I have been wanting to build a hip loading, wooden, bluewater gun for some time now, and today my project begins. My grandpa had a piece of lumber in his workshop for years and couldn't come up with a use for it so now it's mine. He's a long time scuba diver and former dive shop owner at ocean reef, so he appreciates my diving and hunting. The donor piece was in the back of his workshop(he's been turning wood for 25+ years now as a hobby). It's a 2"x11"x78" piece of mahogany(he thinks based on the grain) that was used in the original construction of a building from 1890. He's had it for years now and couldn't come up with a project for it so it's been given to me for my gun build. Tomorrow I'll make a cut to verify it's mahogany and then begin designing/building the blank. I'll try to get some pictures as progress is made