stock repair

[Kirk Pfeffer]

First off, thanks to everyone that responded to my questions regarding my 1907 12Ga VH. I've decided to follow the advice given and get the gun serviceable without spending a ton of $$. Also this site is fantastic with the info available. For instance, color case hardening is risky and rust bluing can be done but can be hard to get looking right. I also saw one smith that looked to do great work but when you start getting into the several thousand dollar range, it gets past the value of what isn't a rare gun. Oh well.

Anyway, this gun has a crack at the wrist and it was suggested to get it repaired. Wondering if someone could suggest a person to do this? If it was someone around Omaha, NE, that would be great.

Another thought also occurred to me as something I might try. Several years ago I visited a place called Macon Gunstock in Warsau, MO. Anyone ever done business with them? I was impressed with their facility and from their website, I can pick up a stock for a little over $100. Granted, it still needs fit and finish but I do some woodworking so I might give it a go. your thoughts on this would be welcome.
Kirk

[Chuck Bishop]

Kirk,

I can recommend Clint Meier http://www.cgm-gunstockcheckering.com/frame.htm for stock repair and checkering. Very nice guy with very reasonable rates and turn around time.

For a new stock, many on this site and the Double Gun Forum recommend Donnie Gemes at Show Me Gunstocks. I don't have a link to their web site but you can google and find their info. Here are some comments.

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=26567&PHPSESSID=

Both are located in Missouri

[Kirk Pfeffer]

Chuck,
Thanks for the pointers. I'll call Show Me and see what they have to offer. I was looking at Clint's website and he does some amazing work. I'll also be getting in touch with him.
Again, thanks for your help.
Kirk

[Ed Blake]

Call Al Edge in Caroline County. That's just south of you on 95. He fixed a DH for me a few years back. Did a great job.
804-448-1119

[Kirk Pfeffer]

Hey Ed,
Al really did a great job on the repair. That is one nice looking stock. I did a phone search and see that he's in Virginia. Not exactly south of Omaha Nebraska but not a big deal. Does he happen to have a website?
thanks for your response.
Kirk

[Ed Blake]

Sorry. For some reason I thought you were in Northern Va. Google him. He has a webpage, but no website, per se.

[Kirk Pfeffer]

I've been doing some searching around for where I could get a replacement stock. So far from the forum I've come up with Show Me and Wenig. I also found a Macon Gunstock. Funny thing is that they are all located in Warsau, MO. They all say around 85 to 90% of the in-letting is done. Prices between the low and high vary by around 100%. Price isn't the biggest issue as I know you get what you pay for. One of the firms said that if I sent them my stock they would make a duplicate from it for no additional charge. Do you think there's a benefit in this option? Any thoughts as to how to proceed?

I appreciate your help on this.

Kirk

[Bob Jurewicz]

85-90% laves a lot of fitting!!!!
Bob Jurewicz

[Bill Murphy]

The Macon stocks I have seen on ebay (I think) might as well be blanks. They are nowhere near ready for an amateur to finish up. As I recall, Fajen and Bishop would sell you a 90% or 95% inletted stock for a certain amount, but, for a few dollars more, would fit it to your gun.

[Bill Murphy]

Dave Wolf in Waco can fix your broken stock but I don't know his price scale. He is one of the best in the business for fixing breaks and cracks.

[Jerry Andrews]

Macon is a joke. They cut a Winchester High wall stock for me, pretty straight forward gun, it's a wreck, not usable. I called them, left messages and emails, no go. I've since bought a duplicator and do all my own now. I used to have a contract with Fajen, they did great work for me. I've also used Wenig Custom Gunstocks at http://www.wenig.com/. Most excellent work but a bit pricey but you get what you pay for. I might mention, I sent my own wood to Macon, a VERY high grade piece of feather crotch American black walnut, it's NOT what I received. It was so poor it didn't matter however. I'm glad I'm running my own wood on my own machine. Jerry

[Jerry Andrews]

I might add that having YOUR stock duplicated is a big plus if you are a stockmaker. The grip sweep, top tang angle, floor plate angle is all critical and a generic run stock, especially on a double gun is very important to be correct. Otherwise they must leave so much wood it's a pain to work with it in order to get your stock correct or leave you enough wood with which to work.
Prior to buying a duplicator I've done the last 4 years worth of stock making from a blank, not pre cut but a blank. I stock about 20=30 guns a year. I'm in hog-heaven now with my own machine, Jerry
Pictured is my last one done from a blank and not run on the duplicator, Eagle grade L.C. smith
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/CaneRodMaker/IMG_2444.jpg

[lee r moege]

Hail Mary!!! I didn't know there was anybody left that would and could take one from the "flitch" anymore besides the big boys on highpowers. I can't and won't get into the custom gunmakers society only because I'm getting to old! They were not there when I was a kid and nobody here(Kansas) would pay for such a stock if they even knew what it entailed. Happy scraping!!! Lee.:rotf:

[Jerry Andrews]

I haven't heard the word flitch used forever! We refer to a " flitch " as the first cut off the log at the mill with bark still on at least one side before it's run through the edger.
I've made 296 stock for doubles, most of them L.C. Smith guns and I don't think there have been a dozen pre runs in that whole mess. Nice post Lee and good to hear some of the terminology with which I'm familiar. Jerry
I have some killer full length ( 5-6 ft long ) full feather crotch cherry pieces. I need to find someone building high end muzzleloaders. They are beautiful blanks, trees cut down by me when I owned the timber company and sawed at our mill.

[calvin humburg]

Jerry you should of wiped that piece of wood with a damp cloth so I could drool more.

