Cracked Stock

[charcoleburner54]

Hello I have a TC Renagade 54 cal. The crack starts at the left side of the tang at the top and goes down through the bolt that goes through to the hammer sorry dont now the names of parts it is a small crack but a crack non the less I have fixed cracks on recurve bows with supper glue and a syringe. Can I fix the stock the same way or is there a better way thanks for your abvise

 

[Artificer]

Troy,

Yes, you can fix a crack in a stock that way, BUT you must also look for what caused the crack to fix the problem so the crack doesn't come back.

Without pictures, it is hard to tell what may have caused the crack to begin with.

It may be that the tang bolt is bearing hard against the wood and each time the gun is fired and it smacks the wood in recoil until it caused the wood to crack. The tang bolt is the bolt that goes down through the tang of the breech behind the barrel and threads into the trigger guard or trigger plate. Once you loosen the tang bolt so the threads of the bolt are free of the threads of the trigger guard or plate, can you push the tang bolt up easily or do you have to take a drive pin punch and mallet and drive the tang bolt upwards? If the latter, it probably is the tang bolt binding in the stock and that hole has to be opened/made a bit larger so the bolt no longer binds. Not sure if you can provide close up detailed pictures with the barrel and tang removed to see if that is the problem.

Other things can also cause the stock to crack there, though. Normally it is the result of metal that bears/binds too hard on the wood in recoil. Sorry I can't help you more, but without pictures, it is very difficult to offer suggestions.

Gus

 

[bubba.50]

the most common cause of the dreaded T/C stock crack is over-tightenin' of the lock bolt and/or recoil. the superglue fix will work about as good as any. after ya fix the crack ya might wanta bed the tang & when ya put the lock back in remember the bolt only has to hold the lock in place. it don't hafta be brute-tight, just a bit past snug will do it. another thing to check is yer barrel fit. if ya hafta squeeze down on the barrel to put the wedge in things are too tight & ya might need to relieve the stress a bit or maybe bed the rear of the barrel when ay bed the tang. luck to ya & have a good'en, bubba.

 

[Rick Boylan]

I have fixed cracks on recurve bows with supper glue

As Homer Simpson would say "mmmmmmmm Supper glue". :v :rotf: :haha:

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

 

[Patocazador]

I have fixed stock cracks in a couple of rifles but bedded them both after filling the crack. I think you are asking for a repeat if you don't. Bedding the base of the barrel, the tang area and the trigger guard area are the very least you should do.

 

[MSW]

the venerable T/C Renegade is a great rifle (IMHO) ... cheap, very unHC/PC, and, if properly maintained, pretty reliable. if you have a newer design lock (or one of the replacement locks) the reliability goes up even more. I think the design of the way the barrel attaches to the stock is a not what many of us are used to, and there is always the temptation towards over tightening: loose is bad, tight is good, very tight is very good...
the barrel has a hook on the end of the breech which slides into a small square hole in the tang. the tang is screwed into the wood with big honking wood screws, and not attached to the trigger guard with bolts as we normally see. I don't know if the real Hawken rifles had bolts through the tang and into the trigger guard or not. I would suspect that the T/C folks designed it this way for ease of manufacture and cost savings. (It was a relatively inexpensive gun, and it was the first ML rifle many of us owned - I still have mine after nearly three and a half decades.)

from your description, the crack involves the female part of the hooked breech system.

for what it's worth, here's what I think you should consider doing to fix the problem:
(a)bed the back (female) part of the tang... of course, you want to do this with the barrel in the tang, so everything lines up when you're done, and use plenty of release agent ... barrel, breech, trigger and guard, anywhere the goopy stuff might get into, the family cat, etc ...
(b) if the bedding compound doesn't end up in the crack, try to work something in there to stabilize the problem. I would go with TiteBond III over superglue ... the CA glues are not as good at impact resistance in my experience. I have used bicycle innertubes to get the wood back together with good result.
(c) refinish the stock as necessary. (depending on the depth of the crack, you might get away with not having to do this, or, if you're so inclined, you can use this as a good reason to refinish the rifle, and while you're at it, add some woodworking of your own ... there are some good posts around here on that very topic.

Good luck with your project, and make good smoke!