doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hook shimming

another tip, no need to buy shim stock, an old feeler gauge chopped up has loads of different thickness stock, and is readily available, and cheap.

Jonty

The scotch tape fix marksman mentioned is a suprisingly good one. I was once a sceptic but I've used it on a number of slightly loose doubles with amazing sucess. It lasts almost all season if you are careful about cleaning the hook prior to applying it.

thin double faced scotch tape and shim stock works and it can be easily removed.

I have used metal duct tape for temporary fixes, it lasts longer than scotch tape and is about the right thickness, it comes with its own stickum plus it is easier to trim than scotch tape. Jim

I used a piece of 0.002" stainless shim stock 3 years ago, and it is still fine. Cut piece to fit, insert into action and close it. Check fit, if okay, then remove. Clean everything. Put one small drop of slow curing cyanoacrylic glue in the middle of the shim, put it in place, close the action making sure the shim is in the right place. That is it.

Someone suggested a small shim bent around a round pencil and kept in place with axle grease. He said it worked for years and never fell out.

How did he keep the pencil from getting crushed?
JUst kidding. My grandfather's GH had that for years. It disappeared somewhere along the way.

Black-Max 380 Locktight is what has been recommended by others. I did one on the hook of an 80 year-old Nitro Special and it is still holding up nicely, I used 50/50 solder and filled the tubes with water so as not to overheat anything. And HOmeless Joe, only an abject idiot subjects a gun to the average gunsmith for refitting. The soldered shim is the least intrusive of all remedies and does not harm the integrity of the hook as some guy filing a dovetail and inserting a strip of metal. Chopperlump

Feeler gauge stock is hardened and ground, and doesn't bend and conform very well, and stainless shim stock might be a bit aggresive (tougher) than the hook material. An article in the DGJ mentioned that a fellow with a Nitro Special (someone correct me if I have the make wrong, but, it was a lower end gun for sure) that was used for several decades with a piece of brass sheet stock, cut to a rectangle, and lubed. Owner used the gun with duck loads heavy enough to knock some sense into jOe (or, not) for many, many seasons, and sold it to someone who did the same, knowing about the low-buck repair.

Paper packing used in the printing field to pack the cylinders of the press would seem ready made to do the job, and comes in .002-.004 thickness. Regardless of what you have been told about "quality" repair by someone who can't define exactly what that might be, paper is used in this and other examples of high load shim applications every day. Wood and paper were used in bearing applications for centuries before metal was up to the task, and several machines at work (modern presses and folders) use oil soaked wood bearings to this day.

My Darne 12 looks pretty good when conversations about off-the-face repairs come up.....
Best,
Ted

Here's the "Silver Bullet" fix. Drink a can of Coor's beer, enjoy, cut the can to get the rectangular piece the size you need. Place it in the hook and try the barrel on the action. If it's too tight, you can shorten the piece you cut by about .060 and try it again. The pin will shape it to the hook, so keep cutting the .060 off and when the action fits right, glue it in place using either "Shoo Goo" or "Mechanics Goop", both available at Wally-World. This stuff will glue anything to anything and hold till you cut it out with a knife. If you ever wear this shim out, which I've been unable to do, repeat the process, and as always, enjoy...[brand optional].

binko