Following along behind Bubba

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Attachment 160637Bubba customized this old Krag rifle. I think he wanted the "Weatherby look" with the reverse angled stock. I bought it from an online auction for a reasonable price. It came out of a pawn shop in Grants Pass, OR. My first thought was to replace the original stock with a Boyds carbine stock that I had on hand, but once I received the rifle the original stock proved to be very sound and had great tiger stripe wood grain. That got me to thinking how I might utilize the existing stock. It already looked kind of disproportionate, so just rounding off the front end didn't seem like a solution.
Attachment 160638

[Der Gebirgsjager]

To save the stock it made more sense to add something on the front end rather than take more off, but the odd angle made it a challenge. I couldn't readily restore it to full military as-issued, because the barrel had been shortened and I just wasn't into a barrel job. I found a suitable chunk of scrap walnut that would make a nice contrast, matched the angle of the cut off, and using an internal dowel and lots of AccraGlas Gel I glued it on.
Attachment 160639Does that look peculiar, or what? Now the exercise was to remove all the surplus wood--everything that didn't look like a forend.
Attachment 160640Attachment 160641Attachment 160642Attachment 160643Thought it would look kind of odd if I didn't extend the finger groove on into the new piece.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Attachment 160645Bottom view. Then I refinished the whole stock using 3 coats of Tru Oil rubbed back to a satin and a couple of light coats of TreWax. Some Oxpho Blue on the barrel helped.
Attachment 160646Attachment 160647

Looked o.k. to me--but one problem remained, that of the front sling swivel. With the new piece added it was too far back, so I filled the old hole and had a mental debate about how to install a replacement. I did a good job on the new stock piece and felt that if I mounted a detachable swivel just a bit forward of the joint it could probably stand up to a lot of jerking and pulling from being carried with a sling, but have never liked the fact that on most Krag sporters there isn't any connection between the barrel and stock forward of the front action/trigger guard screw. I decided to make a part that would solve both problems.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Attachment 160649Attachment 160650Attachment 160651

[Der Gebirgsjager]

BUT---I can't find the photos for the swivel right now---I uploaded them to Costco and will have to get them back again. So--to be continued.....

[HollowPoint]

I wouldn't have added quite that much length but, I still think it looks better than what it did; even though it didn't look that bad to begin with.

Bubba and I are well acquainted so anything that comes out the way the end user wanted it is OK in my book.

HollowPoint

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I agree that it would be a shame to throw away that tiger striped walnut, but finger grooves always look odd on a sporter, and you don't need tiger-striped checkering. It would be possible to inlet a panel of walnut and finish it flush, remove, checker and re-insert it. At last I would be sure of getting the edge of a borderless checkered panel completely straight. An angled front end to the panel could partly disguise the joint for a new front end.

[Wolfer]

When I got my Krag the front of the stock had been broken and patched back with wood putty. I cut it off under the front barrel band and Accra glassed a piece of Hedge just like you did. For my dowel I used a piece of 3/8" all thread.
The barrel band covers the cut although they mated up well enough if I didn't have a barrel band.
I had walnut but I went with hedge because I didn't think I could match the walnut perfectly so I gave it some contrast instead

.

[Blackwater]

That's good work, guys, and I love seeing old, butchered guns being resurrected and given a real face lift, so they can be used with your head held high.

[Mk42gunner]

So Wolfer,

How in the world did you keep the hedge from cracking? Every piece I have ever cut has cracked badly, it doesn't matter if it was cut in the Winter or Summer, green or partially dried, or even from a ~100 year old fence post. They have all cracked.

I am doing a stock for a Browning T-bolt that could use a fore end tip. I would like to use hedge because it has some decent contrast to the stock, but there is that pesky cracking problem.

Robert

[leebuilder]

Nice work DG. Done similar repairs to rifles. A matter of taste, not a big fan of sharp ends at the fore end. The Finns put together stocks out of two pieces for their service rifles.
Be well

[sparky45]

Good looking repair. I bought some Ebony blocks years ago to have on hand for small woodturning projects and possible to build a contrasting end cap for a rifle stock. Still got them around here somewhere.

[Jedman]

You did a nice job ! I like Acra glas gel as well for most repairs. I might have just cut that angle off straight and added a doweled piece with a joint 90 degrees to the barrel but maybe not as your fix looks nice.

Jedman

[Hickok]

Excellent work and a job well done.

Any one who would butcher a fine old Krag like was done to this rifle before you resurrected it should have his "man-card" revoked. And then just for good measure, a slap up to the side of the head!

[4719dave]

Well I think you did a great job ...im not a wood guy or collector so just saying good job .

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Thanks for the nice words, gentlemen. I'll be getting back to this thread when I recover the photos of making and installing a barrel band/sling swivel from scratch. Should be no more than a week. I had uploaded the photos to Costco Photo Center to free up memory on my computer, and have ordered them on a DVD which I can then download to the computer and upload to the website. Everything considered, it did come out nice, saved a butchered rifle, and I was able to use the carbine stock on another project.* The one criticism that I seem to have had in one of the posts is that I added too much wood, but I'll take a final photo showing this rifle compared to a commercial sporter and the stock proportions.

* Like I need another project!

Attachment 160750

[Wolfer]

So Wolfer,

How in the world did you keep the hedge from cracking? Every piece I have ever cut has cracked badly, it doesn't matter if it was cut in the Winter or Summer, green or partially dried, or even from a ~100 year old fence post. They have all cracked.

I am doing a stock for a Browning T-bolt that could use a fore end tip. I would like to use hedge because it has some decent contrast to the stock, but there is that pesky cracking problem.

Robert

I use the section of the tree that I think is referred to as quarter sawn. Meaning if the tree was split into quarters and then the heart and sap removed what's left shouldn't warp or crack after it's been cured. After chopping out the green blank the ends are coated with paint, pine tar, varnish or something to stop end crack. That particular piece was split out of a stick of firewood that was several years old. I've used hedge mostly on pistol grips and never had a problem with it cracking. My biggest complaint is I don't know how to stabilize the color. Starts out a bright yellow but time and sunlight will eventually turn it about the color of rosewood.

Here is a cedar blank I'm working on. Our Cricket 22 is too long for my youngest grandchildren so I'm going to make a shorter one that can be swapped out.

The roof on my work shop leaks a little. It has good natural light and ventilation. It's not temperature controlled. Most of my tools are power tools but I have to provide the power.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Wolfer--I'm not familiar with hedge, other than the ones we grow here in gardens as an ornamental/border plant that requires trimming. It seldom gets much larger than maybe 2" diameter--so you must be using something else. What is it exactly?

[Wolfer]

It has many names. Hedge Apple, horse Apple, Bois D'arc , Osage Orange and some of the names around that here can't be printed on cast boolits.

[Mk42gunner]

Thanks Wolfer, I'll give that idea a try.

Hedge is a thorny tree that can easily exceed three feet in diameter. It is a close cousin to mulberry trees, but has significantly tougher wood. Dad always said that if a hedge fence post would last one hundred years, a mulberry post would last seventy.

The sprouts are easily trainable when young and it will make an impenetrable fence after a few years.

Here is one link that has a bit about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera

Robert