I have a model 1895 Chilean Mauser made by Loewe in Berlin. It’s been sporterized and won’t be winning any beauty pageants. Like a lot of small ring Mausers, the stock is cracked at the tang, probably from lack of bedding the recoil lug, the wood drying out, bedding around the tang being too tight, or all of the above. I’m going to drop it into a cheap synthetic stock, but I’m thinking of bedding the recoil lug with fiberglass or epoxy and opening up the inletting around the tang a little, just so it doesn’t happen again. I had a large-ring 98 in a synthetic stock once that cracked at the tang, my first hunting rifle, so I want to avoid having this problem again. Anyone have any pointers or have you done this before?
Stock cracked at tang - small ring Mauser
- Thread starter Friedl
- Start date
What synthetic stock are you using, there are very few for a small ring Mauser? Ramline used to make one but not anymore, and maybe Bell & Carlson still does. If the crack isnt horrible, I'd probably just repair it with epoxy. After repairing make sure to relieve the tang so it doesn't do it again.
It’s a Choate stock coming from Midway. I had a Ramline on my 98 - that’s the one that cracked on my first Mauser. It didn’t really seem to bed the recoil lug at all if I remember correctly- it just let all of that force jam the magazine, floor plate, and tang back into the inlet stock around them. I could be wrong, it’s been years.
The thing that cracks the tangs on so many Mausers is that the bedding gets compressed after decades of the wood drying and shooting with the screws loose, and the owners just keep shooting them not knowing that the rear action screw is touching the steel sleeve around the rear screw (recoil drives it through the stock like a splitting wedge and will invariably crack the stock from the rear screw backwards). Easiest thing to do is bed the recoil lug and move the action forward 1/16" or 1/8" to restore the clearance. Putting the barreled action into a cheap plastic POS doesn't really solve the bedding issue, and those plastic injection molded stocks won't hold onto the epoxy very well. But hey, give it a try.
Long ago I read an article about stock beddng for "stopping,rifles" for dangerous game. John T Amber's "Gun Digest"
It was enlightening. The side slabs of wood on each side of the receiver tend to bow out during recoil. These bowing out is where the splitting force comes from.
The cross screws ofen found in military and some commercial stocks limits the bowing.
The wood behind the tang is unsupported,and should not absorb recoilRelief is a good idea.
Here is something good Look at the web of wood the recoi lug bears against.Its what? maybe 3/4 in thick from the lug to the mag box cutout?
Not so robust. It can be made tremendously stronger by utilizing the mag box and guard . Epoxy bed the forward face of the mag box to support the wood behind the recoil lug. Use release agent on the box,of course. Carry this support on , bedding the mag box and gurd surfaces that can absorb recoil.so the final recipient of the recoil impulse s the wood bedded to the rear tang of the guard. That wood is supported by the wood in the grip.
Done right,the guard and mag box become a pillar of support from the wood facing the rear tang of the guard to the wood behind the recoil lug.
And the mag box/trigger guard become a key component of spreading the recoil impulse to a larger surface area of well supported wood.
It was enlightening. The side slabs of wood on each side of the receiver tend to bow out during recoil. These bowing out is where the splitting force comes from.
The cross screws ofen found in military and some commercial stocks limits the bowing.
The wood behind the tang is unsupported,and should not absorb recoilRelief is a good idea.
Here is something good Look at the web of wood the recoi lug bears against.Its what? maybe 3/4 in thick from the lug to the mag box cutout?
Not so robust. It can be made tremendously stronger by utilizing the mag box and guard . Epoxy bed the forward face of the mag box to support the wood behind the recoil lug. Use release agent on the box,of course. Carry this support on , bedding the mag box and gurd surfaces that can absorb recoil.so the final recipient of the recoil impulse s the wood bedded to the rear tang of the guard. That wood is supported by the wood in the grip.
