Krag stock

So I bought a sporterized Krag about a month ago. It is incredibly well done but I want to do some repairs on it (stock) and recrown it. The stock has one crack in the top handguard which should be easy to fix. My main complaint however is the added comb. It was put on with what looks like a foaming glue rather than an epoxy and the right side has spread. Is there a good way to separate the comb to reattach with proper adhesive/epoxy without destroying it.

Someone put a TON of time into making this rifle one of the finest sporters I have seen. The finger grooves were filled in and checkered, the rear sight hole filled in, the stock cut and comb added and the pistol grip as well. The pistol grip was attached either with the proper epoxy or somehow was kept from spreading.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cbe6156d72.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ecbf3ae5ea.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cb23ecdf14.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d1031ea2c9.jpg


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You've got it "in hand" and I don't, but my first impression is that you're unlikely to get the pieces separated without bad results. I think I'd just fill in the crack and refinish the stock. Put another way, it's easier to hide the crack than take it apart.

I agree that someone put a lot of time and effort into the sporterizing job. Folks just don't do things like that today. There was a time when money was tight and folks had more time than money. Krags sold inexpensively and lots of them were painstakingly sporterized with results similar to yours. I have several in my collection with pieced in pistol grips, raised combs, custom butt plates, etc. They became kind of an art form. If yours has a good bore you have something worth having.

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Originally Posted by Der Gebirgsjager

You've got it "in hand" and I don't, but my first impression is that you're unlikely to get the pieces separated without bad results. I think I'd just fill in the crack and refinish the stock. Put another way, it's easier to hide the crack than take it apart.

I agree that someone put a lot of time and effort into the sporterizing job. Folks just don't do things like that today. There was a time when money was tight and folks had more time than money. Krags sold inexpensively and lots of them were painstakingly sporterized with results similar to yours. I have several in my collection with pieced in pistol grips, raised combs, custom butt plates, etc. They became kind of an art form. If yours has a good bore you have something worth having.

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It has a very nice bore, the crown looks like it it wasn’t done professionally so Im going to redo that, the barrel is cut flush with the stock and has an end cap so I’ll probably have to cut about 1/8” off the stock so the barrel isn’t recessed once it’s crowned.
It has pacific target sights.


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https://imgur.com/a/dLd014d


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That glue looks like Brownells Acra Glas. It will soften with enough heat.
Ken

I looked at your photos -- very nice. A custom butt plate! I have a Krag that is very similar to yours -- I'd almost guess that the same old time gunsmith did both of them. Lots of similarities besides the butt plate -- the checkering, the way the pistol grip is attached with a wood screw with a visible head, etc. Mine isn't a Mannlicher sytle though.

In the time period when these were being made I don't believe that epoxies like AccraGlas had yet been invented. It's more likely some period glue like those based on horse's hooves, etc. But it really doesn't matter too much what the glue is, as what would bother me is that in separating the two pieces you might get a chip or splinter. Some things are best left as is. If the gun was in your possession for the last 30 years and now looked significantly different than when you acquired it, then I'd say it is becoming unglued. But, I think it's hard to make that statement since you only recently got it. It's possible that it wasn't clamped exactly evenly when the work was done, and it's always been a little off. In any event, if you refinish the stock you can even out and fill the crack. My best advice. :)

Have an old model of 1917 stock that actually has three pieces glued together. Higher comb,part of the original stock and a pistol grip added. Unfortunately some plastic wood added but all in all most of the joints were well done. Frank

MEK will soften it. I use it to remove ply or epoxy finishes.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Crown-128-f...ne-Mek/3024048

MEK requires good ventilation and the proper PPE.

The type can it comes in might be tall enough to stand the butt/check piece in. Paint stores normally sell that type of can. Wrapping the check piece in a towel MIGHT also work.

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Originally Posted by M-Tecs

MEK will soften it. I use it to remove ply or epoxy finishes.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Crown-128-f...ne-Mek/3024048

MEK requires good ventilation and the proper PPE.

The type can it comes in might be tall enough to stand the butt/check piece in. Paint stores normally sell that type of can. Wrapping the check piece in a towel MIGHT also work.

