Doggone, Curtis - were you out playing Whack-a-Mole with that rifle? You sure did fix it up nicely. How did you replicate that finish? And fix the tang? There, although it is invisible, you must have done some cutting and welding.
We will give you a Master's degree in Fine Arms Restoration.
Well thanks for the honorary degree Craig! Can I get that framed for my shop?
I restored the gun for a friend of mine. The old gun had seen at least two previous attempts to repair the wrist, possibly three. The tang had been braised in a couple of spots previously so i just cut it a bit short and braised on the new tip.
As for the wrist repair, after some stablilization I cut out the wood between (underneath) the tang and trigger plate with a jeweler's saw and slip fit a maple block in the slot, and epoxied it in place. Then I re-inlet the tang and trigger plate. The wood to wood fit had to be absolutely tight so I "inlet" the repair wood like an inlay, using carbon paper to check fit as I went.
As for matching the finish, I stained the wood as close to the original color as I could get, then worked some "magic" with a bit of oil paint. The repairs were then hit with a light coat or two of tung oil.
I cut maple plugs to fill the holes left from old dowel rod repairs, nails and plastic wood that I dug out.
Curtis
