how to repair this stock?

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back40

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i recently picked up a marlin guide gun. it's an older jm stamped version, and upon disassembling it for cleaning and a new trigger install, i noticed this crack. that's me gently spreading it open as much as i dare. otherwise it's unnoticeable.

IMG_20140415_073854_078_zps7b38bb47.jpg

right at the receiver tang, maybe a half inch deep into the wrist, but straight through from top (shown) to bottom.

my thought was to drill a 1/16th" hole perpendicular to the crack (from top to bottom) at the back of it, to stop it from traveling any further. then, fill with gorilla glue and gently spread the crack open and warm the wood to wick gorilla glue into the crack as much as possible. the hole with be hidden once the stock is reinstalled, so no worries there.

i'm just not sure if i need a different glue or if i should be filling the drilled hole with something. the only hardwood dowels i can find are 1/8th", which seems like an excessive size hole to drill.
 
would you drill the hole, RC? or just let the glue do the trick in the crack as is?
 
Yep RC is dead on with the CA. I have used a two part hobby epoxy but the benefits are marginal. If you do drill it, I would be careful. If you choose not to, the glue inside the crack should be sufficient.
 
NO.
DO NOT drill it.

The thin CA will wick to the very finest bottom of the tiniest crack and set up instantly right after it does.

Cyanoacrylate Adhesive (CA) cures in the total absence of air.

Drill it, let air in, and it will not cure out at all.

rc
 
thanks for the info, RC. i just found a source for the CA and should get to work on it saturday. sounds like it'll be much easier than what i had in mind.
 
Just again!

Be Very careful when using it.

It is water thin, but way more penetrating then water.
And it will run out the bottom of the crack and glue your hand too the stock before you even realized what happened.

Might be a good idea to mask off the rest of the stock below the crack until you find out what kind of stuff CA is capable of doing when you least expect it!!!!!

A little goes a LONG WAYs when it runs through the crack out the bottom, and clear down the stock!!!
My shop floor under the bench has been refinished with it, by accident!

BE VERY Careful with using too much of it!!!!

rc
 
thanks again for the info. i had planned on masking off the rest of the stock. any tips to clean up 'squeeze out', if any does run down the stock?
 
No, not really.
They sell CA remover, but it would probably remove the stock finish too.

Fingernail polish remover will sorta get it off your fingers.

I just scrape it off with a sharp knive edge, finish sand with 400 paper, then touch up to finish with Tru-Oil.

rc
 
From a retired furniture-maker (me): STAY AWAY from Gorilla glue for this repair. Instead, do exactly what rcmodel says.
 
Another vote for the thin CA. The only thing that I would consider besides that is either hot hide glue or, in this case, fish glue. Yellow glue is way, way down the list. Gorilla Glue has no place around a gun or guitar.
 
Yeah gorilla glue expands very wired. I have repaired a few with hobby/wood epoxy. The bad part is unless you have wax paper to put over it, it isn't very smooth. I have never had problems with CA other than it being really thin. The epoxy will leave the stock really shiny when it dries. I have used it on a couple old .22 stocks and the living room hardwood floor where my wife dropped something and left a noticeable hole.

I would not suggest tape with the CA. If it gets on it, it can be a real pain to remove the tape. RC will be able to tell you what kind of applicator(really small applicator) that some CA has, it is as small as a needle. That is the way I would fix it.
 
Consider Titebond wood glue. It's made for wood. The bond is stronger than the wood. It cleans up with water. Any excess can be trimmed with an X-acto knife. You can apply it with a syringe or the tip of a stick or plastic knife. More open time. More forgiving. No gluing fingers to stock or each other.
 
My problem with wood glue is, there is no possible way to get it clear to the bottom of a tight crack like the OP is dealing with.

Unless you finish breaking it apart and re-glue it back together with full glue coverage on the broken surface.
Only then is it stronger then wood.

That's the beauty of CA adhesive.
You don't have to break it to fix it.

rc
 
I agree with rc on this. I did the same thing with an H&R Model 1900 shotgun that had cracks in the wrist.

wrist.jpg

Due to the age and condition, I flooded the cracks with lacquer thinner first in an effort to clean them (I was refinishing the stock anyway). I doubt that the Marlin the OP needs that, however. The cyanoacrylate fix has stood up to several low brass loads with no sign of letting go.
 
You can repair it, but it will crack again. It's not inletted right.
 
Rockler - if you have one near you - has a nice selection of CAs with a range of application options.


RC - Geeze, how many times have you bonded yourself to a firearm?:) Your warnings are scaring me!

Now I'm gonna get my wife to use it the next time it's needed.
 
flooded the crack with hot stuff ca this afternoon. wedged a piece of scrap wood between the ears of the stock and clamped it while it cured. everything is back together (with a new wwg trigger) and ready for a function test tomorrow. we'll see how she holds up.

interesting stuff that ca. i had the stock clamped vertically in the vise and some of the ca that ran down from the bottom of the crack, pooled up in the inletting. when i wiped it up with a rag, i noticed the tip of the rag smoking. they warn on bottle of it burning skin through clothing.

thanks guys.
 
4v50 Gary said:
You can repair it, but it will crack again. It's not inletted right.
Click to expand...

back40 said:
care to expand on that, 4v50?
Click to expand...

I think what he's getting at is that gluing the crack is treating the symptoms. In order to fix the problem, you'll need to change whatever caused the stock to crack in the first place.

I'd guess that there's a high spot on the side that cracked that's taking all the recoil. You want to either lower the high spot or epoxy bed the stock so that the recoil is spread evenly across as much surface area of the front of the stock as possible.

I'd like to see a picture of where the stock meets the metal.
 
Last edited:
sorry for the delay...

here's the pics of the stock where it meets the tang.
IMG_7507_zpsfae30a81.jpg
IMG_7508_zps3e537062.jpg
 
Marlinstock_zps2bbdc814.jpg

It's really hard to read because the flash makes everything the same silver color. But it appears that the area in the green circle is making solid contact. I'm not so sure about the area in the red circle or the area between them.

The idea is to have the recoil force spread out over the entire area of the end of the stock. If the force is concentrated in one area it will eventually crack the stock. I'd repair the crack and spread a *thin* layer of Acraglas Gel dyed brown on the end of the stock. It will squeeze out of the areas that are contacting the receiver now and build up the areas that aren't.

If you do this be sure to use at least two coats of release agent on anything metal nearby.
 
thanks for the help. the circle indentation is from the set screw for the cross bolt safety. not sure about the lower portion. i'll pull the stock again and check it out. perhaps i'll try bedding the ends.
 
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