Sophmoric question. If the stocks are "dry" would they benefit from a drink of oil?

Nothing is for certain when it comes to recoil, wood grain structure, fineness of the heading, etc. but methinks the most common cause of stock head/middle splits on boxlocks is lateral leverage caused by a fall or some other sideways pressure.

I use the term "dry" all the time but it is really a misnomer, I believe. All stocks stored in a climate controlled environment are dry unless oil soaked.

I use a moisture meter to check wood I intend to use as a stock. Stored in a dry cool basement with room for circulation, it will be at about 8% when it is ready to use. Once it gets there it pretty much stays at that level. I have tested under the butt plate of guns over the course of years they stay at that level even after exposure to wet or humid conditions.

I really have never heard an explanation of the mechanism of the change but many old guns, due to some reason in their history, develop a "punky" , for lack of a better term, consistency. The stock wood is soft and very weak and brittle. This is very different than oil soaked wood. As a general rule, most stocks remain oil soaked after it occurs because it is hard to treat and often not noticeable without removing the stock.

As shown in many examples, I have found and repaired many internal head splits. After many years of fooling with doubles, one of the first things I do when receiving any new gun is do at least a partial teardown. Most people try to avoid turning a screw for any reason, but after buying to many old guns that developed an external crack after the first shot or two, I simply to it as a matter of maintenance. I find an internal crack of some size in well over half the guns I acquire. I always repair if found. There are too many good adhesives on the market and too many simple ways to use a reinforcement pin to take a chance. The pictures above show how bad it can be and not be visible on the outside. If an ad talks about a "small stable crack" I am out of there or will only bid at a level that assumes a repair.

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I had never seen the method shown in the second picture but it adds reinforcement in two directions and holds the cheek piece in alignment. I assume the head of the staple is inset flush with the front of the web. It would only work with no center inlet.

When I find a stock like that, I generally slice a piece out of the center and insert a shim of hardwood with epoxy, followed by some sort cross pin. A gap of that size should not be simply filled with adhesive or epoxy. They have little strength without some sort of matrix filler, which is the source of strength in that kind of composite. Sometimes, a layup of epoxy saturated Kevlar biaxial woven tape is the best. Bonding the wood and with immense shear strength. Filling the crack that way and then bedding the center of the stock with the same material should give a reinforcement that would never let go.

We had a saying at the SOM that 'WNL' didn't mean 'Within Normal Limits' but 'We Never Looked' :nono: Never looking means all those cracks are only going to worsen.

These are all David's images and unfortunately small size

Drilling the holes for the staple in the Fox stock

https://photos.smugmug.com/Repairs-R...%20stock-S.jpg

Holes

https://photos.smugmug.com/Repairs-R...ck%20001-S.jpg

Staple in place and (I think) acragel

https://photos.smugmug.com/Repairs-R...ck%20003-M.jpg

This is a Parker post-staple with a wood cover glued in place

https://photos.smugmug.com/Repairs-R...taple%27-S.jpg

This is the exact method that Brian Board used to permanently fix one of my Parkers.





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I could not find my image of the hardwood 'dumbbell' insert in the head of some 20g stocks. Was this a factory reinforcement? When did they first appear; maybe after the Super-X boomers? Does anyone have a pic?

Stock repair thread by Jim Williams. The Photobucket images are obscured but can be seen
https://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=517

Purchased a few high grade.with stock flaws never had one developed a crack.when hunting. Hunt most of the time with doubles use light loads even Waterfowl.

Maybe its just me, but I cringe when someone who learned it from his father slams the action shut as if they are trying to break it in half. Holding the wood in the right hand and wanting to hear that car door slam can't be good on anything, and I imagine many L.C. Smiths had cracks started from ham-handed hunters.