Crack in stock question.

[DaneRAtkinson]

After acquiring my Parker, my intent was to shoot it. However after receiving my research letter and finding out it was originally bought and shot by a professional competition trap shooter I am questioning what I should do.
I noticed a hairline crack in the stock. It starts up by where the safety inlays into the stock and runs downward into the checkering...

Before I begin to shoot it I would like to do something about this problem before it gets worse.

1. Should I have the stock and fore-end refinished? If so, will that bring down the value because it is no longer original? And no longer scratches etc. that show history of the gun...

2. Would it make more sense to buy a replacement stock (Macon?) and use this while I shoot it and set the original/unmolested stock and fore-end aside?

* I do like how the original Monte Carlo stock feels and Macon does not make one...

What are your opinions? Thanks!

[paul stafford jr]

call brad bachelder he can repair that stock and it will be good as new.he can do any level of restoration you would like. if you would like to restock call delgregos, he can make a replacement stock that will look as good as any original parker stock. and you will still have the original if you sell the gun. restocking isnt cheep but on a nice gun its worth it.

[John Campbell]

Dane:
Your stock is English walnut. This helps since it is stronger than American black. But it's still cracked. Failure at this point of the stock is typical of Parkers.

These cracks should be professionally repaired and the top tang re-inletted to the rear in order to prevent further cracking. This must be done by someone who knows what he's doing. In this, I agree with Mr. Stafford. Either Bachelder or Del Grego can handle it. And you will never know it was done.

As another point, resist any suggestion to "glas bed" the action unless there is absolutely NO other choice.

For now, I would shoot anything but the very lightest loads in this gun. If that. Best not to risk catastrophic failure.

[DaneRAtkinson]

Dane:
Your stock is English walnut. This helps since it is stronger than American black. But it's still cracked. Failure at this point of the stock is typical of Parkers.

These cracks should be professionally repaired and the top tang re-inletted to the rear in order to prevent further cracking. This must be done by someone who knows what he's doing. In this, I agree with Mr. Stafford. Either Bachelder or Del Grego can handle it. And you will never know it was done.

As another point, resist any suggestion to "glas bed" the action unless there is absolutely NO other choice.

For now, I would shoot anything but the very lightest loads in this gun. If that. Best not to risk catastrophic failure.

Is/can this be done without refinishing the stock?

[John Campbell]

Everything depends on a professional inspection. But more than likely "yes." If not, only spot finish might be necessary -- which can be blended into the rest quite well.

[Brian Dudley]

That crack should be able to be repaired and sured up without any refinishing work. Possibly some minor spot finish work I that area if you wanted the crack to be more hidden.
It is hard to tell what the cause of this crack is untill the gun is taken apart. Often cracks like this are caused by guns being dropped or something of that nature. In other words, if he crack is not caused by recoil, then when repaired, it will most likely not be an issue.

Obviously saving your original stock is best and there is no reason that it cannot be done on your gun. An original gun with honest wear is nothing to be ashamed of and should be maintained.

Just a note... You mentioned Macon stocks. I would steer clear of them in my opinion. The two times I have had customers provide me with stocks from them for me to fit and finish, there was major issues with both of them.

With any of these guns that were originally hand made and fitted, no stock off the shelf is guaranteed to work. There is no such thing as one size fits all. When I duplicate a stock, it is done for the individual gun that I am working on and room for hand fitting it always left.

[Andy Kelley]

Hi ,to chime in with B. Dudley on Macon stocks. I recently had a Trojan literally splinter in my hands and ordered a stock from Macon. The stock arrived and was found to have a major flaw and not worth the risk of having the stock fit to my gun. I returned the stock and was charged a 30% restocking charge!! Andy

[Brian Dudley]

This seems to be a very common theme with them. I have had customers that said they had to send in their original forends so that they could be duplicated. And what came back was in no way a duplication of their original forends. I ended up having to duplicate them myself to get a usable piece.

[DaneRAtkinson]

Before I shoot mine, I will have the original fixed...
If someone wanted or needed a new stock do they have a wood worker make one from scratch? Or is there a reliable "aftermarket" Parker stock that can be purchased, then sent to be shaped and fitted for the gun?

[John Campbell]

Dane:
There are many sources for what you mention. But there is NO reason to discard your original stock. It can be made stronger than new. And invisibly so.
To have a good stocker make a new Parker stock from the blank would likely cost more than your very worthy Parker may be be worth.

[Brian Dudley]

I would never rely on a manufactured stock made by a duplication company to fit your gun. Unless there was plenty of wiggle room built into the duplication. Hand fitted guns such as Parkers have so much variation, that a one size fits all approach does not work. It is a different story if you are talking about a Stevens 311 or savage 99.

The absolute best thing is to duplicate from your original stock so that there are no surprises. When I duplicate a stock, I usually leave the outside profile about 1/8" oversized and the Inletting about 1/32" undersized so that it can be finished by hand.