. A salt-drying process had been developed by Morton Salt Co. that was used by the furniture industry for curing wood more quickly. Browning’s initial testing indicated no problems, so it began salt-processing stock blanks in 1965.

Ned Schwing’s book Browning Superposed (Krause Press, 1996) describes what happened next. “In an area roughly the size of a football field, five-foot by five-foot by eight-foot stacks of stock blanks were covered with salt. The salt was supposed to leach out the moisture and dry the wood quickly. The process did accomplish its purpose, but the moisture that was drawn out of the blanks on top of the stacks ran down into the blanks below, resulting in a brine solution that soaked the lower wood blanks.”

The salt curing done in the United States affected as much as 90 percent of the stocks made from 1967 to 1969. After being fitted to guns, the finished “salt stocks” caused rust where the wood met the metal. The problem continued until 1972 when Browning finally opted to burn the remaining supply of salt-dried walnut blanks and replaced it with kiln-dried wood.

Browning openly admitted to the problem and agreed to replace stocks of original buyers for free. Most of the “salt stocks” have now been replaced, but it’s possible that a pristine, unfired safe queen, even with latent salt, may not manifest the problem because moisture is necessary to initiate rusting.

—Joe Coogan, Contributing Editor

Latest

Hearing Healthy
Hearing Healthy

Summer Suppressor Deals On Now

Whether it is a BOGO deal from SIG or free tax stamps from Guns.com and Silencer Central, there's plenty of hearing-safe savings to be had this summer.

Rifleman Report: Defending Freedom For 250 Years

"Anyone who claims not to understand the plain and simple intent of the Second Amendment—especially if that person happens to be a constitutional law professor, Supreme Court justice, congressman, senator or president—is likely hiding nefarious intent: to strip individual liberty from American citizens for the express purpose of making them susceptible to a tyrannical government."

Book Review: 2025 Traveler’s Guide To The Firearms Laws Of The Fifty States

Newly updated for 2025, the 29th edition of the Traveler’s Guide To The Firearm Laws Of The Fifty States is packed with all the need-to-know information for cross-country trekkers seeking to bring their arms along with them and remain legal in all localities.

Springfield Kuna: A PDW For The Masses

Small, yet fierce, the namesake of Springfield Armory’s latest large-format pistol is a revered forest dweller in the land of its Croatian manufacturing partner, HS Produkt. The new Kuna is poised to be just as welcome in America.

The Armed Citizen® June 30, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Book Review: Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers Of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler

The result of a decade of research, Clockwork Basilisk is a comprehensive, two-volume history of the rare revolvers that preceded the development of the well-known Colt guns of the 1830s.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.