Done right,the guard and mag box become a pillar of support from the wood facing the rear tang of the guard to the wood behind the recoil lug.
And the mag box/trigger guard become a key component of spreading the recoil impulse to a larger surface area of well supported wood.
Thank you, I appreciate all three responses. I'll reconsider the wood stock and try altering it first to relive the wood around the tang and bed the mentioned spots first. It's already modified by the original sporterizing job long ago (and cracked at the tang), so no worries if the effort doesn't work out. Midway will always accept the other stock back unopened if I don't need it.
If you do bed the guard/box, there is something to be aware of.
I was a mold maker. We think in terms of "draft angle"....We put a slight taper,like 1/2 or 1 degree,on the vertical sides of all the molds to facilitate getting the part out of the mold. The deeper the part,the more important tha draft is.
Getting the guard/mag box back out of the stock when the bedding sets up presents a similar problem.
So,while I did recommend bedding the front vertical face of the mag box to support the wood behind the recoil lug....doing that for the full vertical face at the rear of the mag box might make removing it a challenge.
I'd say use a couple of thicknesses of tape on most of the vertical rear face of the rear part of the mag box. You might shoot for not having more than 1/4 or 3/8 in of draw without any draft angle on it,in general..
Be aware rust pits,tool marks,etc provide tooth that can lock your guard in the epoxy. Fill them.Beeswax might work. Put release agent over it.
Your guard has two bosses on it that the guard screws pass through.I like to use a large drift punch resting on those bosses to tap (or smack) the guard out of the stock after cure.
I suggest using Accra-Glas gel. ts about like peanut butter.(except stick/stringy) but it does not run or drip. You can do it in stages. Trying to do the whole thing at once can get overwhelming.
I know from hard experience to resist the urge to use the trigger guard to pull the glassed in guard from the stock. I snapped an alloy hinged guard for my Husqvarna in two ,right at the hole for the hinged floorplate pin.
Causing me to say "I can't believe I just did that" or something.
The forces don't work out well considering the front guard screw boss needs to pull out straight.
I was a mold maker. We think in terms of "draft angle"....We put a slight taper,like 1/2 or 1 degree,on the vertical sides of all the molds to facilitate getting the part out of the mold. The deeper the part,the more important tha draft is.
Getting the guard/mag box back out of the stock when the bedding sets up presents a similar problem.
So,while I did recommend bedding the front vertical face of the mag box to support the wood behind the recoil lug....doing that for the full vertical face at the rear of the mag box might make removing it a challenge.
I'd say use a couple of thicknesses of tape on most of the vertical rear face of the rear part of the mag box. You might shoot for not having more than 1/4 or 3/8 in of draw without any draft angle on it,in general..
Be aware rust pits,tool marks,etc provide tooth that can lock your guard in the epoxy. Fill them.Beeswax might work. Put release agent over it.
Your guard has two bosses on it that the guard screws pass through.I like to use a large drift punch resting on those bosses to tap (or smack) the guard out of the stock after cure.
I suggest using Accra-Glas gel. ts about like peanut butter.(except stick/stringy) but it does not run or drip. You can do it in stages. Trying to do the whole thing at once can get overwhelming.
I know from hard experience to resist the urge to use the trigger guard to pull the glassed in guard from the stock. I snapped an alloy hinged guard for my Husqvarna in two ,right at the hole for the hinged floorplate pin.
Causing me to say "I can't believe I just did that" or something.
The forces don't work out well considering the front guard screw boss needs to pull out straight.
"...fiberglass or epoxy..." It's epoxy with powdered fibreglass in it. Not one or the other. Accraglas is epoxy with powdered fibreglass in it. JB Weld is epoxy with powdered metal in it. Just plain epoxy will do though. The advantage of a kit is mostly the colouring agent. Epoxy dries clear.
Unless you're bedding the whole thing, one of the syringe style epoxy applicators and a clamp will do what you want. Probably for a lot less money too.
