fixing a broken pistol stock

[Justin Urbantas]

I was thinking about buying this old pistol, and fixing the break. How would you guys go about a repair on a break like this?
I was thinking dowel and epoxy. Ideas? Thanks






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[Pukka Bundook]

Justin,

If it were me, Id remove the buttcap if possible, glue the break with carpenters or epoxy, and run two dowels up from under the buttcap well past the break, and glue in place.
It looks worth saving.

[rich pierce]

It’s also possible to insert a screw or dowel from under the trigger guard strap.

[Bob Roller]

Epoxy and a long wood screw would fix it for good.If you need any longer than usual
let me know and I will send a few of them.
Bob Roller

[Scota4570]

Long drywall/structural screw shank only or all thread and epoxy.  I'd make a jig to clamp it that used wedges on a board.  Wax the outside so the epoxy does not stick.  Clamp it in the jig and drill the hole for the fastener.  Make the hole oversized and let the epoxy do the work, not the screw.  Using the screw to pull it together will probably result in misalignment.  I put small drilled holes on the broken surfaces to give the epoxy more bite.I would jig and glue it with the trigger guard in place, use release agent.   Use slow set high quality epoxy. 

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I would remove the guard and see if the stock comes apart in two pieces, first.  If so, I would acquire or make a piece of all thread 1/4" x 20 tpi x 3" long.  I would drill into each of the grip pieces about 1 5/8" with a 5/16" bit, insert the all-thread piece and see if the stock aligns, before gluing with AcraGlas from Brownell's, tinted to match as closely as possible the colour of the wood.  A jig to hold the pieces in alignment is mandatory.  You want to completely fill the holes with the epoxy. 

[JTR]

With that checkering, it should be easy to glue it with no or very little visible line. It looks like you could remove the screw or pin through the lower part of the trigger guard, then the broken part of the grip will come right off. Clean the oil/crud off. Depending on how/where the pistol was used or stored after the break, there might be a lot of crud, or a little or none. Depending, a dremel tool type thing works great for this. Just take the oil and crud off and a few thousands of wood to get to clean wood. Do Not do this at the very edge of the break, as you don't want to alter the original fit in that area. You could also use a chemical crud remover, but remember if that stuff runs or drips, it will also remove that nice old exterior finish in a heartbeat as well! You just need a clean surface for the glue. As for the repair, a good way to make a forever repair is to use 3 or 4 dowels, say 3/16" diameter X 1-1/2" long. Space them out, but at least a 3/8" away from the edges of the grip. Mark things carefully, and drill holes for the dowels in both pieces of the grip. Use a drill that's about 1/16" or so larger than the dowel size for some wiggle/adjustment room. I rough the surface of these dowels up to give the glue a good surface to grip. Put the dowels in place, slide the broken piece on and check your fit. Adjust the fit until it is perfect, or as perfect as it can be. If need be, drill one or some of the holes a size larger to get that perfect-as-can-be fit. Note, or mark your perfect-as-can-be fit between the two pieces. A small bit of masking tape, cut as small triangles, and put on the two pieces, point to point, work well. Put on say three sets, spaced around the grip. You don't need to stick them on really tight as you don't want to take a chance of pulling the original finish off when you remove them. When you're all set, satisfied with as good of fit as you're gonna get, your ready to glue. I use either Titebond III Ultimate wood glue, or a two part structural epoxy. Both are much stronger than the wood. The epoxy sets to final hardness quicker, and the titebond is easier to work with. With either, you'll have to actually break the wood to break the finished join. For this, I'd use Titebond, put a bit of glue in the holes with a Q-Tip, a bit of glue on the dowels, a super thin bit of glue on both pieces, and fit it all together. Remove any glue that oozes out with Q-Tips. Clamp it all in place and let it dry.   

[Justin Urbantas]

Thanks for the tips, guys. It should be stronger than ever when I'm finished.

[eggwelder]

Repaired a break on an antique table leg, similar grain run out. I epoxied the repair first, making sure everything lined up. When that was cured, i was able to drill from a hidden spot and epoxy a dowel without worrying about mis alignment of the parts.