Merry Christmas to me! Broken stock today at the range.

[olskool]

i had a sako rifle with the prettiest stock you ever saw that busted wide open when i was shooting it off the bench. it made me sick. i repaired it with epoxy but i could see the crack line. i got rid of the gun, wish i kept it,,,,,,,,

 

[rrebuck]

So, do any stocks or builders just reinforce their stocks with metal pins, in an attempt to prevent this problem? If not, why not?

 

[EC121]

Most of the newer guns are plastic or laminated. No need for reinforcement. A wood stock with good grain flow though the wrist also doesn't need pins. The breaks usually happen when the grain runs out in the wrist.
Once a builder gets a gun out the door, it isn't his problem anymore.

 

[JamieWalden]

I have repaired many muzzleloading stocks, rifles and a lot of the TC Patriot pistols that break in the wrist and a Birdseye Maple stock I made for a Springfield 1903-A3.
All you need is some good epoxy mixed, a syringe ( I get mine at the feed store of Vet Supply) with needle and a drill. Follow the directions on the package.
You choose the size of pin you want to use, use the drill bit that comes with that size pin. You clamp your break together pretty tight, (I use 4" C Clamps with leather pads on the stock or the Racheting Bar clamp like used on clamping wood slats together with rubber clamp pads) drill a hole all the way through the wrist which makes it better and keeps you from busting out a chip when screwing the pin into the hole on the part you didn't drill through. Unclamp, force all of the glue you can into the crack and some in the hole drilled. Put the pin in the hand drill chuck, clamp the stock again, and this pin is threaded. Coat the pin and Screw it into the hole you drilled with the drill real slow until it has passed through the stock and the pin is protruding out both sides of the stock. When the epoxy dries, cut the pin as close to the stock as possible with hack saw or hobby saw and then file down flush with stock. All you will have showing is a small 1/8 or 3/32nd brass pin head that looks like it was inlaid. Steel wool the spot and refinished.
I have been using these for years and always have a good supply around hunting season when people drop guns from tree stands or trip in the dark and drop their weapon. I have two nice rifles that have these and they have been in one of them since 1981 with thousands of rounds through it for target shooting and one in the 03-A3 stock that gets loaned during some hunting seasons. I can take a photo later if you want. Brownells suggests Acraglas but that is their product and I found Devcon 24 hour 2 part epoxy is just as good or better. I use Devcon to splice two pieces of Osage wood billets at the handle on a Z-Splice making all wood longbows. It has never failed on any of my bows and some have some heavy draw weights.
Here is the link to get these.
Brownells Stock Repair Pins & drill bits
Good Luck
Mike

View attachment 55790
View attachment 55791

Good luck.

Wow what a reply. I believe this is the best route I have seen so far. I’m a metal guy not a wood guy so the pin all the way through seems to be the strongest. Honestly the gun isn’t a work of art or anything spectacular of a build so I’m not so worried about a small amount of brass showing. I was at one time going to add some silver inlay on the gun, I guess now is as good a time as any. Thank you so much for the detailed response.

 

[McClura]

Thanks guys. I did one Hawken with fish scale ash that cracked out the back of the wrist that I had two brass pins line up perfectly down the wrist and ended up inlaying a small brass Heart bending around the wrist to fit. I got the inlay started and measured the distance on the pins and drill two holes in the heart, one at the tip of the heart and one at the v in the top and tapped the heart down in to the inlay and over the pins, filed all of it down and buffed it out. It was hard to see the pins.
That was one of my favorite repairs. Wish I still had the photos of repairs I did.
Good luck.
Mike

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

A couple of machine 8/32 machine screws with heads removed. Drilled and epoxied in place. It should last forever. If the seam still shows, cover it with a nice brass plate. The plate doesn’t really hold anything, just cover up the seam. This a faux repair, but you get the idea.View attachment 55798

I like that poka dot horn.

 

[toot]

at least it was a rely clean break. I also have been there, at the range I laid it against a split rail fence and was talking to the range master and it slid to the ground about 3 foot drop, and I had a two piece stock. and I won't be the last & neither will you.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Good post by McClura. I prefer just plain brazing rod for the pin. You can thread it if you want. The ends showing after the repair are, in my opinion, just telling a part of the story of the life of that rifle. The brass wrist wrap is a last ditch effort to hold things together. Ugly IMHO.

Another vote for the pins and acraglas!
I have repaired at least a half-dozen stocks with this or something similar.
With muzzleloader wrists IF the break is close to the lock mortise, one can go through the slot for the tang...,

And on a military musket such as the Bess, the long wrist guard, and or the thumb escutcheon gives places to put the screw that are then concealed when you replace the metal over the hole that you made to install the screw.

The thing about acraglas is that you can color the epoxy to closely match the stock.

Unfortunately, some historic site "safety inspectors" don't really know more than the basics..., and stock repair isn't part of that curriculum, so in the past, I've had to install a cosmetic, brass sheet over the second type of wrist repair, because the inspector would not allow the musket on the field with an epoxy repair. NOW an epoxy repair one can actually, visually see it is correct, but when you cover it with a brass sheet, nailed on, you then have no idea what lies underneath...but for some fellows this is "safer".

