![]() ![]() Oven cleaner, paint stripper and bleach are just a few of those I have used. There are plenty of products on the market that are great at removing oil on or near the surface. You may think you already know how to do that. So, the first job in repairing a stock is to remove every possible trace of oil from the wood. The first lesson in stock repair is that glue, no matter how good, will not stick to oil. In a lot of old doubles, the oil itself has been a contributing factor in the stock breaking in the first place. Any gun not stored muzzle down is eventually going to have the stock become oil soaked. Oil originally swabbed into the bore to prevent rust has run down the stock and been soaked up by the wood. Over time the wood has absorbed a lot of oil. The reason for the failure is generally simple to detect. Many of these repairs were brilliantly thought out and expertly executed but still failed and even if they held they were downright ugly. Strips of wood or metal inletted across the break and screwed and or glued in place, rawhide wraps, metal bands and sometimes a combination of several of these attempts and there is always evidence of glue-lots and lots of glue. They come in with wire wrapped around the broken wrist like a cast. The few that I quote a repair on are generally of sentimental value to the owner and are obscure or rare enough that no replacements stocks are available for them. Generally, by the time the gun gets to me the owner has given up hope and simply wants to sell the gun. When the gun breaks in the same place a time or two they give up the job and put stock repair into the black arts file. Based on the number of badly repaired old stocks that I have worked on, most folks think all it takes is some glue and perhaps a few screws and a splint or two. How many old stocks have you seen that were broken at the wrist, repaired and then broken again? If you have been around guns for very long I’m sure you have seen your share. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |