doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Feather crotch broken stock

Never been a big fan of 21's but that factory checkering look's like I did it. Flat top diamonds, curved lines, incomplete borders?

Yep, just like one of my jobs....

For a bad case of poor grain flow in the wrist, with two major areas of wood removed, the stock did last a long time. Not only does that grain not flow front to back in the wrist area it was so twisted that it is diagonal with almost no front to back grain flow. If that trigger guard screw had been just half or three quarters of an inch more rearward it might never have failed. Two major holes almost touched and one was was filled by a screw that had to be causing more stress in that very weak area. Bad luck and bad wood selection. But I am sure after you are done it will be good for another 50 years.

Mr. Hiatt, How about some particulars on the stock you show illustrating proper layout.Browning Superposed? California English? It's a wonderful piece of wood for sure.

I answered my own question by going to Mr. Hiatt's website and saw that it is indeed a Browning. Great website for the woodaholic,as it answers a lot of questions and clears up a lot of misconceptions about blanks as well as giving great advice about buying same.

I picked it up years ago for a song since it had some light wood in it. Light wood in English is not sap wood, it is simply light in color. It is from No Cal and was on my own 20 Ga Super for many years (like about 30). The tight grain in the wrist is certainly perfect. No fat lab could break it and the opposite side has considerably more feather than the side shown. Here is another one for a 20 Super I upgraded. It has the feather coming from the back like the broken one and even has the graft showing of Claro/English. However, the feather does NOT go into the wrist like the broken stock does. It also does not have the graft line in the wrist area which is also weak. By the way, burl is also weak, but fiddle is quite strong. Burl is rather common in the wrist on many manufacturers like Beretta, however, most of these are thru-bolt guns which are a bit stronger but still subject to breakage by side forces. Beware of fat black labs who seem to be the commonly blamed reason for broken stocks.
http://www.doublegunshop.com/hiatt/hiatt02_102499.jpg

Doug, sorry to see that happen to that beautiful stock, but many are correct on the wood/stock lay out. Still, you and I know it can be fixed and the gun will look great!

Doug, have you considered using carbon fiber rod for pins? Strong, light weight, stiff, good thermal stability, very receptive to epoxy, and, did I mention strong? Seems to me that carbon fiber might be more desirable than metal pins (less prone to debond from the epoxy due to thermal expansion/contraction) and way stronger than wood pins.

Thoughts? Chuck H, any more thoughts?

The stock really should be trashed....the gun will be sold to some unsuspecting fellow some time down the road.

Thanks for posting that Doug, a picture is worth...

Doug,
Could I suggest you consider cutting out a pocket in both halves of the broken stock, in from the trigger guard area and gluing in a carbon fibre 'tablet' similar to a mortice and tenon joint in carpentry. That should provide more than enough strength to the repair.