Stock Head Repair

   Parker Smallbore

This stock arrived in several pieces, large and small.  It was cracked all the way back through the breech pin area.  First order of business was to degrease the head to remove soaked-in oil and grime.  After epoxying the pieces back into their proper positions we were ready to mill a pocket for new wood.

Step # two

A pocket was milled approximately 3/8" deep to accept a piece of quarter-sawn French walnut.  In addition, since the cracks in the head extended so far rearward, I drilled and inserted two poplar dowels, 3/4" long and 5/16" diameter.  These would help keep the original wood from flexing outward.  These new pieces were epoxied into place and surfaced level with the original sides of the stock.

Inletting the metalwork

Next step is to inlet the metalwork into the new wood.  The receiver was drawn up tight against the new face of the stock and clearances for the hammers, breech bolt, and toplever spring were carved out.  Any voids left were filled with glass bedding (seen at top of new wood) to achieve a solid bearing surface.

New breech screw bushing

Since the stock had been cracked through this area, I wanted to introduce new wood here as well rather than rely just on epoxy.  I drilled a 5/8" diameter flat-bottomed hole and turned a piece of walnut to fit.  I prefer to turn the dowel so I can have the grain running North-to-South like it is in the rest of the stock.  In my opinion this creates a more solid anchor for the bushing (which is threaded into the wood) than using a dowel with the grain running top-to-bottom.