crack in stock head

[Autumn Daze]

Bruce,Just tell Dennis you heard about him on this site...OH Wait! I will tell him myself as he will be at the Vintagers in Maryland this weekend and I will be visiting with him.

[Old and Reliable]

Originally Posted by bruce willis

Thanks for all of the responses to my question. I really like this forum, you can get so much information one would normally never get. I looked at the photo that bruce day posted, and it really helped. I looked at the photo and my VH stock is more proud than the one in the photo. I feel I should have it checked to be safe. I am going to call the stock doctor in oregon and see if he can check it. I feel the stock will need to be removed and looked at to determine any damage. While my VH is at the "doctor" I have a beater winchester model 24 16 gauge that I can use. It has 28" barrels, it,s light weight, and shoots great. It is not a parker, but it is a nice gun, although an odd design. I shoot federal 16 gauge high brass 1 1/8 #6s on early season pheasant and its a kick-butt load. I also shoot a 1932 remington model 11 12 gauge with solid rib and nice checkered stock. Its a real nice gun, and I use sometimes for late season pheasants, and ducks here in the sacramento valley in california. I have hunted many sugar beet and corn fields with these guns and my labrador heidi chasing that wiley bird. Thanks again BW.

My old High School pal had a M24 Winchester 20 gauge with 28" barrels- a very solid and good shooting gun indeed. Later one he traded it (and some cash) for a Browning 20 Over/Under- and after a year of shooting it afield, tried to get his M24 back. The Rem 11- like the old Browning A-5 will always have a following, just like the Models 1897 and 1912-later M12 Winchesters do-sounds like you get some good hunting in out there in CA, best of luck this Fall and keep us posted on that nice VH you have!!

[Parker Bachelder (Brad's Profile)]

Hello all, yes I am still new to responding to threads, so if I make mistakes, bear with me. In the last thirty years I have had the chance to observe many, many cracks in stocks. I would feel confident in saying that at least one in three double stocks have head cracks, not just Parkers, but all makes.
The problem is two fold. the stock design incorporates many function necessary inlettings . These inlettings serve to weaken the longitudinal integrity of the wood. The bigger problem is the fact that early lubricants were animal based. Lard was the lube of choice for the Romans. For many decades, lubricants were organically based. The affect that these lubes had on the wood, were not considered by the design engineers. Animal based lubes contain fatty acids, these acids attack the wood. They compress the cells and basically rot. This causes shrinkage and discoloration. Thus the dark coloration where wood meets metal. As the wood softens with the absorbtion of oil, it becomes weaker and eventually yields to recoil, resulting in a split.
I have witnessed many different forms of repair attempts, most of which, compromise the integrity and appearance of the stock.
The only way to effectively repair a stock is to fully remove the offending oil,grease and fatty acids. Doing so allows you to utilize any of the modern,effective epoxies to bond the wood. Once repaired it should be stronger than the original configuration. With a little creative staining, the repair becomes invisible. The wood is proud on parkers as noted. I feel that this tolerance is more to avoid chipping than a consideration for rework. If you look closely, all wood to metal contact surfaces, have a slight inward bevel, to allow for compression.
There is no home process to acomplish this task. It needs to be done by a restoration specialist . I am sure that with some research, you can find someone that can do this for you. Anything else is nothing more than a quick fix.

[Bruce Day]

Soak in acetone until all the gunk is gone, then Superglue the interior surfaces. The older epoxies added thickness to already tight fits within the head.

[Old and Reliable]

Originally Posted by Bruce Day

Soak in acetone until all the gunk is gone, then Superglue the interior surfaces. The older epoxies added thickness to already tight fits within the head.

Bruce- I have a chance to buy a 12 Trojan project gun- the stock head has been pinned, the LOP with a crappy old Red head pad is 13.5""- all that is fixable as a project- BUT- the previous owned superglued or epoxied the trigger guard bow into the stock channel, it's in their tighter than Dick's Hatband- you can even see the "gunk" on each edge of the guard bow "tail section"-- would acetone remove that and allow me to remove the guard bow- the front of same partially covers the rearmost of the three trigger plate screws--Thanks!!

[Bruce Day]

Francis, I don't know what is the solvent for the isocyanite (Superglue) glues. You'll need to research that on your own or call the manufacturer.
In view of the recent news concerning an unfortunate fellow whose several girlfriends took out their vengance on him with Superglue, I trust there is a solvent.

[VH20]

"Debonder" available for CA glues is typically acetone-based. It takes a while for it to soften though. We used to keep the detachable applicator tips for our CA bottles in a jar of acetone so they were always clog-free.

However, you mentioned "superglued or epoxied." If it's epoxy, I don't think anything but heat will soften it. A heat gun or possibly hot oil as applied in a stock bending procedure would do it. When it gets hot enough to fail it usually crumbles.