Cracked Mosin M44 stock.

[old_man]

Picture:

Background: When I bought this it was painted brown. I took the paint off and there was no shellac left. I went the tung oil route. Recently I discovered this crack. None of the numbers match but it has it has a nice bore and shoots well enough.

What should I do?
1) Nothing, Mosin is fine,
2) Replace the stock with another one,
3) Attempt the repair myself with a 'Stalingrad screw',
4) Do something with glue, or
5) Go see a pro.

 

[philhut]

I fixed a similar crack to the left of the hand guard about the same length.
I stripped the stock
Drilled a small hole at the end of the crack
Splay the crack ever so slightly if possible
Squirt glue that is mixed with wood shavings from drilled hole
Use brass screw cut to length and insert covered in glue then wrap with rubber bands
Turned out well and has held for a long time....

The issue with m44 stocks is they were often used as replacements and dont fit as well. Check the screws to see if the stock fits well. In my case after fixing the stock I had to stand a small portion so it better fit the m38 rifle that was in the m44 stock

 

[Dsiwy]

Is the wood touching the rear of the tang? If so you need to relieve it or it will keep cracking.

 

[saskminer]

Here's a great link from Gunboards. I had a wrist crack in my M44 stock that required major repairs (screw, glue, plug) but the one pictured could be fixed with the dowel method which should prevent the crack from ever returning. As Philhut pointed out, it's best to check for a good fit because those cracks don't just happen for no reason.

https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?416630-OT-Cracked-Wrist-Repair-Step-by-Step

 

[old_man]

Is the wood touching the rear of the tang? If so you need to relieve it or it will keep cracking.

I will have to check. If it is, what is the solution, sand some wood away?

 

[old_man]

Check the screws to see if the stock fits well.

Exactly how do I do that? I can strip down the rifle no problem but I am not sure what determines if it 'fits well'.

 

[saskminer]

Exactly how do I do that? I can strip down the rifle no problem but I am not sure what determines if it 'fits well'.

These are very simple guns. Two screws hold the magazine and trigger assembly to the barrel. The front screw should go into the recoil lug without issues however sometimes there could be issues at the back end when tightening the rear screw. The tang could be riding up onto the back end of the stock which could be transferring force to the stock. The best way to check is to lay the receiver into the stock and make sure it sits flat without binding at the rear of the tang. The picture you attached in the original post looks like a pretty tight fit. A little bit of clearance is required.

 

[old_man]

Well, I looked at it closer.

Good news: there appears to be clearance at the tang.

Bad news: The crack is worse than I originally thought. (Red lines). Crack appears on the underside only in that section that separates the trigger from the mag.

Good news again: I think the source was the areas in green were a little tight. When the assembly sits in the stock it was splitting it open a bit. I will have to shave that a little.

 

[philhut]

Qell 8 would not shoot the rifle with that stock until repaired. Imagine that the rifle moves a small amount in the stock with each shot. One of the reasons we use wood for stocks is the slight movement which wood allows.
Issue that cause cracks which I have noticed
- the stock being too tight against the metal at the rear of the reciever
- screws being loose allowing for excess movement of the barrelled action when shhoting

1 will the action move at all in the stock with your own power as the sole force applied if so you will need to bed the rifle
2. If it doesnt move but the rear of the opening of the stock is directly contacting the action a little sanding will allow that minor play with firing

Looking from the angles of your pictures I would attempt a glue and Dowling repair to the rear crack with maybe a pin on the left side. With the mark on the right (left in the pic) could just be a natural shape of a knot in the wood.

In YouTube type stock repair with keywords pin and or dowling for variant repairs to watch as see what may be the best approach for the damage of your stock.

One day I will buy a dremel tool as I was only able to hand file the pin I used down on the m38 rifle I repaired. I had a hard time sourcing brass pins for proper repairs....my solution was to buy the brass pin kits sold at the dollar store for hanging pictures and I just cut the pin to the length I wanted and scored the shaft with a file for texture. At least 100rds of x54r since and has held firm.

 

[old_man]

1 will the action move at all in the stock with your own power as the sole force applied if so you will need to bed the rifle
2. If it doesnt move but the rear of the opening of the stock is directly contacting the action a little sanding will allow that minor play with firing

The thing doesn't move at all once the two screws are tight. Playing with it again the entire thing just drops right into the stock without any fuss. The rear doesn't appear to be contacting the stock, at least not at the surface level. I can't tell inside because the rear tapers inside.

 

[SA85M1]

Rifle is fine,shoot rifle and no complain comrade....but..I have used a small drill bit,into the crack itself and sealing it with epoxy resin... you can't remove the crack,but you can stop it from getting worse...

 

[collector67]

OR, try and source out a replacement stock.

 

[sean69]

Well, I looked at it closer.

Good news: there appears to be clearance at the tang.

Bad news: The crack is worse than I originally thought. (Red lines). Crack appears on the underside only in that section that separates the trigger from the mag.

Good news again: I think the source was the areas in green were a little tight. When the assembly sits in the stock it was splitting it open a bit. I will have to shave that a little.

hard wood dowels (those dowels at Canadian Tire are poplar - not hardwood - get maple or hickory from a lumber yard) from side to side in the wrist, receiver well ahead of the rear tang screw and ahead of the trigger inlet - use high quality wood glue (Titebond III) judging from the cracks - 2 through the wrist may ~not~ be overkill...
If you can get some glue into the cracks - great.

Forget the screw method - that's not how screws work.

A "little" bit of tightness will not crack your stock - wood is fairly elastic. If you have to use a rubber mallet to get the action into the stock, well, then we'll talk about that again. Don't bother relieving the sides. (in fact remove as little material as possible as a rule of thumb)

Check your front recoil (!recoil!) lug - if the rear of the stock is cracking and no cracking around the lug - you possibly have a gap there.

Bed it with epoxy - your goal is to ensure that all the pressure is *evenly* distributed between the rear of the receiver and the front lug.

 

[joelvca]

Forget the screw method - that's not how screws work.

Not exactly. The way we were supposed to do it in the U.S. Army was clean up, glue, clamp, etc., then drill and insert special LONG screws (that were just for this work), and finish by cutting off the excess of the screw(s) and smooth the end(s) to blend into the contours of the wood. These screws were kind of like miniature all-thread with a head, and weren't for pulling the sides of the crack together but to hold them once they had been squeezed and glued into position.

Regards,
Joel