Broken stock

BOHROK

BOHROK

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SW Ontario
CGN,
I recently acquired an old Geha 12 gauge and it need some serious work, I want to do it my self as a winter project Then use the old gun as a fun skeet shooter, it will never shoot anything bigger then target load.
I need advice on a good cleaner for the stock and then should I use wood glue or epoxy or acraglas? I have brass threaded rod that will be put through it for strength I was gonna use acraglas but some forums advise against it and it seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions. I am hoping to get some good clear advise here.
Thank you.
A photo of the broken stock for reference, you can see how dirty the wood is by the semi pistol grip and around the trigger assembly area.
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I once fixed a stock, although not as broken as yours by first soaking it in the laundry tub with hot water and Tide soap, it got almost all the oils out. I had to change the water a few times as it turned black as coffee. It also raised all the digs out as well. After it was dry I glued the cracked piece, gave it a light sanding, stained and oiled. It came out beautiful.
I'd recommend using some pieces of dowel where the stock cracked in the ares where it is thick enough to help hold it together, others may have a suggestion as to which glue is best.
 
I've had the fortune to repair many old wooden things from guitars to furniture to gunstocks. Good old carpenters wood glue is still my favourite. The trick is to clamp, but not over clamp, the two pieces together, clean off the squeezed out excess with a damp rag and let it set. Most wood glue needs a minimum of 1/2 hr under pressure and needs 24 hrs. for a full cure. If you over tighten the clamps, you actually force the glue out of the very joint you're trying to repair. That's known as "glue-starving" a joint. I've also used cyanoacrylate adhesives to good effect, but they need a little more experience to be used correctly and they're less forgiving of error.
 
I think I would start with some Acetone to swab away as much oil as possible. It dries quickly, and you don't have to deal with water soaked wood like with Tide. Could check at the Wood worker supply outfits (Windsor Plywood, eg) for any products meant for stripping oils out of wood.

I would use as slow a setting epoxy as I could find. 45 minute or 1 hour stuff. The faster epoxies use a bunch of fillers and accelerators, which cut down on their strength. A heat lamp can be used to 'kick' the stuff a bit faster, as well as allowing the epoxy to soak in to the wood better. I have a gallon of West System, but almost any long set time epoxy will do as well.

Epoxy will also work well to install cross plugs whether of matching or contrasting wood dowels, or the brass rod.

Save the Acra Glass to bed in stuff after the stock is back together.
 
Copied from Shooters Forum:


Virtually ANY glue will join wood and do the job. Some are better than others, hence the reason for this thread. You have yellow and white glues, polyurethane glues (Gorilla glue), epoxies, Accraglass (which I suspect is an epoxy resin [with fiber additives]), cyanoacrylates (super glues), and hide glues. ALL of those mentioned would repair a broken stock, yes...even the super glues.

Water resistance is nice but not necessary. For example, Titebond has been mentioned. It's a yellow aliphatic resin, the same as any other yellow glue on the market (Elmers, Franklin, etc). Fix your stock, let it cure, then stand it on-end soaking in the bathtub for three days. It's not coming apart. hehehe But.....how much water resistance do we need for a gun stock? If we drop our Remington pump in the lake for a week, and forgot to use a waterproof glue, and the stock breaks again, we've got bigger problems than stock repair. What we're talking here is resistance......water resistance.....not proofing. Got a little rain or snow on your favorite Ruger rifle? You used the correct glue for repair - a yellow glue.

Titebond II (and the newer Titebond III) have a much greater water resistance than regular aliphatic resin glue. Now, you would use that type of glue if you were building some teak (or oak, or cedar, or....) patio chairs that were expected to sit out in the weather throughout the seasons. And...while either glue will work on a rifle stock, it is wholly uneccessary. But if you knew, for example, that when hunting with one particular rifle, it was going to get rained and snowed on every time, and that dampness would sit on the rifle for hours on end until you got home and could wipe it dry.....then you would want a more resistant resin like Titebond 2 or 3. Most rifles wouldn;t fall into this category, no matter where you were hunting, but maybe a few might.

Epoxies will work fine for a wood repair, but again, they're uneccessary. Plus, they're less likely to last. How is that, when we know epxoy glues are truly super adhesives? Well, epoxy dries to a hard, brittle cure. Yes, they have incorporated in them some toughness - some elasticity, but at their core they're brittle. And waterproof...no water will penetrate them. But when we're gluing wood, we need the fibers to join in a cellular fashion. This is where the aliphatic resins shine, and this is why they're used in woodworking. As wood expands and contracts with changes in humidity, the woods fibers (inside the glued joint) must be able to act accordingly. Yellow and white glues (and animal hide glues - very good!) allow this to occur, while still keeping the fibers joined at the cellular level. Now, I didn;t write the book on this - I'm too much of a layman for that, I'm just repeating what I've learned and experienced. A guy can go and read and learn about different glues and their properties.

Why not use a heated, or even liquid, hide glue? They're good and strong, so why not? Well, heated hide glues are used so a joint can be taken apart later, if necessary. Yes, they're very strong, but they're not ideal for several reasons. We don't all have access to a glue pot or the animal glue. It takes too much time and effort to setup just for a simple repair. And we don;t ever want to take the joint apart. And liquid hide glues, while bottled for convenient use, don;t offer the same strength and benefit of yellow glue, though they are good for a quick, simple repair on other wood projects. Nope. Not for rifle stocks.

