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Hey all you knowledgeable ones out there. I have a Savage 1899 .250-3000 that I am starting to restore (haven't shot it yet) and it has a butt stock with a couple of cracks (see pics). I'm not sure how to fix it and be solid so it doesn't flex when fired. Just getting started on it so if you have any great suggestions on how to proceed let me know. The first pic shows the crack as it proceeds forward and a second small crack about 3/4 inch upwards towards the crown. The long long one will separate when you put torque on the stock. The second pic shows attempts to show it from the underside.

I did try to glue it once but obviously didn't take so its start all over time. Let me know if you have any ideas.

Savage 1899 stock cracks1b.jpg Savage 1899 stock crack1.jpg
 
I always use super glue, use a real thin one as a primer then a thick one before you clamp it. Last time I did a stock repair, instead of a clamp I used a thin rope, wrapping around the cracked area and pulling it as tight as I could. Now if the wood is oil soaked you are going to want to leach out the oil with acetone or something similar.
 
Here's one way to do it.


Materials:

A bottle of wood glue.

A syringe and needle ( Not the smallest gauge needle, but pretty small. I got one at the BiMart pharmacy for 25 cents or so.)

A small wooden wedge (homemade will work fine).

Some parachute cord.

Two rags - one dry, and one damp.



The steps:


Take the plunger out of the syringe , and fill (mostly) the syringe with wood glue.

Put the plunger back into the syringe. Test to make sure the glue will go through the needle easily, and to get a feel for how much force it takes.

Open the crack in the stock and shove the wedge in to keep it open. (A wooden wedge is less likely to leave dents in the stock.) If the wedge has to be used in the middle of the stock (instead of at the end), it might booger up the finish. You might be better off to have someone else squirt the glue into the crack while you twist and hold it open.

Being careful not to break the needle off, push it as deep into the crack as it will go. Withdraw it slowly, while squirting glue into the crack.

Repeat this until you're confident the crack is filled with glue. Wiggle the wedge out.

Repeat for each crack.

When the crack is allowed to close, excess glue will ooze out. Wipe it off with a damp rag.

When all the cracks are filled with glue, and the excess glue has been wiped off, dry the stock.

Bind the stock as tightly as you can with the parachute cord. If you've ever done 'fancy work' in the navy, or done macrame, you'll be able to bind the stock easily. If you don't know how, I can send pictures. It's easy.



Once the stock is bound, set it aside for a couple of days. When you go back to it and remove the cord, the glue will have cured and will probably be stronger than the surrounding wood.

EDIT: I just re-read your post. If you've already put glue into the cracks, then wood glue might not work. It needs to soak into the wood fibers, and the other glue might prevent that.

Some other type of glue (epoxy?) might do the trick, but I've never tried to clean off excess epoxy. Not sure what that would require.
 
Last Edited:
To get rid of oil
To glue stock
 
When I was in gunsmithing school I did a repair in a manner similar to that in Post #6, except I used Acraglas Gel cut with acetone instead of wood glue.
If the material is thick enough you can drill from the end with the hole going as far into the crack as feasible, then squirt epoxy into the hole and push a dowel down to the bottom. This will squish the epoxy out thru the crack. Acetone not req'd unless the epoxy is too thick to fill the crack when you push the dowel in. Then proceed with binding/clamping and remove excess epoxy.
 
I had exactly the same break in a 99 I purchased 20 years ago. A gun smith friend of mine told me to open the crack as wide as I could and work in Brownell Accurglas. I then counter sunk two wood screw at angles. When cured I covered the screw head with brown stained Accurglas. Has held up for 20 years of use. Good luck and nice gun.
 
Cracks don't bother me if they're not oil soaked. Carpenters glue is always stronger than the wood itself if you can get it into the crack. That one scares me....... You might have to resort to hardwood dowels in strategic places and stain over them to hide them. (I've never used metal screws) Good luck.......
 
