I do some competition shotgun shooting, and a couple of years back, I had the most beautiful and highly figured walnut stock on my gun that you could ever imagine seeing. I was absolutely tickled with the wood, but my coach saw it and just shook his head. He said that I should send it back to the manufacturer and get it replaced with wood with a straighter grain.
I wasn't about to give up the stock for a plain one. My coach told me that the gun was going to have nasty recoil because the way he explained it, the shock waves on a straight grained gun are directed toward the recoil pad with nothing to redirect them. He said that a highly figured burl would focus the impact on the knots and that they couldn't "escape" easily without the impact being very noticeable.
This explanation wasn't about to make me send the stock in for replacement, as it just didn't sound all that scientific.
Long story short, the gun kicked like a mule and about six months after I bought it, I was shooting in a tournament and the stock literally shattered. Broke right in half! I ended up getting a straight grained stock as a replacement, and now the gun doesn't have the same felt recoil and I've shot it for years with no damage.
I use the pictured cue and I can say without a doubt, it is the best feeling cue I've ever hit with. GB would have been proud of the grain (or lack therof) in the forearm!
Steve