Shrunk stock

[Voltigeur_de_la_Garde]

The stock of the musket I recently purchased seems to have shrunk a bit in the last 175 years. The rear and middle barrel bands are very loose but the wood underneath them does not seem worn down.
My question: do you think a treatment with some boiled linseed oil has any chance of reswelling the wood? Thanks for your input

 

[Clark Badgett]

The stock of the musket I recently purchased seems to have shrunk a bit in the last 175 years. The rear and middle barrel bands are very loose but the wood underneath them does not seem worn down.
My question: do you think a treatment with some boiled linseed oil has any chance of reswelling the wood? Thanks for your input

Leave it alone.

 

[Sam squanch]

What I would do if you wish to shoot it is have a new stock carefully made. I knew I fellow who did that with a shotgun that was in nice condition on the metal parts, but the stock was fragile, and worth more unrepaired.

 

[3 eared musket cap]

The stock of the musket I recently purchased seems to have shrunk a bit in the last 175 years. The rear and middle barrel bands are very loose but the wood underneath them does not seem worn down.
My question: do you think a treatment with some boiled linseed oil has any chance of reswelling the wood? Thanks for your input

Try shimming under the loose bands?

 

[BEP]

Here's what I've done in the past with two different 1816 Springfields - I made a mixture of half BLO and half mineral spirits and painted a very thin coating on with a 3/4 inch paintbrush everywhere; in the lock mortise, inside the barrel channel, on the buttplate area, everywhere. I let it set for a half hour, intending to wipe off the excess but found that, except for several places on the outside of the stock, it had entirely soaked into the wood! Since this mixture contains BLO I waited two days before applying another coat. I continued to use this mixture until it quit disappearing into the stock, then applied straight BLO twice more, again everywhere in and on those gunstocks, in the usual apply-let sit-wipe off excess manner.

I do not believe there's a way to completely restore the wood in a stock like yours - and mine - but the BLO/mineral spirits method that I used definitely did cause some very noticable results.

 

[Snooterpup]

The stock of the musket I recently purchased seems to have shrunk a bit in the last 175 years. The rear and middle barrel bands are very loose but the wood underneath them does not seem worn down.
My question: do you think a treatment with some boiled linseed oil has any chance of reswelling the wood? Thanks for your input

I would consider gluing paper shims on the ‘inside’ of the barrel bands to snug them up. Done right, it won’t show. Use a water soluble glue if someone wants to remove the shims from the bands. I would not recommend messing with the wood.