I can most likely get wood glue into the large crack by wedging it open a little. Not sure yet about the upper one but will try this afternoon to see if it will separate enough to force some glue in. If that doesn't work I'll resort to dowel pins. Not familiar with Acraglas Gel but will check Brownell's. The drill angle might be tricky since I don't have a drill press but it will still be worth the glue first.

I did back tape it for strength to take test shots first only to know if its fully functional before I put a lot of labor into it. I could only find 100gr ammo and the twist is 1/14. From what I've read that might put a load on the stock crack. So guess I'll find out soon.
 
When I was in gunsmithing school I did a repair in a manner similar to that in Post #6, except I used Acraglas Gel cut with acetone instead of wood glue.
If the material is thick enough you can drill from the end with the hole going as far into the crack as feasible, then squirt epoxy into the hole and push a dowel down to the bottom. This will squish the epoxy out thru the crack. Acetone not req'd unless the epoxy is too thick to fill the crack when you push the dowel in. Then proceed with binding/clamping and remove excess epoxy.

How is the excess epoxy removed? Is it done with acetone?

I've been using 5-minute epoxy on a project, and would like to have a simple way to clean off excess glue.
 
Used and Elmers outdoor wood glue.

Depending on how much glue you got into the cracks the first time, using more wood glue might not work now. Do the cracks still have the same flexibility as before you glued them?

I don't know if it would be advisable to attempt to remove the old glue. It might not even be possible. But here's a link to someone discussing it.






@revjen45 - Do you know if the epoxy would work if applied to a layer of old glue?
 
Last Edited:
You can use compressed air to blow the glue down into the crack. Tape off all the areas around the crack for easier cleanup.

I've heard of something like this, but the process used a vacuum cleaner to suck the glue down into the crack. I think it must've been a crack that went all the way from one side if the wood to the other.
 
Watch this guy use the air compressor method.
I enjoy all of his video's, as he's really good, has some great tools and there's no distracting talking like some that just ramble on and on.

 
Here's one way to do it.


Materials:

A bottle of wood glue.

A syringe and needle ( Not the smallest gauge needle, but pretty small. I got one at the BiMart pharmacy for 25 cents or so.)

A small wooden wedge (homemade will work fine).

Some parachute cord.

Two rags - one dry, and one damp.



The steps:


Take the plunger out of the syringe , and fill (mostly) the syringe with wood glue.

Put the plunger back into the syringe. Test to make sure the glue will go through the needle easily, and to get a feel for how much force it takes.

Open the crack in the stock and shove the wedge in to keep it open. (A wooden wedge is less likely to leave dents in the stock.) If the wedge has to be used in the middle of the stock (instead of at the end), it might booger up the finish. You might be better off to have someone else squirt the glue into the crack while you twist and hold it open.

Being careful not to break the needle off, push it as deep into the crack as it will go. Withdraw it slowly, while squirting glue into the crack.

Repeat this until you're confident the crack is filled with glue. Wiggle the wedge out.

Repeat for each crack.

When the crack is allowed to close, excess glue will ooze out. Wipe it off with a damp rag.

When all the cracks are filled with glue, and the excess glue has been wiped off, dry the stock.

Bind the stock as tightly as you can with the parachute cord. If you've ever done 'fancy work' in the navy, or done macrame, you'll be able to bind the stock easily. If you don't know how, I can send pictures. It's easy.



Once the stock is bound, set it aside for a couple of days. When you go back to it and remove the cord, the glue will have cured and will probably be stronger than the surrounding wood.

EDIT: I just re-read your post. If you've already put glue into the cracks, then wood glue might not work. It needs to soak into the wood fibers, and the other glue might prevent that.

Some other type of glue (epoxy?) might do the trick, but I've never tried to clean off excess epoxy. Not sure what that would require.
Will acetone dissolve and allow the old glue to be removed?
 
Here's something that might work.




How to get it down into the cracks, and then remove all the melted goo, is another question entirely. I wonder if you could open the cracks far enough to clean them out?

It would be a nerve-wracking job to crack the stock open (or completely apart) in order to clean the old glue off. But you would have clean surfaces for your second glue-up attempt.
 

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