Anyway, the summary is: if a guy is making or fixing a wood rifle stock, any glue can be used. The most ideal glue for wood remains yellow or white glue. If the rifle is to be laid against the woodpile and remain there throughout the seasons
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, then a guy might want to use T-bond II or III. Personally, I would recommend a regular yellow glue, and to store the rifle indoors
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Thanks for all the advise I think I will do a acatone wash then wood glue the stock and epoxy in the brass rods. I have a couple of small pieces that brok off should I use a small pin to hold them with glue?
 
If they are small pieces it may or may not make much of a difference. It would depend also if there is any stress on the piece you are gluing back together.
 
They are two small pieces. They belong right behind the front action screw, so I will need to get them in place and held firm. Mabey if I glue them then when it’s all together drill a small hole for a brass rod and epoxy that in.
 
Did a SxS 12 gauge pistol grip I 8 or more pieces. Brake cleaner to get the oil out. After it was epoxied together I ran a stainless tig welding rod in with a drill. I ran thread dye up the tig rod made a spade tip on it with a file. Goes in very nice, going in behind the action and trigger guard to hide it. No going to work for you unless you trim it short and put a inlay over it. Mother of pearl maybe ��
 
those old converted rifles into shotguns are hardly worth the work, I sold a real good one a few years ago and had to almost pay some one to take it off my table.
Double check the headspace on these.
Good yellow glue is the best, that gorilla glue is messy to use and expands out , hate it. hard to properly fit all the bits if you use thick glue, Slow setting is what you need for this job
tite bond 3 is slower setting.
I use lots of break cleaner for degreasing, , out side is the best for that.
before you use the glue , dry fit everything, to see that everything fits and no gaps.
 
Titebond III - Wood glue is designed for bonding wood.... don't bother with Canadian tire/Elmers/No-name/knock-off white/yellow glues. Use Titebond.

Don't bother with the brass rod, more trouble than it's worth, use some hardwood dowels (and not the Canadian Tire dowels, those are poplar, technically a hard wood, but not really, use maple or cut some walnut with a plug cutter) and then, yes, titebond them. You are not gaining any benefits by using brass and that's not how a thread works anyway.

So that's settled, great, have fun :)


NOW:

exactly how-in-the-f**k does a stock get shattered exactly in half like that?? (seriously, what happened??)

Small splinters are missing right behind the front action screw, and need to be glued back in?? you mean the screw that is absorbing a good chunk of the recoil? couldn't tell you without pics, but just gluing them back in place probably is not going to cut it - you may have to make an escutcheon or cut that part out, and replace it (and glue with titebond :) haha.. ).
 
Make a nice wall hanger, but it would be a ##### if the stock failed while you were shooting it. 12 gauge isn't wimpy. Next question, is it chambered for 2 3/4 " shells ? be way better to get a 98 Mauser stock and modify it.

Grizz
 
I got the poor thing already beat up like that. The outside has rust on it but nothing serious all surface and no pitting the stock had one large bolt threw it and was tapped together with hockey tape. The one up side the bore on it was mirror like, which indicates that some one shot it in this condition!! Luckily all the parts are there and the bolt is in great shape with no signs of damage, however both action screws are bent and need replaced and the front of the mag well is bent up too, not sure what caused this but numrich has those parts so should be a easy replace.
 
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Some "Target Loads" actually create higher breech pressures than some hunting loads. This is due to a faster powder ignition with a sharp pressure curve rather than a hunting load that gives a longer more progressive ignition. I have seen several of these converted M98 Mauser shotguns that have been destroyed or damaged because people believe target loads are safer in them.



Titebond III ----- Holds really well, waterproof (they say water resistant), dries fast

The two man boat and two man camping trailer (with back kitchen, sleeping area and storage) was built over five years ago. Still water tight after a lot of small lakes, and miles of rough roads. Used Titebond III.

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Ive fixed many stocks that were broken like that. One is on my snider 3 band and its been going strong for 5 years or so. Other is on a p14 that I built from parts.

I always use brake clean and soak the stock with that which removes the oils that are always present in old gunstocks.

I then fit the stock together with no glue and make sure I have all the pieces lined up right.

Then I glue it together with a good marine epoxy or wood glue. Surgical tubing is great for holding a stock together tightly when it's being glued.

After it's set I will often screw the stock together with brass screws and then cut the heads off.

If the screw will be seen I will cut a plug from similar wood and then insert the plug over the screw head that's countersink into the wood.
 
I just repaired some bad splits in older and very oily wood stocks. The oil kept coming back up even after a couple of 20 minute dips in acetone. Then I tried a heat gun on hot but not super hot to bring the oil out and wipe it away. But it kept coming out.... So I did up some "leaching white". It's a mix of corn starch, acetone and brake cleaner. I put a couple of good size spoonfuls of the corn starch into a little jar and added roughly twice as much acetone as brake cleaner until the mix was about like heavy cream. Brushed it on fairly thick and let it dry and pull out the oil for a day. Wiped it away and repeated two more times for a day at a time. Then I hit it with the hot air and didn't get any further oil coming up out of the wood.

I'm sure the acetone and brake cleaner and heat gun did a good part of the job. So if one were to go with the corn starch trick right off the bat it may take 5 or 6 one day leachings. Perhaps a better combination might be some good washing off with brake cleaner or acetone first and then the corn starch "leaching" absorption slop put on two or three times. But when the other things would not finish the job the corn starch trick did it.
 
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