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Will that mess up the wood?


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I never had an issue. I have a long thin bluing tank type container that I can let stocks soak for a couple of days to dissolve glass bedding or remove oil from GI Stocks. You do get mild grain raising but no bleaching.

I'd glue strips of stained newspaper into the crack and then refinish that area first. Refinish the entire stock if needed. That's a neat old stock.

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Chemical strip and then acetone or some solvent flush. Then see if it can be clamped down a little for another epoxy run at joint. Looking at picture, wood doing what wood wants it pulled up and out. Worst case wood is raw for fitting and to you and you probably can't see that line shooting it.

Oh I'd either leave it and love it like it is or at most fill the crack and call it a day. As far as the crown goes I'd see how it shoots first and then if necessary counter bore it slightly and then crown it. Get the impression I like it as is?

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Originally Posted by merlin101

Oh I'd either leave it and love it like it is or at most fill the crack and call it a day. As far as the crown goes I'd see how it shoots first and then if necessary counter bore it slightly and then crown it. Get the impression I like it as is?

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Dittos. You'd have to soak it in solvent for an awfully long time to get the glue deep inside to weaken.

I too am easily infatuated by old Krag sporters. I think I have six. They all have some sort of beauty-mark or other, which doesn't cause me to love 'em any the less. It's how they shoot that matters!

BTW if it was that foaming urethane stuff, let this be a lesson to all. I used it years ago for vacuum-bag laminating wing skins for my RC airplane models. It exerts tremendous pressure in the joint, so you have to apply far less of it than seems right, and even so it requires a LOT of clamping pressure.

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Originally Posted by uscra112

Dittos. You'd have to soak it in solvent for an awfully long time to get the glue deep inside to weaken.

I too am easily infatuated by old Krag sporters. I think I have six. They all have some sort of beauty-mark or other, which doesn't cause me to love 'em any the less. It's how they shoot that matters!

BTW if it was that foaming urethane stuff, let this be a lesson to all. I used it years ago for vacuum-bag laminating wing skins for my RC airplane models. It exerts tremendous pressure in the joint, so you have to apply far less of it than seems right, and even so it requires a LOT of clamping pressure.

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Ditto. I would leave it alone, fill the crack (if done carefully you can camouflage it quite nicely), touch up the finish around it to correct whatever marring occurred, and call it a day.

As for the crown- shoot it with different loads to see how it performs before messing with it. People these days obsess over crowns when in truth they don't have to be perfect. As long as every bullet leaves the barrel consistently, that's all that matters. Crown is a little lopsided? So what, as long as every bullet exits the bore the same way what does it matter? Experiments that prove these heretical statements have been done time and again, the latest one was published a couple years ago in The Fouling Shot- the author purposely mangled a nice crown with various instruments of torture. He cut and re-crowned several times and continued to mangle it with chisels, lag bolts, files, etc. Guess what? Accuracy didn't change (in fact got better a couple times). What did change was point of impact on the target, but not as much as one would think. Moral of the story: don't alter the crown in the middle of shooting a ten shot group.

Where are you located? I have a Krag stock that I will never use
If you are close to Tampa, you can have it.

A very nice sporter. With the comb mortised onto the stock like it is I can’t imagine that it would come apart without messing the stock or comb up pretty badly. Think that I’d leave well enough alone. The only thought that I would have would be to clean out the opening and use a mix of epoxy and matching sawdust to fill it. Might seal it enough to stabilize it but would still be noticeable. Would love to see a pix of the whole rifle.

Beware of hidden dowels between the original stock and the added comb of the stock. Found one of my reworked stocks and although it's an ex military stock you can barely make out the two dowels on the comb of the stock. By hidden the holes were drilled in both the original stock and added piece glue applied and the two pieces clamped together. The excess wood would be shaped after the glue cured or setup. Frank

Ended up leaving the comb and sanding it flush, filled the crack with epoxy and dust.
Still need to fix the minor crack behind the rear action screw but plan on shooting light loads for now out of it


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I somehow missed the link earlier- wow, that's a nice sporter that I'll bet you're proud of.

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