Laminate rifle stock repair

[Kroberts]

Last week, right before Thanksgiving I noticed a couple of cracks form on my laminate stock. I think that it is the layers delaminating from changes in humidity. Since the day before I had hunted for a few hours in some dense fog, then I took the rifle inside, leaving it in the case overnight, to acclimate a little slower to the hot dry house. The house is heated by wood heat so extremely dry, though I have not had any other gun have this issue. In the morning while cleaning and oiling the rifle I noticed the crack form along a glue line on the outside of the stock from one pillar to the other, though the crack was only visible from the outside at the time. Later that evening when I showed a wood working buddy what he thought two more cracks appeared on the inside of the stock on both sides of the rear pillar on the same laminate layer as the bottom crack and the crack on the outside could be felt on the inside of the magazine well. Overnight the cracks spread wide enough to slip a playing card in and were about 1/4" deep. Though over the last few days they closed up so that today they are hardly noticeable. I have had this stock for about 5 months with no issues and has only been used with a 243win and has been bedded with j.b. weld. And has only really been out of the house on nice weather days. I got the stock from Stockys and am waiting for a reply from the manufacturer to see if it is warrantied and them fix/replace it. If they can't what would be a good fix for it? I'm thinking spread the cracks and shoot in some epoxy then clamp shut. Though the stock has proven to swell in damp weather. So I will probably refinish and seal it better. If I can figure it out I will try to post the pictures from my phone. All advice on fixing this is appreciated.I don't want to shoot it till it is fixed so I put the rifle back into it's old home made stock.

Thanks,
Kyle

 

[J E Custom]

It doesn't look like anyone is going to help you so I will give you my 2 cents.

I have not had a laminate stock de-laminate so all I can do is offer some advice based on
repairing knife scales.

Most of the stabilize wood used on knife scales are soaked in Cyanoacrylate (Super glue) and it is very tough.

I would just apply the super glue to the effected areas and let it dry, steel wool it and coat it with a sealer.

It should repair it and prevent it from cracking any more.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Kroberts]

Thanks for the tips. I was wondering it it was something that happened infrequent enough that few people have had to mess with it.

Kyle

 

[dsculley]

There is a product called "penetrating epoxy" that we use in the marine industry a good bit. It is thin enough to soak into the cracks and seal them. With 2 or 3 applications you can seal the wood and fill the cracks. I would then seal the entire stock with the penetrating epoxy, followed with either an epoxy, varnish, or clear coat finish. All the wood that we treat this way is used in marine (wet) environments. FYI - The teak in the Release Fighting Chairs (Release Marine, Inc) is first coated with a penetrating epoxy followed by an epoxy finish in a very controlled environment. If you need more details on how to do this, you can pm me me.

Dennis

 

[Kroberts]

I'll have to keep the penetrating epoxy in mind for if this happens again for some reason. The manufacturer said that the stock is warrantied since it delaminated, and will replace the stock as soon as they get this one. So now to wait till I get back home to ship it out to them. Then I get the fun of rebedding the new stock.

Kyle

 

[7magcreedmoor]

When you bed the new stock, consider installing cross-bolts (like those used traditionally in African magnum caliber rifles) as part of the process. I got in a hurry and bolted up my rifle in the new stock and went shooting BEFORE doing the bedding. Big mistake, as I split the stock at the rear action screw (savage 111 action) right where it is thinnest. When doing the bedding I cut a channel cross-wise and embedded a piece of wood screw (chosen for the deep thread) in the bedding compound to repair and reinforce the area. So far so good after 300 rounds.

 

[tinkerer]

When I get a crack in a stock, laminate or solid, the superglue applied several times across a couple of days to allow it to soak in will work.

Also, any wood product that is NOT sealed, in and out, will expand and contract with moisture and heat. After you're all done, make sure your stock is sealed, once dry.

Larry
Tinkerer