Synthetic Rifle Stocks

An Abbreviated History

- John Barsness

The development of what are generically called “plastics” began in the mid-nineteenth-century, when the long molecules of cellulose – abundant in plants – were treated to form various polymers used in products from camera film to billiard balls. Traditionally, billiard balls were made of elephant ivory, but the popularity of billiards kept increasing while the supply of elephants kept decreasing. In 1869, a New York chemist named John Wesley Hyatt developed a suitable polymer – which could also be shaped into various other items normally made from animals and plants, including cloth fibers.

In 1907, another New York chemist, Belgian-born Leo Baekeland, developed a totally synthetic plastic named Bakelite, which could be molded for mass production. Initially, Bakelite was developed as an electrical insulator but ended up being used for thousands of products, including telephone bodies, toys, kitchen bowls and plates. It was also used on firearms, though usually for handgun grips as it was too brittle to take much recoil.