Safe way to repair cracked stock on heirloom firearm?

[BehindBlueI's]

I have an heirloom "John W Price" single shot 16g shotgun. Its a fuzz over a hundred years old, and beginning to show its age a bit. My great-great-grandfather bought it at an unknown hardware store in Louisville to give to his then-adult son, my great-grandfather. The exact date is unknown, but apparently between 1910 and 1913 given the approximate age my great-grandfather remembered being when he told the story to my father.

My father and uncle routinely visited him (their grandfather, my great-grandfather) and this was the shotgun they used to hunt as boys while on those visits. It sort of bypassed my grandfather and went straight to my dad. It sat unused for years and I didn't even know of its existence until a few years ago when my dad gave it to me to pass to his grandson, my son.

The stock is beginning to crack, and while not bad yet I'm not comfortable shooting it until I repair it. My dad and I have been discussing it and he believes wood glue wouldn't stick as their are likely years of oil build up soaked into the wood. He suggested removing the stock and boiling it to get the oil out, but this seems pretty drastic to me.

So, any ideas how to fix the split so it doesn't spread, and then refinish the stock?

 

[CPT Nervous]

The only thing I know of to do with a split, is to finish it. Not sure if you would want to do that, though, on such a gun. What I would normally do is split the stock, and re glue it together, sand the crack, then refinish. Maybe you should have a new stock made for it?

 

[03A3]

Could that be pinned the same way that US military stocks were repaired?

 

[Flintlock]

Take it to a professional. That's going to be your best option.

 

[Dirty Steve]

Absolutely take it to a professional who specializes in firearms restoration. You will be sick for the rest of your life if you or some jack-leg gunsmith screws the repair up.

I had a custom flintlock pistol with a cracked wrist. The pistol was worth about $1500,.....without the cracked wrist. I took it to Ron Ehlert (now deceased) and he repaired it so well you absolutely could not tell there was ever a crack. If you looked closely with a magnifying glass you could see a very faint line at the repair. To the naked eye and touch, it was invisible. He told me he had to split and pin it. Expertly done.

Dirty Steve

 

[PGRChaplain]

With that History it's not at DIY Project. Someonne will chime in with theright guy to repair it. My "Right Guy's are all gone.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

We'll see. I hadn't considered finishing the split, but that makes sense.

It all honestly, its probably a $20 gun and while in reasonable shape for its age, I don't think the Smithsonian will be contacted me to exhibit it any time soon. As long as its safe to shoot, I'm ok with it, and I'm sure my son will be too once he's old enough for it.

 

[djl02]

We tore down mom and dads old house and I ran across and old 1916 Price 12 gauge.
Mom said she traded a bike for it when she was 16.
It had the same crack as yours.Poor design. Anyway,it can be fixed,cant remember the name of the guy that restored it,but he done a good job on the stock. It also had a problem of breaking down when you shot it. He fixed that too.
We gave it back to Mom for her 75th birthbay a few years ago.

 

[rhart]

I have made similar repairs to a couple old shotguns. I dont boil it.

I think the best way to evaluate it is to take it off to see what you have. Completing the split sounds reasonable. I have seen guys router out the crack and then use clear epoxy.

It looks like it could be a home made stock to me. I could make you a replacement. I have some maple right now too if your interested. I have walnut to but I dont have any that thick on hand, I would have to glue a couple pieces together.

 

[Flintlock]

If you're serious about fixing it yourself, don't finish the split. Use a hypodermic needle to insert high strength glue into the expanded crack and clamp tight. I wouldn't recommend you doing it, though, unless you have experience repairing wood/doing woodwork with firearms.

 

[jkershner]

If you are not put off by the prospect of doing it yourself, this is actually a fairly straightforward repair. The key to making it look decent is pinning it from the underside. To make it easier to match the wood/ hide the repair, you may want to strip the finish first. It's very easy.

I use Citristrip, but others have their favorites. Remove the stock and forearm, apply Citristrip per the instuctions, brush it with an old toothbrush where you have stubborn spots, scrape it off. Repeat 'til you have an unfinished stock.

Now, the repair. I have had very good success with using simple wood screws. Now before your head explodes at the notion, let me explain. Drilling upwards from the bottom side of the stock is the preferred method, but if the frame stock screw is in the way you can do it from the top. There are a few details to point out here. You will need:

1. A wood plug drill bit (you can get them at Lowe's)
2. An appropriately sized wood screw (obviously), You want it to grab the wood but not poke through.
3. A regular drill bit to drill the pilot hole.
4. A walnut wood plug to hide the hole.
5. Wood glue

Okay, the steps to perform the repair:

1. Predrill the hole for the screw, then drill out the hole for the wood plug.
2. Using a thin wood glue, inject glue in the crack and in the screw hole.
3. Drive the screw in (being sure to keep the two pieces aligned).
4. Insert the wood plug (use glue if needed). Try to align the plug so the gain faces the same way as the stock grain. Some of the plug may stick out.
5. Let the whole thing dry overnight.
6. Using sandpaper or fine wood rasp, trim the plug flush with the stock.

That's it. You may need to use more than 1 screw if the crack is really long.

Refinishing: I use a plain oil finish. It's easy to put on, easy to repair, easy to make look good, difficult to screw up. You can use boiled linseed oil (I use this), tung oil, palm oil or a number of others. Look in the varnish section at Lowe's. Apply in very light coats using a clean cloth, let dry, use 1500 steel wool to smooth out, repeat. A good rule of thumb is, after the first few coats on the first day, apply 1 coat a day for a week, 1 coat a week for a month, 1 coat a month for a year, and 1 coat a year forever. Simple.

Good luck! Post pics if you go decide to go through with it.