doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Ballard and Borchardt Wrist Cracks

A couple of years ago I succumbed to the yearning to add a military model Borchardt and representative Ballard rifle to my meager eclectic collection of single shot rifles. During my search it became immediately evident that cracks in the wrist of the butt stock on both of these rifles was a key determining factor of their value. It was not uncommon in my search to see comments in the item description referring to the “usual Borchardt cracks” or the “standard Ballard cracks” when referring to the condition of the rifle. I was fortunate to find a very nice Borchardt military model and Ballard #2, both with butt stocks free of cracks, but I have been reluctant to remove the butt stocks on either of the these rifles in fear of developing the cracks that seem to plague these otherwise well engineered rifles. Do any of the Ballard/Sharps Borchardt enthusiasts here have an explanation for the Achilles heal on these rifles? Terry

I've always assumed that on the Ballard it was due to firing with a loose stock bolt.

On the Ballard IMO it's shrinkage & sometimes rust growth, on the Borchardt it's a combination of loose stock bolt (from shrinkage) and lack of stock tenons at the front of the wrist, exacerbating the shrinkage. IMO.
Regards, Joe

Have also seen cracked wrist when the screwdriver was twisted between the bolt head and side of the hole instead of in the slot. Like anything else through bolts can be misused and cause problems. Properly tightened they work fine.

Boats

Thanks for the comments guys. I seem to recall some discussions on another web forum that correct torque was very significant on these two designs. Too tight was as much a contibutor to cracking problem as too loose. I don't believe there was a concensus of "how tight" it needed to be. Certainly other firearms designs can suffer from wrist cracks if the attaching screws, or through bolts, are incorrectly tensioned, but when you see references to the cracks in Ballards and Borchardts as being "standard" it gives you pause. Thanks again for the input. Terry