Knot

[Roy]

I think that Der Fett' Deutscher has the right idea for this repair.

 

[flashpanner]

Nice close up pics! Almost looks like an owie that I got on my hand!
Seriously, good advice and a good heads up on inspecting a stock purchase. Seems that most stock suppliers are honorable and will work with the customer in rectifying a piece that is not satisfactory. I'll take notice when I buy my stock wood.

 

[Russianblood]

You may want to try filling the knot with super glue and then add some sawdust from the stock into the final filler glue. The runny super glue will get into even the minute cracks and make it stronger than the original wood. I glued a broken in half shoulder stock of a Polish M44 carbine and it holds together just fine.

 

[Hoyt]

I'm thinking about using the Red Label Acraglass.
This is what Builders Supply says about it on their site..
" The original runny-as-water type, 2-Gun Red Label, has its own special uses and is well known as a professional builders choice for repairing fatal breaks, severe and minimal cracks, and adding on whole new sections in restoration projects. It is the number one selling structural epoxy for gun builders. This first type which heats to a temperature you cannot even stand to touch when it is setting up, is so thin it will permeate into any crack or crevice it is exposed to."
I'm going to bed the rear of breech plug real good and pour the red label into the knot area and hope for the best. I read on a stock repair site where they used a min. of 6 all thread rods to do their wrist repairs.

 

[Bountyhunter]

Using a runny glue like super glue or the red stuff you talk about is good. It will soak down into the fractures and pull them together. Take into consideration that those cracks are filled with dry sap.

Second, I would do what one of the previous guys mentioned, and I would go into the back of the barrel channel, below where the breechplug fits, and use a half inch bit and bore right down through the center of the wrist until I was well back into the stock. You might need to use an installers bit, as they have a sharper point and will drill straight, and they are about sixteen inches long. I would then open the hole up to about 5/8 and then blow it clean and swab the inside very liberally with Acraglas, and then use a piece of threaded rod which was also liberally covered with Acraglas and push it down into the hole. That will bond and reinforce the wrist so that it wont break, and it will not be visible from the outside. It wouldnt cost much, and it wouldnt take much time.

B

 

[Stophel]

Yep, I agree, that guy's pretty bright! :winking:

I once made a "barn gun" out of a stock that had the grain running right out the top of the wrist. Now, I have seen plenty of German guns where the wood did the same thing, and the stocks were none the worse for wear even after 200-300 years, BUT, I didn't like it, and wanted to reinforce it. I made a rectangular slot in the bottom of the wrist beginning right behind where the triggerguard tenon was and ran it right back to the rear triggerguard mounting point. The slot was about 1/2" wide (about as wide as a triggerplate, one of which could be contrived to cover the reinforcement up entirely), and went to within maybe a quarter of an inch of the top of the wrist...didn't want to cut through and have it show on the top! I made a rectangular piece of wood to fit into this slot (which was not all that easy). Now, to use epoxy, the wood reinforcement should NOT fit all that tightly. Epoxy doesn't soak into the wood at all, and where the two pieces of wood touch, the epoxy is squeezed out, and there is no glue bond, so, you gotta leave a little room here. I slopped in the JB Weld and squeezed 'er in. In theory, the stock is now stronger than it would have been if the grain were straight....

I think it would probably be better if the slot could be milled out very evenly and straight, and the reinforcement made to fit snugly, and wood glue like Titebond 2 or 3 used to fit the reinforcement in. This type of glue holds wood MUCH better than epoxy (despite the claims of epoxy makers). The disadvantage of doing this is that it requires the slot and reinforcement to be precisely made and fitted, and the reinforcement has to be SLIGHTLY too small to allow for the swelling of the wood when the glue is applied.

Now, my gun (the "fire gun"...don't ask) was a barn gun, and I painted it red, so I didn't worry about the rectangular gray outline that I could see on the bottom of the wrist. BUT, since you have this ugly place on top of the wrist, the whole thing can be covered with a period-type metal overlaid wrist wrap.

 

[Hoyt]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions...If it don't fall in half while I'm working on it I'm going to give it a try first with just the epoxy and if it breaks..I'll go with the invasive surgery...hopefully on the stock and not me.
My first shot will be with a string and behind a tree. Will strap the gun down good to a tire or something like that.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Hoyt,

While it's still in one piece, drill and epoxy a rod through that wrist. Then you'll never have to worry about repairing a broken wrist.

The rest is just cosmetics.

:v

 

[Hoyt]

That ain't no small job for me..I can whittle on these stocks and drill and tap, etc., but that hole would have to be about 8" and a big undertaking for me. I might see if I can get a gunsmith around here to do it. Meanwhile I'll finish it on up since the hole will be inside the tang inlet anyway.
That chunk of all thread ain't goin to do my lite-weight no good.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Just buy a 12" x 1/4" drill bit at Home Depot or other hardware store, drill from the tang lug hole to just past the knot. Fill the hole with epoxy and a 3/16" piece of threaded rod. The whole thing should cost less than $10, take about 15 minutes. :winking: