The Best Ways to Repair Small Wood Breaks 

I've used a heat gun to extract oil fron stocks before repairs . Oils will flow out of the end grain then flush with acetone. Love your videos

I inherited a Savage Mod. 1899 Take-Down rifle in .30-30, purchased new in 1912 by my maternal Great-grandfather, given to my maternal Grandfather as a wedding gift in 1935 and later to my mother; it has recoil splits down the forearm and stock, it's finished in oil and has never been cleaned of the built-up grime in the cracks. Thank you for producing this episode so I have at least some directions to restore the rifle's serviceability. I plan on hunting with it to carry on the ancestral tradition.

This video deserves WAY more that 4K views and 96 thumbs up. Really interesting content.

Thanks for the video. I learned more watching this than all of the other wood stock repair videos on the net. I plan on repairing a split stock on a Dutch M.95 Mannlicher WWII bring back. The stock is cracked lengthwise with the grain along the bottom of the forend area. The stock is oil soaked and I knew that most adhesives will not adhere properly. The only thing I am still on the fence about is whether to use an epoxy or a regular wood glue. I know there are upsides and downsides to both, and that epoxy also will "fill" some, but as far as I can tell I don't need that. I merely need an invisible fix. The area is not going to take recoil impact, so reinforcement is not needed. I am only wondering about the adhesive strength of both, long term.

How did I miss this yesterday!!! Great stuff, Bill!

Great information in this post. Thank you for all the work you put in to this.

Thank you. This is a big help

Great video. Thank you! This will definitely help me with a break I'm stuck on.

Very good video, thanks.

This is an excellent way to de-grease and clean a stock prior to repairs. I might mention an alternative where you soak the same end directly in acetone. I found this idea on another gunsmithing channel and think this might be a better approach.

Very informative video! You two described the chemicals and their intended purpose well. I fully understadn the need to extract out the oils. I have a perazzi shotgun stock with a split that is in need of repair. It will have 1,000s of rounds shot through it and needs to have strength to prevent the fracture again. Can you help provide guidance if I provide pictures? :)

Thanks!

What are your thoughts on using animal hide glue on a cracked gun stock. I know it is not water proof but I it is very strong. I repaired a Browning Auto 5 forearm that data grain crack in the center bottom of the forearm where it meets the receiver. I cleaned the crack with acetone and let it dry. Then on the inside of the forearm where the crack was I chiseled a 5/16 in wide notch centered on the crack. Then I warmed the stock with a hair blower preparing it for glue. Then I prepared the glue in a glue pot slightly on the thin side. I slightly opened the crack and applied the glue on the inside of the forearm in the chiseled notch. The. I sucked the glue to the outside of the crack until I had a nice bubble of glue all thur the crack. The. I put a small 5/16 piece of walnut veneer in the notch with the grain going opposite direction of the crack and lastly clamped together. Then I refinished the forearm using Behlen pre catalyzed lawyer. I used that gun to shoot skeet for several years after the repair and it held up good. I could always slightly see where the crack was but the forearm stayed together. That gun was a 1953 Light twelve. About a year ago I traded it in at Cabelas for a 1965 Light Twenty with a similar crack in the forearm. I am planning on doing a similar repair but now am wondering if epoxy is a better choice over hide glue.

Shotguns should have some kind of spacer between the metal and the stock. This would prevent oil getting into the wood. Some store shotguns barrels facing down so oil does not gravitate into the wood.

I looked, but can't find a video of the actual "fixing" of the splits, by adding glue, etc. Did you happen to record that in a different episode? I did find the video of adding a dowel to a chunk of wood that hade completely off.

Long story short, my Winchester 71 fell off my work bench, landed on the buttstock plate, and a small chunk of wood fell off the bottom where it meets the plate. I tried the gorilla glue thing last night, and in case it looks like crap when I unwrap it tonight, I would like the contact information for R. Mark Adams if he is still doing these types of repairs as I want it to be perfect and I am not even a wood stock repair amateur. Yes, I'm still beating myself up about this as I literally bought this rifle just this past Sunday and decided to clean it last night.

Very good video, May I ask what kind of epoxy glue did you use?

Where can I buy the syringe and different size needles?

Lol engineers…. Little over kill to me, but I’m sure it will have a good fix. We needed a pole barn built at work, when engineering got involved we had 200,000 bucks in a bldg that should’ve cost 20,000. Nice shotgun, I got a few Ithaca’s just like it. Man load up some black powder loads and shoot that thing!!!

Mr. Mustache, please talk less with your hands. You are very jitter. Hard to watch but some good info.