woodworking reattaching block to shortened stock

B

billythekid7.62

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When I was 10 I took my first and only bear with a remington model seven in .243 with a 18.5 inch barrel. I love this gun but I have grown some and the rifle stock had been cut down to fit me. I still have the block from the original shortening. I have worked with wood a fair amount but while searching for some examples of people doing this project I have found nothing. I have read tons of how to's for fixing cracks and Im hoping there might be some woodworkers on here who have done this. I dont think I will use elmers or wood glues because it can break up/disintegrate in the presence of water and oil. Gorilla glue expands so thats out. Im leaning towards a powerful epoxy but im not sure if there are some brands that are better than others and I have heard not to clamp or apply to much pressure when applying epoxy. The original shortening was done by a professional and it looks HORRIBLE there is the start of a cut where the guy was cutting to much off and moved back and when he reattached the sling screw he splintered all kinds of wood and didnt sand it. sooo thats my big drive behind doing this myself.
lastly I could have sworn there is a correct name for the scrap piece from a stock shortening. I also have a remington 870 that i will most likely have to do this with as well. thank you
 
You can drill two holes for 3/8" hardwood dowel and reattach the piece that was taken off, then refinish the stock. I do stockwork for a living, and I always use Acraglas or West Systems epoxy, although there are numerous very good quality epoxies on the market.

Avoid the fast-set epoxies (hardware store epoxies_, as they do not have sufficient time to penetrate before they set up, giving a weak joint that may break under the stress of firing.
 
I've done the re-attachment on several guns and have used the dowels as mentioned above and have also used wood working type biscuits. Both need to be held in place with small wood screws in pre-drilled holes and countersunk. I have used the 2 ton epoxy as it dries slower and allows more time for proper alignment. The "fix" is going to show no matter what you do and it sounds like yours may show more than normal.
 
Thank you scorch I will use the dowel method dont know why I didnt think of it as I installed sixty feet of handrails a few years back with dowels and screws. I will definitly use this method for the shotgun and go with the west systems epoxy/hardener. and I want their 206 slow hardener correct with the 105A?

G.W. when you say safer what do you mean? were talking about glueing wood here. I dont see how I could really screw the whole thing up but you never know. After looking at some other stocks I found a synthetic for seventy five bucks and as I look down at the two year old I think I might want to save this cut down stock.
 
I would use the dowels with the Gorilla Glue.
I have done that to a couple rifles stocks. Just use wax where the glue may run off on.
 
Since the dowels can go thru the back of the stock it will be easier to glue the piece on first and then then drill the dowel holes. be sure to run a flat the length of the dowel to let glue & air escape. cut off ends of dowels last.
 
Yes, Rich is has a point. Dowels are a great way to do the reattachment, but also a great way to slightly misalign the piece to be attached. Might be easier to do the gluing and clamping and get it all aligned perfectly and then drill the holes from the end of the stock and put the dowels in. The perfect alignment is the tricky part. I'd have to put it in a wood vise and tinker with it a bit before I made the final decision on the best way to do the dowels.

How are you going to hide the joint where the wood pieces are attached? That's going to be tough to do in an attractive fashion if you aren't going to cover it with paint.

And Rich is also very right on cutting the flat on the dowels to let the air out. I have unfortunately had the occasion to mess up a 'glue-up' due to forgetting about letting the air out. If the air is still in there, you'll compress it, but it will not escape. That can really ruin your clamping, which is going to be tough on a lengthwise join on a gunstock anyway. You need some Jorgensen wooden clamps (or the Harbor Freight equivalent), and do a dry clamp-up to make sure it all works and everything fits before you add the glue.
 
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What you are doing is practical,easy,and you have nothing to lose.Go for it!!

You can do it,do a nice job,let it be what it as,and enjoy!

Have you seen the Pachmayer rubber slip on recoil pads?If one fit real nice,thats one option.Another,get crafty putting a recoil pad on,then use Barges cement to glue a leather sleeve around the pad covering the glue joint.This keeps the original finish.

You can also do a little body and fender work...fill all imperfections,block sand,and give the whole stock a paint job.

Cool you are still shooting your young self rifle!!

One more option:With a little searching,you may be able to find an original take off stock.A lot of those stocks were replaced with ultra light synthetic stocks.You would then have a drop-in pretty cheap,but what you will also have is a drop-in short stock,still,

That might be special if another young one comes along,or a smaller woman.You might keep your options open.

You can use West System for the whole job.Then you do not have another material for the finish to stick to,Remington stocks had an epoxy finish.

Tape over the stock to protect it from drips and runs.Epoxy both parts,ease them together,and put a wrap of tape around it to hold it in position.You do not want to squeeze all the epoxy out.Stand it up in a vise and put a small weight on it should work.
 
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Good idea of the glue first , dowel later
I did not think of that.

As to hide seam , another idea is to add a different color spacer and shorten the block glued on.

You can use black or white or another wood to "accent" the repair.
And if every thing is sanded/planed flat and square, easier to glue up.
 
If you go through the trouble of aligning and glueing first you might just as well just countersink a couple of good size woodscrews, instead of the dowels and add a nice butt pad.
 
rugerdawg may have a very good point. Fact is that the wood stock, if dowels are used, will only be held together by the dowels. The wood, being glued end-grain to end-grain, won't have much of a bond, since end grain wood doesn't glue up well. The screws would provide about as much joint strength as the dowels. But...if it was me, and since rugerdawg has made his good point, I'd probably use the glue, dowels, and screws. The screws, if long enough, will hold the two pieces of wood together while the glue sets around the dowels. If the screws are used, predrill holes smaller than the screw itself, at least through the end piece, and countersink for the screw heads. You don't want to split that end piece.
 
G. Willikers has the right answer. You can pick up an original factory stock for only about $100. Just keep watching Ebay and Gunbroker. I've got that exact same rifle and it is one of my favorites. You can also sell that cut-down stock and recoup some of your cost of buying the new one.
 
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