doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Bending a stock upwards.

Looking at a Best English gun that has 2 1/2" dimension at the heal. Most were 2 1/8 or 2 1/4 max.
I was told by the dealer that bending a stock upwards is the most difficult and probably only get me an 1/8 of an inch.
Is this really true?

2 1/2" is still pretty straight. Are you sure you need higher dimensions? Maybe he's trying to discourage you from breaking a stock that already has good numbers. Have you had a fitting or fired this particular gun at a pattern plate? Go slowly.

2 1/2" at the heal is the most common dimension for a field or sporting clays gun. I believe the raised heel is for driven bird shooting although I have no experience in that area.

It is harder and more risky to bend a stock up or down than for cast off or on. I have succesfully bent a stock up an inch, half inch at a time, letting it set for a day and then another half inch. I have had small cracks develop during the bend. Fortunately, so far, they were small and repairable and almost not detectable, not going deep. I would be hesitant to take a chance on a really expensive gun.

English Walnut is known to bend easier than American Black Walnut, so wood type is a factor.

Hello Palunc,

Here is part of an article that Michael Orlen wrote for "American Gunsmith"
magazine:

You are going to find that some gunstocks bend much more easily than
others. American Black Walnut cannot be bent as easily or as far as English
or European walnuts. I have seen some American Walnut stocks that simply
would not bend and some English Walnut stocks that bent so well that drastic
changes in drop (up to 1”) were easily done with little if any spring back.
When a large change in drop is required, I often like to do it in two
sessions with a few days between. This may be just superstition, but doing
half of the bend at a time seems to make the process easier and lessens the
spring back.

I think it answers your question.

JC

If its english walnut it should bend well even if the bend is up.
We have bent many stocks up and it has always gone well.

I just bent a Remington 1894 and an 1889. They bent like butter. Got 7/8" on the first bend of 1 1/8". My guess is they were made with English type walnut. My 1900 Rem did not fare as well and that is a cheaper model gun than the 1894.