Broken Stock

[Cowboy]

The Story: Bought a custom Left handed flintlock. Seller shipped it using USPS. Picked it up and brought it home. Set it aside to open it up later in the evening when I could relax and thoroughly look it over. Later on I was texting Jethro about the muzzleloader and was very excited about opening up the box to pull her out. Felt like a kid on Christmas Day!! :grin:

The Event: Opened the box and lifted the muzzleloader up and out and to my Horror and disbelief, the stock was totally cracked all the way around the wrist :cursing: Went from the Penthouse to the sh&thouse in a hurry!

Texted Jethro back and asked for some advice. I didn't want to replace the stock because it has silver inlays and a lot of relief carving on it. Very beautiful! He told me of someone he knows that might be able to repair the cracked wrist. He was referring to Roy Stroh. Jethro contacted him and sent him pics of the break. He then gave me Roy's contact information.

In conclusion: Roy said he could definitely repair the cracked wrist and can touch up the finish to hide the repair. Stock went out UPS this afternoon heading to Roy. Here are a few pics I took of the broken wrist.

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[Story]

Funny you posted this now, I have a mid-19th century carbine with a shattered wrist.

I'm looking forward to your *after* pics.

 

[wattlebuster]

At least you didnt fall on yours an break it yourself like I did :idunno:

 

[Archer 756]

:cursing: Hope USPS is paying for your repair

 

[rijerolmon]

Roy is certainly the guy that can do it! Be sure and post before and after photos.

 

[eggwelder]

yours ended up better for it....
not sure show you fared

 

[zimmerstutzen]

An acquaintance owns a small gun shop and ordered a rare shotgun for a customer. This was something worth about 3 grand. It came Fed Ex with tire tracks on the box. and of course broken at the wrist. Fed Ex did everything to weasel out of the claim. Even tried to claim he busted the stock to make a bogus claim. We filed suit and they reluctantly made good. I think they single out firearms being shipped for extra harsh treatment. In the past, I received firearms through USPS, UPS, and fed ex. Boxes from FED EX always looked like they sat to close to a shredder. Never had a problem with USPS, but never got a long gun through them.
I see it as two problems. the carrier mistreating long boxes such that they are bent, and the shipper not packing it properly. I have seen long rifles shipped in wooden crates and or hard gun cases. One gun I got years ago was padded and then taped to a 4 ft piece of 1x8 and then put in a box. Might have prevented such breakage in the OP's situation.

 

[Ames]

I can't look at that.

 

[Scota4570]

Pain full to look at.......

Packing is key. Anything you ship must be packed so that it can be run over by a truck or thrown from a height. It probably will be.

I just received a Jim Kibler kit. He fabricates wooden boxes. The boxes are made from dimensional stock and plywood. The box lid is screwed down with a bunch of screws. The various blocks and nesting points appear to be screwed and glued. The parts are nested in recesses and the bearing points are packed with foam. Nothing rattles or can possibly move inside the box. I am confident you could literally run over the box with a truck and not hurt the contents.

He used USPS to ship. I see a lot of mangled packages from UPS. I don't think I would use them any more. I certainly would never use a cardboard box to ship a rifle. You also have to remember many people hate guns, they may intentionally treat it roughly in shipping. Expect it.

 

[M. De Land]

Well the good part of the tragedy is that it looks like all the chips and slivers stayed put which means it can be repaired stronger than new.
You probably will be hard pressed to even show someone where it was cracked when you get it back.

 

[rushlake1]

a long rod down the center of the wrist..good wood glue..and your good to go!

Roy can handle it..

 

[Cowboy]

a long rod down the center of the wrist..good wood glue..and your good to go!

Roy can handle it..

That's pretty much what Roy told me he was going to do with the exception of him not mentioning to me what kind of glue he was going to use. He did mention the running of the rod as well as the gluing. He mentioned stuff that of course went way over my head as far as my inability to understand. I know nothing about nothing when it comes to this kind of stuff all though a lot here could have understood exactly. I'm just grateful he is handling this for me! :bow:

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[M. De Land]

Yup, that is precisely what I would do!

 

[rushlake1]

a long rod down the center of the wrist..good wood glue..and your good to go!

Roy can handle it..

That's pretty much what Roy told me he was going to do with the exception of him not mentioning to me what kind of glue he was going to use. He did mention the running of the rod as well as the gluing. He mentioned stuff that of course went way over my head as far as my inability to understand. I know nothing about nothing when it comes to this kind of stuff all though a lot here could have understood exactly. I'm just grateful he is handling this for me! :bow:

Respectfully, Cowboy

do to grain run out in the wrist this one has been drilled with a wrist rod....
drilled 1/4 inch below the the bottom of the back of the tang into the stock.used 5/16 th brass rod.
Glad i did..Easy-peezy-lemon-squeeze

after some carving practice I plan on adding detail to the wrist.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I had the same thing happen to me, courtesy of the USPS. I had a couple of boxes coming from the same person, and one was small stuff, and one was a musket. The small stuff arrived but the musket didn't. When it went on to 5 days late, I started rattling cages as the tracking information said it was at my local post office. At ten days I asked to see the local Post Master. When she started tap dancing I demanded she call the Postal Inspection service.

Well the gun showed up the next day, with a very odd black mark on the package, AND of course the gun was broken at the wrist. So I called the Postal Inspectors and had them meet me at the post office. The Post Master tried to say there was no way to know what had happened to the package, or where, and then I carried it over to one of the postal delivery trucks, and showed how when the box was slightly leaned over, as it probably had been on the loading dock, how the black mark on the box = the bumper on the delivery vehicle. :shocked2: Then I pointed out the tracking showed it sitting somewhere at the post office for about 10 days..., obviously somebody trying to cover up what some moron had done.

Really can't pack a box to stand up to a postal van backing up into the item when it's propped against a concrete wall, eh? :shake:

They paid the claim.

LD

 

[Vaino]

I have shipped many LRs via USPS using TOWs cardboard shipping containers and have never had any damage to the gun or the container. Formerly used heavy pine boxes which cost a lot more to ship and because of the heavy weight engendered rougher handling.

TOW ships their guns in this same cardboard containers and don't think they would use it if guns were damaged.

These long boxes are shipped "on end" and it's vital that the muzzle and butt have solid packing to prevent shifting of the gun.....but this would also apply to wooden crates......Fred

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I am not too certain that some carriers have anti gun employees who see it is a gun and decide to take covert action.

A UPS driver once made a delivery to my office building when no one was there. He left four cartons of blue print copy paper and a muzzle loader in the back parking lot during a rain storm, when three feet away was the unlocked door to the rear stair well. His UPS career ended abruptly.

Recently, Mrs. has been ordering more and more on-line. What kills me is the tracking from Fed Ex that shows the package was delivered and three days later the USPS delivery driver shows up with the package. We have learned that it means the package was delivered by Fed Ex to the regional post office.

 

[BigBoreBLR]

I never had luck with shipping insurance.

Bought a very basic tvm kit s few years back. He made a wooden cornered box for it, just a 500 kit gun....

Hope she looks good afterwards..

 

[Staggerwing]

To better understand, you drilled underneath the tang down through the wrist into the stock? How long a rod did you use?

 

[rushlake1]

From the back of the tang down the length of the wrist then 3 inches into the stock..

Just cut to length---- yours will be different length than mine..

Note.. drill hole slightly deeper than length of rod to allow glue to move into..