Trying to keep the 16 gauge alive. This version of the M-48 Topper has the square tang, and stocks seem to be only in the imagination or memory of former owners.
The missing piece is missing. The question is try to make a copy of that piece, or cut more of the stock away and have straight lines to work with. Planning on whatever path, to epoxy and dowel/pin the cracked/missing/new parts.
Dave
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Steps:
TreeBone Carving has a good guide for fitting stocks.
http://www.treebonecarving.com/how-to-fit-a-gunstock.html
Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest
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Budd thanks! My guess is that the recoil should be through the tang into the stock and not through the side wings. There was no stock bolt but a piece of 12-24 all thread seems to work. A thought would to also put in a metal tube for the action to recoil against that the "stock bolt" runs through and glass it into the stock. Not ready to cut bait yet but fishing season is coming. I did find the for-end lock down latch and a reproduction buttplate is available. I had one in 22 Hornet in the 70's but this 1951 has a trigger that makes that one look like a clothespin and rubber band. A lot of time and $$ for something I wont get back but classic is timeless.
Dave
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Dave, Exactly correct. the recoil has to be through the tang. The side cheeks will try to spread sideways and do exactly what happened. Epoxy is your friend.
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Have you considered making a new butt stock? The wood was a poor choice for a gunstock in the first place. Not exactly a dense piece of walnut. If you're just wanting to repair, squaring it off would be easiest and if you are able to get a good glue joint it should hold for years. Pins or dowels are great for alignment but add little for strength. Most of the strength comes from a glue joint. Adding a loose tenon will add to the surface of the glue joint. A dowel or pin adds little in surface area. I agree with Ric that epoxy is a good adhesive to use. Matching the grain might be hard but you could use India ink and a tooth pick to apply it to mimic grain or pores along the glue line before you stain. different woods will take stain differently, dye might be a better choice. Epoxy can be used to "fix" checkering when the diamonds tear out or lines go stray.
I totally understand wanting to keep a 16 ga. alive and useful. I have a side by side that has a misfire problem in one trigger. I took the easy road and bought a new O/U in 16ga. Still have a Wards Hercules single that resembles what you have here.
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I thought about getting one of the later model stocks and making it fit. I don't know what is involved so buying one on a chance is an issue. The do make a bunch of synthetic one though but without one to look at I will probably fix this one. For some reason I like these "projects". Not much money (probably more than it's worth as a whole gun) and If I screw up, I have not lost much. A good experience. I have some 1/4" and 3/4" pieces of walnut, a 1/2 would probably be perfect, maybe epoxy two pieces of 1/4" together? And a piece of my youth may come back...
Thanks to all who commented.
Dave
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Well eight months later and here we are. Just to refresh, the left cheek wing was gone. Missing parts and where I got them plus price and shipping were firing pin spring (Gun Repair Center $14); Walnut 1/2"x2"x12" ($20); stock bolt (12-24 all thread, nuts and lock washer ($10); butt plate and screws (NC Ordinance $30); forend catch (ebay $20). Miscellaneous: Watco Dark Walnut Stain, Acraglass, sandpaper, probably another $40. Yes this is a lot for a gun that might fetch $150 if in good condition (it is a 16 gauge so some premium?). However it is not an 1892 Winchester and getting dirty and finding ways and parts that did not break the bank gave me some valuable experience.
The metal got disassembled and boiled in distilled water for an hour, any rust got more oxygen and was then removed with steel wool and used motor oil.
I cut a piece of walnut and glass bedded it into place and the action too. Even with a ton of modeling clay, painters tape and Kiwi neutral shoe polish, the Acraglass still found a way to grab something. I had to use a heavy brass punch to seperate things. Lots of sanding and chisel work later it got pretty close. The Watco dark Walnut did not do what I expected and I probably should have done more staining to color match. That side of the stock had some water damage and it will not come out. The butt joint is not too cool and in the future maybe doing a lap joint might be better. The butt plate and screws are a reproduction and it did require some filing and sanding to get a good fit.
Overall I am pretty happy and the next step is to see how it shoots. Strangely the tang is slightly bent and since it is a cast piece, I am at a loss to see how that could happen.
Dave
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T
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nice job keeping the old girl alive.
A. J. Palik
Any day you wake-up sucking air will be a good day
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