I removed my front sling swivel and immediately noticed this large crack open up on bothe sides of the swivel mount holes going towards the front ferrule. Would like some honest advice if this crack is repairable and what method would you use.
Thanks
Scott
Um, well, yes it is repairable. Several options to choose from. I really depends on what you want it to look like and what you want it to do when you are done.
You could sand the area around and on top of the crack. Save the saw dust. Then use a tool to split the crack open and inject some high strength epoxy between the split wood. Wipe excess epoxy off. Clamp it together. Wait until after it dries. Sand the area again and fill any voids with sawdust mixed with epoxy. Done right and it will look like the crack was never there. It'll be strong, but abuse will lead to more cracks.
Second option, drill holes perpendicular to and thru the wood where its cracked. Insert brass pins and cut to size, hammer the ends flush with the stock. Like a big rivet. This is how military arsenals did such repairs. Not the prettiest thing. Functional. Strong.
Third option, buy some ebony wood. Cut it to shape and size. Make yourself an Ebony forend. Seriously, how many service rifles have ebony forends?
If you can pry open the crack just a bit where it won't be seen when the sling base is reinstalled do so and put in some regular wood glue. Clamp it and let it dry. Trim up any overflow and reinstall sling base. If you aren't going to or don't want to refinish clamp the crack and rub bee's wax on the area surrounding the crack to act as a release agent. Glue will not stick to it.
If you are concerned you could use acra-glas or another epoxy but trust me the wood glue will hold.
In all likelihood that crack has been there for a long time and the sling base held it closed all this time.
Unless you do bayonet drills it won't likely ever be a problem.
inject some good wood glue, you want a little squeeze out, clamp it under light/medium pressure, let dry for a few hours, scrape, file or sand the excess glue off, then refinish to match. As long as the crack can go back together snugly, it will be a very strong fix. If the crack will not go back together tightly, then epoxy would be a better choice for that. Either way, it can be fixed to be nearly like new and give many years of service. Good luck.
Oh, figure out your clamping method BEFORE you put glue or epoxy in the crack to make sure it does not start setting up before you put pressure on it.
Fixable to the point you would never know it ever happened. Konig makes some of the best scratch filler and hard wax color kits out there
[ame]http://youtu.be/vh4Dtd9-ISY[/ame]
However, this kind of cosmetic repair on wood is usually reserved for fine furniture, not working grade tools. It is up to you whether you want to go that far. I would do it just for the practice for when you really need to fix something nice
I dropped the grade VI walnut forend of my shotgun at Lonato and a piece broke off. It was repaired to the point that you cannot tell it ever happened.
Thanks for the tips. It seems I would prefer epoxy and brass pins or whatever combination is the strongest. I'm not concerned with appearance as this is going to be my workhorse stock.
I have 4 stocks to choose from to make my "work gun" stock and I think I chose the wrong one. Here's my criteria:
Length of pull shortened by 1 1/2" to accommodate body armor and a plate carrier
Sling mounted on left side of stock for transitions and security for "hands-on"
Short rail for quick detach light mount (I work night shift mostly)
I wanted a big red birch for strength, the one I have is too nice to do these mods on. I have a USGI fiberglass but I don't like feel of it, I'm a wood guy. So I used this walnut big red that I picked up here for a good price, but just my luck it cracked. Oh well I guess I'll soldier on with the fiberglass stock until I get this walnut repaired.
Thanks to 'Duce' for offering to repair it with epoxy in exchange for one of my chest rigs I have on the BX for trade.
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