Shotgun stocks, refinishing and splits

[Cake444]

Thought I would share my experiences with my gun stock as I’ve never really done anything like this before. If anybody has any advice on the subject or may read that I have done something wrong I would appreciate any help for the future.

 

I own a SxS 12 bore shotgun that is just over a year old but after a split developed in the walnut stock I decided to repair and refinish it. This split is probably due to my running some heavy weight cartridges through the gun, plus the grain is just too parallel in my opinion. If the grain was cut diagonal it wouldn’t have split so much. The split developed on the underside of the stock just on the left hand side of the trigger guard moving down the grain parallel to the trigger guard.

 

Firstly I soaked the stock and boiled it out, rising dents and removing dirt. After it was dry I prised the split apart and whickered adhesive into it, keeping it compressed with some elastic. When the adhesive was dry I drilled a 2mm hole across the split and glued a 2mm piece of dowel in the hole for strength.

 

After that I masked off the checkering and sanded down the whole thing firstly with 250 grit, then 400 and then 0000 steel wool until it was as smooth as I could get it. I applied Birchwood Casey filler and sealer to fill the grain, seal any bear wood under the breach block and but plate. After that I wire wooled all the filler off until it was just the filled grain that was left and the stock was then ready to finish.

 

Finished it with tru oil. Thinned the oil with mineral spirits so the first two coats were 25/75, then the next two were 50/50 and then one at 75/50. This was to make sure it soaked in deep! After each coat it took it back to the wood as well.

 

After this it was pure tru oil then wool back to wood another five times until all the grain was filled and the stock was like satin glass (if ever such a thing existed). Then one thin final satin coat on the wood.

 

After all of this the stock looks very nice and the split isn’t visible. I was going to buy myself a Winchester semi-auto with a synthetic stock so i could run larger cartridges when needed without spoiling the SxS, but I can’t afford the gun right now.

 

Anybody else had experiences with stocks splitting

[Guest cookoff013]

sounds, like you have done a fine job.

 

i dont think the original split is due to heavy cartridges, it may have been an underlying fault with the wood.

some sxs wood are real thin and any faults can be just due to usage. As its a light game gun, just use light game shells.

 

thinning the oil, helped work the oil into the stock.

 

these sxs guns generally arnt for big loads. thats there one downfall. however they make up for it being super light and very nimble.

[Cake444]

sounds, like you have done a fine job.

 

i dont think the original split is due to heavy cartridges, it may have been an underlying fault with the wood.

some sxs wood are real thin and any faults can be just due to usage. As its a light game gun, just use light game shells.

 

thinning the oil, helped work the oil into the stock.

 

these sxs guns generally arnt for big loads. thats there one downfall. however they make up for it being super light and very nimble.

 

 

I was going to get a Winchester SX3 for around £800, just so i could rail large loads through it.

 

Cookoff how heavy would you go with your SxS? I generally use 32gram 5's for rabbits and pigeons, although when rabbiting in a well lit moon (try to avoid) i always bring along a pocket full of 36gram 4's for when I need silly range!

 

I have done a bit of foxing with the SxS and used some 40g BB loads that you helped me out with. Are those too heavy do you think?