LD

 

[Sun City]

MarineTex is the best I've ever found! Great for bedding rifles!!

 

[JamieWalden]

Here is the progress so far. I have learned that a metal rod will not be the best bet. Unfortunately a 10/32 screw goes through where the dowel will be. Apparently that is all that was holding it together before. I’ll have to use a wooden dowel and drill through part of it. I plan on a leather wrap once it is done

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Best of luck with it.

 

[firestick]

Dowel with epoxy. Use a vacuum to suck the epoxy completely through the crack. Works much better than blowing with an air hose. Repaired many a piece of furniture in my before I retired. Wood glue works but dries too fast before you get it in the repair and aligned and clamped. Epoxy works better for repairs like these.

 

[Squatch84]

I feel your pain...in 2016 I dropped my Traditions Kentucky out of my stand (I'm clumsy sometimes), I ended up making a whole new stock for it. It was a Traditions so the wood wasn't the prettiest anyways.
What Bob suggested would be really cool to do, but would be a shame to hide that beautiful wood.

 

[JamieWalden]

Another vote for the pins and acraglas!
I have repaired at least a half-dozen stocks with this or something similar.
With muzzleloader wrists IF the break is close to the lock mortise, one can go through the slot for the tang...,
View attachment 55887

And on a military musket such as the Bess, the long wrist guard, and or the thumb escutcheon gives places to put the screw that are then concealed when you replace the metal over the hole that you made to install the screw.

View attachment 55888

The thing about acraglas is that you can color the epoxy to closely match the stock.

Unfortunately, some historic site "safety inspectors" don't really know more than the basics..., and stock repair isn't part of that curriculum, so in the past, I've had to install a cosmetic, brass sheet over the second type of wrist repair, because the inspector would not allow the musket on the field with an epoxy repair. NOW an epoxy repair one can actually, visually see it is correct, but when you cover it with a brass sheet, nailed on, you then have no idea what lies underneath...but for some fellows this is "safer".

LD

That’s really close to where my dowel went in today.

 

[JamieWalden]

This was what it looked like after all the clamp and tape came off. I also decided it would be a good time to lighten up the stock. I can’t believe someone would cover up the fire in this curly maple as much as they did. I figure it was only to hide the grain to get it out the door and let the consumer deal with it.

 

[Walkingeagle]

Are you able to get a second one in further forward as well?
Walk

 

[JamieWalden]

No I cannot get any more plugs in. It’s too close to a screw hole as it is. I actually went through it on the bottom. The screw runs from the tang to the trigger assembly. I believe at this point it is what it is. I’m gonna do a leather wrap just to add some safety measure in case it splits while I shoot it.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

No I cannot get any more plugs in. It’s too close to a screw hole as it is. I actually went through it on the bottom. The screw runs from the tang to the trigger assembly. I believe at this point it is what it is. I’m gonna do a leather wrap just to add some safety measure in case it splits while I shoot it.

Forgive me but I failed to mention another option.

In the past when I've had wrist breaks on a stock, and they have been long and involve a place for a tang bolt, or a wood screw...,
Instead of a brass or steel screw, I have drilled a hole perpendicular to the crack. It is started on the underside of the stock, hopefully where part of the trigger guard will cover the entry point, but if not, I think it less likely to catch the eye. I make sure I don't go through to the topside of the wrist. Then I use a hardwood dowel, just a tiny bit smaller than the drilled hole, and insert the dowel into the hole while the dowel is covered in fresh epoxy.

When this is done curing, it is quite strong, and is usually strong enough to correct the problem, especially when coupled with a metal screw in another part of the break. BUT..., since it's hardwood and epoxy, I can then redrill a bolt-hole that is partially impacted by the presence of the dowel, or still use a wood screw that will go into the epoxy/dowel just as if it was going into wood.

Something like this....

LD

 

[JamieWalden]

Forgive me but I failed to mention another option.

In the past when I've had wrist breaks on a stock, and they have been long and involve a place for a tang bolt, or a wood screw...,
Instead of a brass or steel screw, I have drilled a hole perpendicular to the crack. It is started on the underside of the stock, hopefully where part of the trigger guard will cover the entry point, but if not, I think it less likely to catch the eye. I make sure I don't go through to the topside of the wrist. Then I use a hardwood dowel, just a tiny bit smaller than the drilled hole, and insert the dowel into the hole while the dowel is covered in fresh epoxy.

When this is done curing, it is quite strong, and is usually strong enough to correct the problem, especially when coupled with a metal screw in another part of the break. BUT..., since it's hardwood and epoxy, I can then redrill a bolt-hole that is partially impacted by the presence of the dowel, or still use a wood screw that will go into the epoxy/dowel just as if it was going into wood.

Something like this....

View attachment 56522

LD

That is almost exactly where the dowel is. I appreciate the advice. I’m ready to shoot it and hope for the best.

 

[JamieWalden]

After epoxy has dried, we made a pattern and just to cover the break used a leather wrap. This is the final product and I hope it holds up to shoot. Thanks again for all the info!!