This is how the 1897 butt stock came to me. The picture makes the damage seem a lot less than it really is. My assumption is that someone was attempting to remove the butt stock , and the screwdriver was not in the slot, it was between the screw head and the wood. When the torque was applied with a firm hand and a grunt, the stock blew out. The gap was then filled with wood putty and followed up with a liberal dose of spar varnish.
I stripped the varnish, removed most if not all the wood putty and gave the stock a quick sanding. At this point I lost inspiration and set the stock in the corner. Along comes Covid19, and more home time, and the inspiration returned.
After gluing, clamping and sanding, this is what I had. The butt stock was in very poor shape. Before gluing the oil soaked wood was treated to a few soakings in acetone, and the larger dents were steamed. There were no cracks in the wrist area and it had an intact butt plate. It was worth fixing, IMHO.
After staining with Minwax Red Chestnut.
After a few applications of hand rubbed boiled linseed oil.
Patience is not on of my strong points, so when I think the wood has enough linseed, I use a bit of Tru-Oil and call it a day.
I posted this to inspire other owners of busted walnut to try and repair or patch the boo-boo's. Lots of good You-Tube videos out there. Larry from MidwayUSA has a few as does Anvil.
This was my attempt at a toe repair on a Winchester Model 12.