[Jerry Andrews]

I'll send some pics, I should have the varnish on in a day or two. Jerry

[lee r moege]

Jerry: Your reply on cherry wood ( I call it whiskey cherry) reminds me of my vagrant youth when I started in the banking business in Lawrence , Kansas. I had a guy probably in his 60's , (I was maybe 22 at the time) who owed the bank some money and couldn't seem to rake up the bucks. He owned a sawmill at Vinland , Kansas and we got to talking wood one day. I told him I would catch his account up to date one day if he would bring me some fancy wood sawed for stock blanks. He said he had walnut and cherry. About 2 weeks later he showed up with a flat bed stacked 2 feet high with both, sawed 3" to 4 1/2" thick. A DEAL was struck!!!! Rhiney Fajen and I used all this up in a couple years. Lee.:bigbye:

[Jerry Andrews]

Wow! Back to the bartering system! I've had folks bring me some pretty unusual items as well. I've lent money to the guys that worked for me as well as the truck driver that hauled my logs. He asked one day for money for a truck. I gave him cash, a hand shake, no paperwork etc. 2 weeks later he paid me in full and brought me enough grubbed out walnut stumps for at least 30 blanks. They were powerwashed and ready to go across the saw blade. I guess since I wouldn't take interest that was his form of interest!
Since joining these three forums ( well, I was kicked off of one ) I've met the nicest folks. A member of this Parker board, I won't say who, sent me a ton of wood to look through, pay for what I took and simply send the rest back. This guy didn't know me at all. Now THAT'S the kind of people on which America was founded! It's too bad our USA has stopped manufacturing for the most part and things like Parkers, Foxes, Smiths and other fine doubles are no longer made here at a price folks can afford. I think it's why we all live in this old double world, longing for the days gone by. Bamboo fly rods, Lionel trains and a good batch of root beer made at home. We still cook nearly all our meals at home, heat with wood and grow most of what we eat, including the animals. But, this is West Viriginia and we are a fairly strange family I guess. Jerry

[Dean Romig]

And we are a fairly strange family I guess. Jerry

Not so strange at all Jerry... not at all friend. :)

[Jerry Andrews]

Thanks! I may have been born about 200 years to late. Jerry

[Jerry Andrews]

Eagle Grade L.C. Smith pictures. This is from the previous restock photos. Finally finished!

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/CaneRodMaker/IMG_2735.jpg


http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/CaneRodMaker/IMG_2732.jpg


http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/CaneRodMaker/IMG_2733.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/CaneRodMaker/IMG_2729.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/CaneRodMaker/IMG_2735.jpg

[Dean Romig]

Jerry, that's a very nice fit of wood to metal.

[Jerry Andrews]

Thanks so much. I'm sure the doctors in the white coats would have a freaking field day with my anal retentiveness!!!!!!

[Mark Ouellette]

Jerry,

You need to show your Parker restocks! If you can do that with an Elsie sidelock your stocking a Parker boxlock should be easy, for you at least :)

Respectfully,
Mark

[calvin humburg]

Nice job Jerry!!! Tru-oil?

[Jerry Andrews]

No, not true oil, it's a combination of 75% Amber Shellac and 25% boiled Linseed. About 10 coats are rubbed on, steel wooled off to fill the grain, then another bundle of coats put on to top surface the wood. It's a fairly hot mixture so it dries as you are polishing it on. A fellow that worked at Hunter Arms gave me the mixture percentages years ago and told me they mixed it and used it right in the Hunter Arms plant. Said they'd put it in a bowl and dab it on with cotton cloth and polish the crap out of the thing over and over again! He was a wealth of knowledge on the Smith guns. Jerry

[Jerry Andrews]

Thanks Mark, I have a GHE 20 gauge coming up next, I'll post pictures of it if the customer does not object. The stock has already been run on the duplicator so it should not be long. Thanks again for the kind words, Jerry
PS. The EH has had an overhaul on the wood, do you have a safety mechanism that floats in the wood you'd sell?

[Dave Suponski]

Jerry, Beautiful work! I love looking at a true craftsmans work.

[Jerry Andrews]

Thanks for kind words, much appreciated, Jerry

[Paul Harm]

If it were me I'd get it repaired. I've built around 15 muzzleloaders from planks of wood and can tell you 95% inletted still leaves lots of work on a Parker. The fitting of two different surfaces [ upper and lower tang ] and the right distance apart is hard. Also, Parker has the saftey lever inletted in an exact position. You'll be pulling your hair out. Paul

[Jerry Andrews]

I've missed something P.H. ? But that's not hard for me! What would you get fixed? Dang I hate being behind all the time! Jerry

[Paul Harm]

In the first post by Kirk he said he had a cracked stock. There were a couple of post for people who do a nice job fixing this. I thought by the time he bought a stock and then tried to fit it he'd be futher ahead to get it fixed. Paul

[Kirk Pfeffer]

Thanks much to everyone for their responses to my post. I've talked to several of the recommended companies regarding their replacement stocks. I still think it would be interesting to try but I for now I'll take the advice of several people and hold off trying to finish a stock. I might take it on in the future but for now I'll look into having it repaired. It's a different story regarding my Meriden 20ga double. I've got a blank and I'm going to try take it from a blank to finished stock. What have I got to loose except time :) Between the wood carving tools I have and what friends in my carving club have, maybe I can pull it off. I'll let you all know how it goes.
Kirk

By the way Jerry, very nice work.

[Jerry Andrews]

Kirk, feel free to call me if you get stuck or have problems. I'm not very smart or talented but I've been at it awhile and I've learned a few things through absorption, or maybe it's actually adsorption ! Jerry 304-843-1740

[Gerry Addison]

I second Bill Murphy about Dave Wolf. Super nice gentleman, fast turn around, and his work is the best I've seen for breaks, cracks, dents, etc.