-NOW FINISHED- My most ambitious stock repair yet.

[Catt57]

I have an early 1940s Springfield 87A that had a major crack down the length of the fore-end.
I had been told by more than a few people that is was not salvageable. (HAH!!)


I put lots of Hi-res before pictures in a Imgur album here:
http://imgur.com/a/KQm8R

It had already been glued together at some point in the past. It appears to have been a typical Elmer's style wood glue. I had to cut the entire section out and splice in a new piece of wood then added cross dowels at regular intervals to strengthen it. While doing this I found that the crack extended all the way back to the rear of the trigger guard. But not all of it had to be cut out. After splicing it back in I had to re-inlet it for the mounting block and re-drill the take down screw hole and refit the screw keeper into the stock.

There is also a split starting near the top along the receiver opening, and a severe gouge in that same area. This was also drilled and doweled.

It still needs some sanding and filling. I'm going to be painting this one as soon as i can decide on a color. Color suggestions are welcome but NOT BLACK!

 

[D. Hargrove]

Good looking work!!!

 

[magna19]

She is coming back to life!!!! Looks good

 

[Yeti695]

That looks good. Cant wait to see it all finished.

 

[Biggsly]

Looks good.

 

[Catt57]

I did these not to long ago. I have thought about the idea of doing this stock in a similar color scheme. White buckhorn tip and trigger guard. And maybe a white stripe on the buttstock (kinda like a military trainer marking).

Or I could just do it in OD Green...

 

[65ny]

You just destroyed the collector value of that rifle. I suppose it would still be good as a doorstop or something.
I'M KIDDING!! That repair looks great! If it were mine, I'd just oil it or stain it and show off the craftsmanship of that repair.

 

[Catt57]

SO, other than having the worst skills in MS Paint, here is a rough idea of the paint scheme.
Tell me what you think.

 

[MacFromOK]

If you want a straight paint job, dark brown with black trim (maybe add a white pinstripe on the black) would be my choice.

You might also consider a conventional camo paint job (personally, I find digitized camo somewhat annoying).

Or you might go with a dark stain, just to prove you did such a nice job.

Sweet repair in any case.

 

[okierider]

You just destroyed the collector value of that rifle. I suppose it would still be good as a doorstop or something.
I'M KIDDING!! That repair looks great! If it were mine, I'd just oil it or stain it and show off the craftsmanship of that repair.

I would go a dark stain and let it tell your story!! Wood grain rules even with the repairs!! Not to many folks would take the time and effort to repair that so it would be a one of a kind!!!