Best glue for a gun stock

[madmac]

I have an old winchester 9422 mag. As I was giving it the yearly cleaning I noticed a hairline crack in the butt stock. It goes pretty deep and is in a fragile area as well. What I am looking for is a method to get glue into a very small crack as well as what glue should I use. I thought about using a watered down carpenters glue but am looking for a little advice. This gun is not used much but has much sentiment to me and is taken out to the range from time to time. The crack was caused by some sort of blow I am sure as the wood is in otherwise perfect condition as well as sealed from moisture.

[woodsman1031]

Madmac,

How fragile of an area is it? If it is not very "structural" and you want to just keep it from spreading you might let super glue "wick" into the crack. I have done something simular to this on a few solid body guitars that had cracks around the necks. Super glue will wick down into the smallest cracks. Just a suggestion.

Tommy

[madmac]

It is a very fragile area for the winchesters. Most of the older guns that have cracks usually have them in this area. It is were the butt stock ties into the rear of the reciever. The stock is thin at that point and easily damaged from a hard knock. I can put a little tension on it to open it up to about 1/32 of an inch so maybe super glue would be the answer. I have never used super glue on wood so not sure if it would hold well. You say it works on your guitars so maybe that is the ticket. I am expereince with wood finish and can pretty much hide the crack once it is stabilized. Thanks for the help.

Mac

[woodsman1031]

Mac,

You shouldnt have to open it much if any. I do however reccomend a name brand superglue.

alot of people use super glue to stabilize spalted woods. You can even use super glue gell to fill in wide gaps.

[LeatherneckPA]

IF you can get the crack completely closed with a strap clamp my recommendation would be to use Titebond II, which is a waterproof aliphatic resin glue (carpenter's glue). however, they also offer it in a brown glue for use on darker woods.

If you can not get the crack to close completely, I would recommend using a simple two part epoxy, which will dry clear, yet be hard enoughf or you to sand it down smoot to the stock. Epoxy will fill cracks, whereas the carpenter''s glue will only get a tight bond if both pieces are in direct contact with each other.

[madmac]

Funny thing is I was going to go with tightbond as I have used it before with great results. The crack on this gun was very slight and I was afraid I couldn't get the tight bond in far enough. I went with Superglue made by Loctite. It really turned out nice and only took a small amount of work to make the crack disapear. Time will tell if it holds up but for now it seems strong. Thanks for all the help and good advice.

[woodsman1031]

Madmac,

I am glad it has worked out so far. It should hold good for.

Tommy

[Pitdog]

Mac, Brownell's Acra-glass! As small as it sounds, it would seem you have it taken care of satisfactorily, so kudos. In the future, if the stock needs some REAL attantion and the break is more severe, then use the acraglass. It is a 2 part epoxy, that is fairly thin. Just put a .22 pump forearm back together with it. Didn't turn out pretty, but it is stronger than the rest of the forearm. I filled a knot hole in a stock I was making with it, made a modeling clay dam, and filled it up and just let it soak in. All the soft dead wood in the knot is diamond hard, but gives beautiful character! Keep a kit of this stuff laying around, I have used it for everything.

[OzarkMtnDaredevil]

Acraglass gets my vote, too. Is it in the grip area? If so, you may be interested in these.. http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=617&title=STOCK%20REPAIR%20PI N%20KIT
Back when I 'smithed, I repaired quite a few seemingly hopeless jobs with the help of these. If your local shop has a 'smith, he's probably got one he'd be willing to sell you. I've still got a bag of each size that I've even used to repair furniture.

[cubcadet]

If the rifle`s not a big caliber and like you said, is an heirloom, you`ve done well, I expect. However, in such cases where the split is in a vital area, I`m sure a visit to an oldtime cabinet maker for advise wouldn`t be amiss. I would recommend dowelling it especially if it is in the grip area. But if it is a wall hanger anyhow...