I've noticed a crack in this forend; it's above the peak in the checkering (the smaller mark below the peak appears to be a grain line). What's involved in the proper repair? If it's simple a glue job is it something I should attempt myself? I'm handy but have to admit I haven't done much work on guns. It's an ejector forend; what kind of grief would I cause myself taking it apart and putting it back together? Thanks...

Easy preemptive repair. Just pull the forend iron off, carefully spread the crack apart, drop some super glue in, then carefully clamp the crack closed. All that's left is to polish off the excess then reapply some oil if necessary. That's a common place for cracks to start, the wood is pretty thin there on ejector guns.

I am far from an expert, perhaps that is why I am always afraid to "open up" a crack.

I have in the past used accraglas, and a heat gun (hair dryer will do fine). I put the glass on the inside of the forend and hit it with the heat gun. It will run and leach into the crack. I wipe the excess off the outside and call it a day.

If the crack appears to be open I wrap electrical tape (sticky side out) around the piece to hold it tight until it sets. Just make sure the glass is wiped off good underneath the tape.

Let it sit to dry with the finished side up, so gravity doesn't pull any of the glass out onto the finish.

This has worked on some pretty nasty cracks for me, your mileage may vary.

CHAZ

I will add this:
When you spread the crack apart do it from the underside if possible as this can compress the wood some leaving a gap. I use epoxy** for these types of repairs as it one of the strongest adhesives available. I also clamp until cured. Make sure you use padding under the clamp so as not to damage the wood.
**Heat can affect super glue so I don't use it for firearm repairs.
Jim

I spread the crack, and then on underside I slip in a toothpick to keep it spread. I squeeze 24 hour epoxy into the crack with a disposable glue syringe (hobby store) and then force the epoxy in even deeper with compressed air,I next repeat the process. Finally, I pull out the toothpick squeeze the crack shut, wipe off any excess epoxy that squeezes out and the wrap it with a long piece of bicycle inner tube (or piece of rubber surgical tubing), and let it cure overnight. After I remove the tubing the next day I'll remove any excess epoxy with 0000 steel wool and then refinish the repaired area with Tru-Oil.

One more word on this. Taking off the metal is easy and comes out all in one piece, but don't get ambitious and try to disassemble the fore-end metal any further. Any of the repair methods mentioned above should work just fine on that crack, and I'll bet the smaller "grain line" is probably an incipient crack as well. You'll be able tell for sure when you remove the metal...Geo

I am a big user of Super Glue in my shop, but it has pitfalls on stock work. I just did a forearm on a inexpensive Hunter Arms gun. Screw holding the iron had stripped, Drilled the punky wood out let in a dowel super gluing it.

Super glue found a crack that was invisible and ran outside on the finish drying in a few seconds. Stuff is so hard only a complete re-finish will cure the unsightly run.

Better to use something that has a longer working time. 2 part epoxy is best, runs out of the crack you have time to clean it up before it sets.

Boats

Super glue remover or debonder will remove the overruns when you have an accident like that.

Unless a real large area a file that does not dig into the wood can save stripping. If you get the glue off a little rub of Dembart Checkering oil will blend in to most finishes.

I have been repairing gun stocks for over 10years.
Hairline cracks are easily repaired with thin super glue.
It will literally seep completely across one side of a stock to the other where you would never get any epoxy to run to. It will also sometimes seep into a crack you never knew was there. Or you will be seeping it into a crack and be astonished that the crack was much longer than you thought because you can see the hairline getting damp. Small hairline cracks can be fixed w/o creating a overflow mess by dripping some thin super glue in a cap of some sort and dipping a toothpick in the glue and dabbing it into the crack. If you are on bare wood simply sand over the top before it dries after wicking and the fix is invisible from the sanding dust sticking into the damp glue. I do use epoxy anywhere I can get the 2 parts seperated enough. And I also use gap filling super glue in some places.

does anybody use brownells acraglas anymore?

Hi I was shown how to put glue in to a crack in wood not by a stock maker but by a cabinet restorer and I have used the method ever since. But firstly it is always a good idea to remove any oil or grease from the crack by using a solvent this will help the adhesive to grip properly. The method of getting the adhesive into the crack and the adhesive I prefer to use is fast set epoxy after mixing you place the adhesive along the crack or split then use fine monofilament fishing line to pull the adhesive through the crack starting from the cracks open end.

Yes, at least one of us does.

That monofilament trick is new to me, thanks for the tip. BTW the innertube trick for clamping glue joints is very good also,tapered or sloped surfaces cause no problems.If you pull the "stretch"out as you go, it puts enough force on the joint that you may need to leave metal parts installed to prevent other breaks though.
Mike

surgical tubing, and plastic or wax paper to keep the tubing from sticking to your work.mc

And for some cyanoacrylate repairs you can spritz the repair with an accelerator from the inside to keep glue from seeping out on the finished side. Be very sure the gap is completely closed and tight before using the accelerator.

That crack is almost imperceptible and probably going nowhere in that location. I would leave it alone unless it gets worse.
JR

Aside from leaving it alone, I'd be cautious about over clamping by any method if the wood fits well and the ejectors function decent. One possibility, some cracks are open a bit because the wood dries out a little different than the surrounding wood, if it's even open at all. Some of these situations could be cosmetic touch ups rather than structural repairs.

I did post how to glue a crack in wood previously but I would also like to say “if it aint broke don’t fix it” In the photograph is my very early you could even say vintage Baikal O/U you can also see a crack which I have rubbed some chalk in to make it obvious. This gun has been heavily used and the crack was there when I purchased the gun some forty years ago now and it has not become any worse, I could easily repair it but I have taken my own advice “If it aint etc”

Thanks all. Since my natural level of motivation tends to the procrastination side I'll probably follow the "leave it alone" suggestions .

I have quite a few target shotguns come into my shop and I strongly recommend that any crack you can see be repaired at once. These are guns doing 10,000 shots per year and a crack WILL break the entire stock. A young guy came into the shop with a 3 piece Kolar stock, Kolar wanted 3000 for a used stock. I fixed it for $40 and 3 years later it is still going. All the trauma could have been avoided if he had stopped early and fixed it.

bill

A problem we have in the northland involves fluctuating humidity and temperature levels, which tends to amplify problems with wood. I guess I'd keep an eye on it, and decide what to do, or, not do, based on that observation.
I have a little crack on my Remington model 17 in the area where the trigger guard meets the stock. It has been there since I bought the gun 40 years ago, and may have been there long before that, and while it hadn't gone anywhere, I did glass bed the head of the stock a few years ago.
I've also seen catastrophic failure of a butt stock from a crack that had been little, but, decided it wanted to go big time.

Best,
Ted