broken wrist

[Daniel]

I do not know where this should go. So here we go. I had a man contact me about an original
half stock rifle. It is broken in half through the wrist. He wants it repaired so he can shoot it.
I told him it might be able to be repaired , but would not shoot it. It's a cap lock, around 50 cal.
oct to rnd barrel.
What can be done ? I have pictures on my phone and will have to transfer to here. As soon as I can
figure out how to do it.

[retired fella]

With my limited knowledge I will be interested in this fix.  One thing that jumps out at me is what is your liability if he hurts himself trying to shoot it?

[Daniel]

The only way to be not liable is to sign off on it legal like.

[Curt Larsen]

Check with Mark Elliot here on the site.  He does some pretty sophisticated restoration work.

[Mike Brooks]

Check with Mark Elliot here on the site.  He does some pretty sophisticated restoration work.

That's true. But, You can easily have more in the repair than the gun is worth when it comes to a 1/2 stock cap lock.

[Daniel]

Ok that is true too. He has a Bedford too that needs repair. Not an original though.
It's a cap gun too.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Practically anything is possible if you have a positive attitude and patience to carry it out.

Here's a stock repair I did for a friend who fell on his rifle smashing it through the lock area, arguably the worst place to break a stock.  Luckily he was able to find all the pieces in the snow, and brought the rifle to me not having been disassembled.  The steel furniture held it together until I got it into the shop.






This next pic is of the whole lot reassembled with AccraGlas (Brownell's) gluing it all together.






There may be other issues with an antique rifle that has been broken for a long time, and maybe even an attmpt at repair.  If someone else's glue is in the break - good luck!!  If pieces are missing, they can be made to fit, but it isn't as strong as a break like the one above.  AccraGlas is amazing glue(epoxy).  It can be made super thin to work into cracks by holding under a light bulb 'til hot, but be aware that this accelerates the 'kick over' (curing).  Still there is lots of time for it to work, as normally, it requires a good 24 hours to cure.  And it can be thickened by adding the flok (shredded fibreglass) to fill gaps, but again, this is not as strong as a microscopic glue line.  The rifle above has been shooting strong these past four years after repair, accounting for thousands of shots.

[tiswell]

All I can say is that your friend found the right man for that repair! Wow! Nice work!

                                                                                                   Blessings, Bill

[Mark Elliott]

Taylor, that is a mighty fine repair job. 

[Maven]

The term, "miracle worker" comes to mind, Taylor

[Daniel]

 I think I can do this. I have taken an 8mm Turk Mauser that was broken at the wrist.
Repaired it correctly and was able to shoot it. Who knows

[Hessian]

Several years ago I had an accident with one of my rifles. I was moving it from my vehicle to the house in icy conditions. As I went down the ice covered steps, I slipped and fell and the rifle broke at the wrist. As luck would have it, it was in a gunsock that contained all the pieces. I figured the best person to repair it was the maker so I took it back to Matt Avance the following spring at Friendship. He said he'd take care of it and it would be ready in about six weeks. I waited about six weeks and called him to see how it was coming along.
He told me he had shipped it to Dale Johnson for repair. I asked "Dale Johnson of Hampton Tn?" "Sure enough."
I told him I knew Dale and he lived not 20 miles from me. He told me I should just deal with him from then on. I asked him what I owed him and he asked me to reemburse him for shipping the gun to Dale so I sent him a MO.
I then called Dale and asked him how the repairs were coming along. He told me it was finished & I could pick it up anytime. I don't recall how much he charged me for the repair but it must not have been much. I was glad to pay it. He told me he had epoxied two rods in the wrist to strengthen it. You could only see the repair if you looked very closely and knew what you were looking for. The rifle was litteraly better than new. I sold that rifle a couple of years later to a friend, (with full disclosure.) I have several times asked him to sell it back to me. It was a light .40 german silver mounted Lancaster. The "Grand Rifle" that Avance sold for a few years. Very pretty, and a tack driver. Maybe he'll sell it back to me next year.