Wood work is not something I really seek out, but when you get a rifle for a good price that has a seemingly easy to repair stock crack you just can't pass it up. This Finnish M39 had a crack starting just behind the magazine body and terminating just through the wrist area on the left hand side. As the M39 has a good sized recoil lug this area should not be taking too much abuse from recoil but it still is translated through those regions. A strong repair that will outlast the rest of the gun is what I'm going for here. Acraglas came to mind as I've used it one other time nearly a decade ago to bed a match rifle during my more competitive small-bore days in my youth.
Acraglas is one of those "extra label" products like WD-40 and condoms. So many additional uses your imagination is the limit. Its a super strong resin/epoxy mostly used for bedding rifles for accuracy but also is strong enough for very durable repairs to pretty much anything wood,metal and some synthetics. Do a little reading on its use and follow the directions and you'll get good results every time.
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| The crack terminates here to a feather thin edge. |
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| The area towards the bottom of the stock covered with the green X did not have the crack running through it. |
I decided to install two cross pins through the thicker areas of the crack, drilling two holes and filling them with acraglas as well and coating the cross pins with acraglas should make for a durable repair.
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| Cross holes drilled for brass cross pins |
The drill bit I used was 3/32 which is the same size as the pin, My thinking was that threads would still bite enough to pull the stock together and not risk splitting anything. I should have sought out a slightly smaller drill bit that was long enough to still do the job. The pins did pull the stock together but in the end the surgical tubing did most of the clamping action. No harm will come from the slightly larger holes as more of the epoxy is present in there and will set up just the same and possibly offer a stronger cross pin type pillar in the long run than just a bare pin shot in with little epoxy on it due to the fit.
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1/16 rod was not used but I had purchased it just in case I decided to go with a smaller pin.
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Threaded cross pin used to pull the stock pieces together and act as reinforcement to the repair.
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| Acraglas added to the rod and inside the holes now the cross pin will be run in with a cordless drill. |
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Since the crack was so thin I wanted to have some pillars of acraglas in place so I drilled holes perpendicular to the direction of recoil and filled as well as worked the resin into the thin crack.
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After all the areas I wish to have the acraglas in and I had run the pins in with a drill I clamped the stock using surgical tubing which does not stick to acraglas so feel free to wrap tight and not worry too much if you get a little squeeze out from the cracks.
Its a pretty simple process to fix stocked such as the one pictured here. I don't want to type too much more on the topic as there are really no rules to fixing stocks other than go slow and plan ahead for each step. If you intend to bed a stock that is a slightly different process with a few more steps, other online resources should yield ample suggestions on best practices for your project.
