I wasn't too impressed with this specific pattern. It is clearly not burl because the regular pattern repeats over the length of the stock. I would like to see one in person though. I think this could be developed to the point I would like a stock with it. Hydrodipping is really cheap. I know helmets can be dipped for about $50.
My Chiappa M1 carbine might be a good example. The synthetic stock is pretty poor and looks out of place on an M1. If there was a decent walnut pattern that wouldn't look out of place on an M1 I might go for it.
Besides burlwood, the real one, is not a good choice for gun stock. It is not even a good choice for furniture that requires dimensional stability. It is good for making a salad bowl thought.
That is an interesting comment and runs contradictory to my knowledge, although extremely limited in this area. It is my understanding burl wood, especially root burls which can be further compressed by the weight of the tree, are denser than normal wood, and thus stronger. In addition to being denser, the irregular grain pattern makes the wood almost impossible to split through normal use.
Native American ball headed clubs used in the great lakes area were almost exclusively carved from burl wood b/c of these attributes. Western wood mallets were also traditionally made of burl wood.
Because the hardness and irregularity the wood is very hard on tools and even more difficult to work with powered tools. Most woodworking operations involve working in a specific direction in relation to the grain. Since burl-wood grain varies this is not possible. Very likely to chip and for tools to catch while doing operations like turning.
One project I am lazily pursuing is finding a burl root suitable for carving a Native American style club, and I only have this information due to some minimal research I have done to that end.
Cut 1/4" thick I could see how it would be much weaker though.