Stevens 311 20ga with cracked stock

Londonshooter

Londonshooter

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This was a gun of my dad's. I 'think' my plan to fix it is sound but feel free to offer tips, advice, or cautions.
I bought a kit of Wheeler's version of acraglas. (on sale now at Tenda by the way) First off my thought is to soak the head of the stock in acetone to de-oil the wood. It isn't too saturated and fortunately no-one has applied glue to the cracks in the past so I expect it will clean up nicely to permit good adhesion. When dry I will wedge the cracks open a bit and then fill them with the Wheeler epoxy mixed with black dye. Once repaired then I want to relieve some wood around the stock bolt hole with a dremel and then mix up the bedding compound but this time with the microspheres to thicken the consistency, and then "glass bed" the head of the stock against the action. Am I on the right track with this?

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A brass crosspin wouldn't a bad idea coated with epoxy . Care taken to not go through the same hole for the stock bolt.
 
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mbogo3 said:
A brass crosspin wouldn't a bad idea coated with epoxy . Care taken to not go through the same hole for the stock bolt.
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It wouldn't be a bad idea at all but I didn't think I could do it invisibly. Wondered about some sort of heavy duty staple fitted into the head of the stock to span the crack from the inside just above the bolt hole but there isn't much room to work in there. Thanks for the feedback mbogo3
 
It sounds like you are already on the right road Londonshooter.

The brass cross-pin idea is a good one, although hiding this can be a little tricky.

I refurbished an old Cooey 16 gauge for a fellow about ten years ago. The ole' farmer had tears in his eyes when I gave it back to him. He received it as a gift from his Dad when he was 16 years old. Unfortunately it was in his basement when it flooded. Needless to say it was very rough when I started the re-do.
 
I used 3/8 oak dowel coated in epoxy and driven in instead of metal cross bolt. After epoxy sets up file and sand pin ends down. A little stain hides the pin pretty well.
 
Thanks. I've got it soaking in acetone. The rest of the gun is in great condition and for me this will be well worth the effort for the family value. If I mess it up somehow, well, replacement stocks are not impossible to find.
 
You probably don't need to wedge the stock open. Just flex the stock together and apart numerous times, the glue will work itself in much faster than if wedged, add more glue as needed.
 
Wedge it open until it's close to breaking, then wash with Acetone or whatever, just something that doesn't leave an oily film behind. Many cleaners will have a bit of some sort of oil in them, including citrus oils and mineral oil. Rubbing alcohol usually has a small percentage of mineral oil added to make it easy to rub on a surface, without binding. This can be enough to cause issues with glue adhesion.

When the cracks are open far enough and cleaned, rinse them with hot water then force as much Gorilla Glue into the crack as you can get into it.

I've warmed up Gorilla Glue in hot water, to make it more viscous, then mixed in some water to make it thinner and penetrate with a bit of help.

Clamp it together, wipe off as much spill over as possible and let it sit overnight. The next morning, there will be a line of hardened glue along the crack, which is easily scraped away. That stock won't need cross pins and be stronger than it was as new.

Refinish if needed and reinstall on the firearm.

I've used this glue on stocks that were shattered and looked irreparable. They're still holding together quite well.

There are some excellent epoxies available, as mentioned, but you only have so much time and have to get it right very quickly. I'm not knocking them or telling you not to use them. Just make sure you've got everything ready for the limited time you have.
 
I greatly appreciate the input, in particular the detailed response from bearhunter.
I played with the epoxy in the kit described. The resin has tiny shreds of fibreglass in it and cures to be extremely strong and hard. So I went with that and used the dark brown dye included for the crack repairs. One of these was totally my fault (circled in photo) because I thought I had my slot screwdriver in the stock bolt but no, it was alongside it. Heard a crack and crap! I blew out some fibres of the stock. Now resolved though and no-one would know. I hogged out some wood at the head of the stock, perhaps 3/16" and then bedded the action against it using the micropores to thicken the consistency. Managed not to cement the action to the stock by using sculpting putty, tape, and releasing agent. First application of finish is on it now.
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Drop a length of steel pipe, conduit, etc. into the stock prior to using the screwdriver. If the driver misses the slot it will be between the bolt and pipe rather than the bolt and stock.
 
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