"...a Ramline..." One of their synthetics? Shouldn't crack. Mind you, most synthetics really require bedding to make 'em fit right.
Unless you're bedding the whole thing, one of the syringe style epoxy applicators and a clamp will do what you want. Probably for a lot less money too.
"...a Ramline..." One of their synthetics? Shouldn't crack. Mind you, most synthetics really require bedding to make 'em fit right.
"Putting the barreled action into a cheap plastic POS doesn't really solve the bedding issue, and those plastic injection molded stocks won't hold onto the epoxy very well. But hey, give it a try."
By all means try it. Epoxy bedding does not stick well tp plastic/polymer stock unless tou rough up the areas to be glassed quite a bit. I use dremel tool to generally rough up the area but then drill a few hols in the thicker areas so that the bedding material has something really solid to hang onto. I've done a couple of Butler Creeks for Mausers and sever Ramlines on a Ruger M77 and a Winchester M70. It's been close to ten years on one gun and about seven on the M70 and they're still going strong. One Ruger is a wildcat chambered to the .375 Taylor or .375/338 Mag. if you prefer. The rifles weighs just about seven pounds and has the same power as the .375 H&H. It's the type you carry a lot and shoot as little as possible. I don't name my guns as a usual thing but I do call that one the Hammer. It hammers at both ends.
Paul B.
By all means try it. Epoxy bedding does not stick well tp plastic/polymer stock unless tou rough up the areas to be glassed quite a bit. I use dremel tool to generally rough up the area but then drill a few hols in the thicker areas so that the bedding material has something really solid to hang onto. I've done a couple of Butler Creeks for Mausers and sever Ramlines on a Ruger M77 and a Winchester M70. It's been close to ten years on one gun and about seven on the M70 and they're still going strong. One Ruger is a wildcat chambered to the .375 Taylor or .375/338 Mag. if you prefer. The rifles weighs just about seven pounds and has the same power as the .375 H&H. It's the type you carry a lot and shoot as little as possible. I don't name my guns as a usual thing but I do call that one the Hammer. It hammers at both ends.
Paul B.
I also have a 375 Chatfield -Taylor built on a FN Commercial magnum action,with a Garrett Accra-Lte stock. The Garrett is a foam core glass/Kevlar/epoxy stock ,generally in an M-70 FWT style
Mine is pretty light,too. Funny,I named mne,also. Muleabelle. Recoil isn't bad actually. Sorbathane recoil pad.
I prefer to neck down .458 brass. I got lucky and found a cheap,used set of 416 Taylor Lee dies. Sizing down in one step to 375 I got wrinkled necks sometimes. Using the 416 sizer as an intermediate step fixed that!
Things are progressing pretty well. I went with the Choate stock after all. Took more inletting than I expected, so lots of work with needle files today. The rifle is back together in the new stock and I’ve yet to decide if I need to bed anything - it was a pretty tight fit as it was. Checked headspace - it closed on no go the other day, but the guy didn’t have a field gauge, so I didn’t know for sure. I tried a new field gauge today and it wasn’t even close to closing, so all good.
I got a couple hundred old Hornady 139 gr bullets in trade recently, so I’m going to load up a few of the minimum load of IMR 4350 and give them a try. Hodgdon says that’s 44.2 gr at just over 2500 FPS and 39.6k CUP, so probably conservative but effective.
I got a couple hundred old Hornady 139 gr bullets in trade recently, so I’m going to load up a few of the minimum load of IMR 4350 and give them a try. Hodgdon says that’s 44.2 gr at just over 2500 FPS and 39.6k CUP, so probably conservative but effective.
Last edited:
What a pleasant shooting little rifle. I wish I had more ammo to shoot today, but I had 3 conflicting priorities: test the gun to make sure it’s safe, test 2 new loads, and sight in the scope, so I only fired it 8 times, but the final 3 touched in the bullseye at 25 yards. It shows potential.