Leather as a shotgun stock repair

[santee]

So, my shotgun stock cracked. I've glued it, but pieces have chipped off---looks  bad. I would like to do an "old west" repair to it by wrapping it with leather.
Question: should I use rawhide and wet it? Read that is a pretty stout repair.

[HorsePen Henry]

Yep, rawhide wears like iron. It is a great fixer upper. Just go down to the food market and buy ya one a them rawhide doggy bones and soak it in a wet towel stuck in a plastic baggy in the refrigerator over night. In the morning you will be able to unroll it and do whatever ya need to do with it. I cut a lace from the same stuff and sew it up on the wrist of yer shotgun and then let it dry. It will shrink fit and you won't be able to pull them apart. You can even put brass tacks in it too. Looks great and it will be a period in the field repair.
Horse Pen

[Ace Lungger]

Howdy Santee,
Where is the break in the stock at? If it is in the back of the butt stock, I would make a pattern like we did for our buffalo guns, with out the back end! If that is where it is, get you a peice of rawhide just a little bit bigger than you need. So you could use for your lacing! I would get it wet and strech as good as I could, lay your pattern on it and cut it out! make you lacing holes, making sure the rawhid is still wet, lay your rawhide cover over the butt stock, making sure when you lace it up, it is got and tight! when it is dry, you be good!!
ACE

[Delmonico]

I've got a 375 Winchester 94 Big Bore that I did that with, after the epoxy fix.  Been that way a lot of years and it ain't broke loose.  A 255 gr bullet at 2000 fps in a 94 carbine does generate a bit of recoil and it's held fine.

[santee]

Thanks, guys. I'll do the rawhide treatment, since it has to be functional as well as cosmetic. The crack is right behind the hammers, Ace.
Like the brass tacks option....hmmmm....

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Howdy Santee

      I just thought I would throw this in, back in the 1930's my Dad was out hunting rabbits in Colorado, using his Uncle's Stevens SXS 12 gage with the outside hammers, he shot a rabbit and when he got up close it started to take off so he hit with the butt of the gun, instead of firing at at such close range, but he broke the stock off at the back of the hammers, so what he did was to use some good wood glue of that time, to glue it back, he tied it up using a meat cutters knot, and let it dry, and it has held ever since, and you really have to look to see where the split was, he used it for years after that, and now it's mine, so glue is not a bad way to get the job done, in fact you should glue it some way before you wrap it in rawhide. IMHO, over the years I have had to repair a few gun stocks, and they have all held up.


                                          tEN wOLVES 

[santee]

Good advice, Ten Wolves. Interesting how those things can break so easily. I guess that rabbit had a hard noggin!

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Good advice, Ten Wolves. Interesting how those things can break so easily. I guess that rabbit had a hard noggin!

      Yea Satee, I think the ground had something to do with it, but Dad didn't want to talk about that, I think we all miss our marks at one time or another, Dad was always hard on wood for some reason, I remember he broke my first bow, wanting to see how far he could pull it back, wood and my Dad just had some hard times.


                                               tEN wOLVES   

[ChuckBurrows]

Just finished this set up for a gent - aged the wood and then added a bit of deco - the buttstock was 'repaired" with deer rawhide and the forend with braintan - I used BT since I didn't have the whole gun and was concerned with cracking the fore end if I used rawhide  - it can impart a lot of pressure and or pull. FWIW - I much prefer deer elk or deer rawhide over cow - www.hideandfur.com has all kinds and good prices - buy a small damaged one for cheap and you'll still have a good bit of usable material. Soak it until completely saturated (may take several hours) and then let set until the excess moisture is gone. If you're going to use tacks adda couple to hold teh hide in place and then trim to fit real close - a LITTLE gap in between is good, you want to pullit up real tight as you sew. I use the baseball stitch to sew it all together and then tap the seam flat while damp. Apply any more tacks when almost dry. After it's completely dry seal it with something like spar varnish or a non-gloss woodfinish.



figure it might give you some ideas.......when using the tacks - predrill part way and cut off the sharp tip to prevent splitting and like TW said glue and then wrap the rawhide........

rawhide is the duct tape of the old west - I understand that the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City was put together with wooden pegs and rawhide strapping.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Really cool, Chuck. What a great addition to that rifle. I didn't know about the deer rawhide. Thanks for the link. I like the look of both pieces of leather. Nice tip on pre-drilling for the tacks and snipping the end off. I'll remember that, too

[River City John]

My '66 carbine is Indian-tacked and wrapped with rawhide at the wrist on the stock. I also got one of those cheap jumbo dog chews at the dollar store and soaked it apart to stretch out and cut into a strip. Wrapped it when damp just like making a hangman's noose so the ends could be pulled taut under the wrappings and trimmed off. As it dried down it held everything tight as a drum. I shoot BP and by now the rawhide has dirtied down and soaked up enough moosemilk to give it a slight glaze. Helps keep my grip when I have sweaty palms on hot days, too.

RCJ

[santee]

How wide are the straps you all are cutting?

[ChuckBurrows]

I sew mine on as was done with the majority of old ones.
Wrapping has certain inherent problems since rawhide shrinks in all directions as it dries including thickness so it wrapping can loosen up as it dries - sewn on the other hand just tightens up...

[Jamie]

This may be self-evident, but I didn't see anything on it, so it might be worth mentioning. Being at the joint between the buttstock-action, there may well be a bit or a lot of oil in the wood, which, if present would not only foil the gluing attempts, but might, over time, work on the rawhide as well.  I've read about using chemicals - in particular oven cleaner as a degreaser, but I've had real good luck simply applying some serious direct heat - ie from a radiant heat source, or possibly a heat gun like you'd use to loosen paint.  Yes, you have to be careful not to scorch the wood, but boy will it draw the oil out of the wood from depths that I question whether the oven cleaner would get too.  A touch of oven cleaner in the gluing surface, an epoxy of the correct type, and then rawhide overlay and you have a repair which is almost certainly stronger than the original wood.  And far more interesting as well - as evidenced by the pictures posted.
Jamie

[santee]

Fantastic ideas, folks! I appreciate it.

[Hank Rugerman]

rawhide is the duct tape of the old west -

Now see, Chuck...you've brought it all down, to where we all understand....
Don't take offense, but there's something to be said for being a redneck...LOL....

[santee]

Okay, I did it. You all were right on. That rawhide shrunk up tight on the stock.
Decided against the spots this time, since I've got a Wells Fargo medallion on the stock.

NOW, I've got excess rawhide lace coming out of the knot. Should I just snip it off, or leave it (see second photo)?

[HorsePen Henry]

Yep, just snip it off. If it were my gun I would put another sleeve of rawhide over that one and make the second one wider and put the seam on the left hand side of the wrist so you won't be feeling it under your right hand when shootin'. The double thick rawhide cover will be twice as strong. Kinda like a double rawhided saddle tree.
Stout and stronger than the original wood.

Horse Pen

[santee]

Hmmmm.... good idea, Horsepen. Thanks for the tip!

[Ace Lungger]

Howdy my Old Pard,
You did a good job fixing that, and I will agrre with HP pn putting another wrap and the seam on the left side if you shoot right handed, and if you shot left handed out it on the right side!
Good Job!!
later ACE