Need help with crack on stock at rear tang

[yotatrd4x4]

Ok I know I worded that horribly. Let me start by saying I just wanted to get some info before I start. I got a nice condition interarms whitworth express rifle in 375H&H with QD rings and a vari x 3 1.5-5x20 for a song and once I got it home and pulled it from the stock I noticed it used to have a lead chunk under the barrel in the stock to add weight but it has since been chewed out ( I say chewed because it looks horrible) anyhow I am gonna bed it so no worries there. My main issue is I am gonna inlet the rear tang some cause it is a real close stock to tang fit and also there is a maybe 1 inch crack only up top and it doesn't open when I try and flex the stock a little but I don't wanna go use this rifle then make the crack worse. I thought about maybe a piece of thread all screwed thru the wrist side to side in the middle of the wrist just as a safeguard but I know very little about working a stock. It does have a crossbolt behind the recoil lug. This rifle doesn't have a barrel recoil lug. Any help would be great.

[Goatwhiskers]

I would only inlet the end of the tang to relieve the stress point. As far as the crack, here's my method: I put a coat of JPW on the wood right up to the edge of the crack to keep any epoxy from sticking outside. I then tap a tiny wedge into a hidden area of the crack to open it slightly. I use Acraglas epoxy, just a small amount applied with a toothpick and apply a little heat with a match or small lighter to thin the epoxy and cause it to wick into the crack. Remove the wedge. I clamp with a couple of wraps of a rubber band made from an inner tube. Leave 24hrs and unwrap, any excess that squeezed out is easily lifted off from the waxed surface, leaving an almost invisible repair. Good luck. GW

[375RUGER]

that kind of recoil can easily propagate a small crack. Good firearm furniture like walnut won't open a crack just flexing the stock, unless it's a thin part.
Without pics, if it is a crack I think I would dremel the crack out and refill with bedding. That will look better than a screw through the side of the stock.
If you can identify the end of the crack definitively you can drill a small hole there to stop it from spreading and fill with epoxy, but the whole crack will need to be filled.
I've never used it but glass shops have a resin for windshield crack repair. You could try dripping that into the crack until it won't take anymore. Guy I go to just drips it, he doesn't have any injection equipment.

The wording here is bad, I think I'll just stop now.

[Texantothecore]

The windshield repair stuff won't work as it cures with untraviolet light and you cannot get enough in the crack to make it set up.

[Gunfreak25]

This is an easy repair that I have done my fair share of. Do not shoot that gun or you will make the crack worst as this is a very high stress area. The first order of operation is to drill down into the crack from the inside of the stock. The hole then needs to be cleaned out with denatured alcohol and a syringe to remove any oil from the wood. After drying for an hour, find yourself a dowel rod that is small enough to wrap in fiberglass cloth, this will be stuck into the hole after you fill it with your Acraglas resin. Be sure to clamp the stock during the drying process. If you drilled the hole properly, the dowel rod will also serve as a hydraulic press to force the resin through the crack for the best bond.

Then allow things to dry for several hours, dress up the repairs and repair the finish if present.

If you were interested in having me do the work for you just give me a holler. Under no circumstances should glue be used. It will hold for a little while. But eventually the vibration/oil from the stock will cause to break. I can't tell you how many times I receive stocks in that have been previously repaired with gorilla glue. It's a fine product for furniture though!

www.tomsstocksmithing.com

[Bren R.]

I can't tell you how many times I receive stocks in that have been previously repaired with gorilla glue. It's a fine product for furniture though!

Amen... stay away from the polyurethane and Polyvinyl Acetate glues for stock work.

Bren R.

[flounderman]

depending on how deep the crack is you can drill into it from inside the tang area and fill it with glass. the area behind the tang should always be relieved, and if the tang is wedged into the stock too tight and areas are left unfinished, moisture can swell the stock and crack the area behind the tang. the inside of the stock should be coated with finish and under the butt plate. moisture can migrate thru a stock.

[pietro]

While repairing the crack and filing out a bit more clearance aft of the tang are indicated, it would be best to put some thought into WHY the stock cracked there.

The reason's most likely that recoil, and/or less than very hard wood, has let the action set back in the stock, allowing the tang to contact the end of the inletting/stock, cracking it - which it will again if not corrested.

The easiest way to do so, since you intend to glas bed anyway, would be to rout a crosswise trench into the inletting, at the rear edge of the inletting for the action's recoil lug for a stock re-inforcement ( a 1-1/2" long piece of stovebolt will do)

Drop the steel rod into the trench, making sure it extends a little into the stock's sidewalls (on both sides of the recoil lug), and glass it in place.



.

[yotatrd4x4]

Ok just to clarify some more it has a crossbolt behind the recoil lug already so no need to add another. I did glass the entire barrel channel to help seal up the wood and I still need to glass the rear of the action as I do it in steps so I don't glue another rifle and stock together permanently as I have done once before. I found a piece of hollow light weight stainless rod I am gonna put into the rear tang under the cracked area wrapped in fiberglass and glued in with acraglass gel. Thanks for all the help.

[Gunfreak25]

Stainless steel rod is not needed. A plain wood dowel is all you need and will bond to the resin/stock better than steel will.

[yotatrd4x4]

Ok great I will just make a dowel rod out of an old ladle handle I have.