doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Another Stock Bending Question - Through Bolt

I thought I had heard or read somewhere that stocks with through bolts could not bent by traditional means, and the only way to adjust drop or cast on those stocks was by changing the inletting. Some posters on another forum recently opined that through bolt stocks could be bent using heat as well. The gun in question was a Beretta 68_ with a pistol grip and a through bolt, which did not strike me as a good candidate for a traditional bending.

Has anyone here had a through bolt stock bent successfully using the traditional methods?

The stock I bent had a through bolt. What I did was relieve the hole and the internal area where the bolt head and washer rests. It allowed me enough clearance to make the changes I needed without compromising strength. It was not a Beretta so I can't tell you if it will work on that stock.
Good luck

Doverham,

About 20 years ago I had Jack Rowe bend a Perazzi to increase the amount of cast off. It came out perfectly & I know that Jack used the traditional hot oil method.

FWIW I also had a K 80 adjusted for cast off by Krieghoff @ Ottsville PA. using the adjustment to inletting method & that was done perfectly as well.

From my experiences I would assume that drop also could be adjusted by either of these methods w/o issues by a competent individual.

I should add here that any drop changes done by the adjustment to inletting method is going to be somewhat limited on throughbolt guns that have long top tangs.

I have bent a fair number of through bolt guns with heat.

Unless you are trying to bend it a very large amount in any direction the answer is almost always "maybe". You have to allow for the bolt to move within the stock by taking extra wood away from the inside. Not that big of a deal. I re-drilled the stock bole hole larger and bent a stock on a 3200. To tell the truth I did it just to see if I could. It was a takeoff stock so if it broke in ten pieces, while I was "learning", I was not out much. I used heat and oil with a jig I copied form this board's pictures. Raised the comb 5/8" and gave it cast off of 1/4". It held the bend for over a year. It is somewhere in a box and as far as I know is still the same.

The "maybe" part is something you need to look at before you start. Look at the wrist area very carefully before you start. Often the blanks used on through bolt guns are picked from stuff rejected for not through bolts. Grain flow not good or with a big burl right in the wrist. If the grain is straight and the bend is slight you should be fine. If the wrist has a crack repair forget about it.

I drew the stock in profile, both before and what it should be after the bend and saw how much bend I would be trying to make. A 3/8" at the comb or cast is a lot easier than 3/4" or more. Then draw the bolt hole and see how much you need to enlarge it. There are limits to every thing.

When finished I filled the bolt hole back with acuraglass to reinforce the reamed out hole. Over kill in most cases. Do not forget to use a little block-out at the end of the receiver to prevent the acuraglass from flowing into the action and cover the bolt with a good releasing agent. I also put a lock washer under the bolt to give me a good bolting surface. It became a part of the wood and a second one rested against it when the bolt was tightened.

So it comes down to do you want another hobby or are you going to send it out to someone else? I have enough hobbies and if I had another one to do I just send it out. My bending jig got reworked into something else so I would have to build another one. Just easier to pay the man sometimes. But I saw someone do this bending by soaking rags in oil and then setting oil soaked rope on fire wrapped around the rags. Looked like fun and I like fire. Just have to wait until my wife goes out of town....... Wonder where that stock is?

It is possible to bend through bolt stocks. Just completed three in the last two weeks. Been doing through bolt gun bending for over 25 years. Yes, you have to take care as KY Jon says and yes it is hard to bend a stock when the stock bolt acts as a spring inside the wood. Usually boring the hole one drill size over the current size is enough to make a bend of 3/8" without too many problems. I use heat and oil to bend stocks.

Thanks for the responses - so there is more than one way to alter dimensions on through bolt stocks.

Yes, there is. Mechanical means via inletting or Manipulation via heat and pressure. There have been times in which a combination of the two process were needed to meet the customers needed alteration to not break the gunstock.

I know that Rich Cole won't do it, as I wanted this done to a 682 Gold with killer wood that was just too low.

There are limitations to the ability of the method to move a stock in a given direction. There is also the factor of liability to the bender that must be considered. If the amount of movement exceeds that limitation...it is a good thing to not attempt it. Killer wood is a great reason to go carefully and with great caution.