Post by wsl49er on Apr 15, 2010 17:11:57 GMT -5
When I purchased my Winchester 1907 it had the apparent standard crack down the length of the fore end. Someone in the past had tried to make a repair using bedding compound like you would use to re-bed a rifle barrel to a minor success, they made a flexible hinge. The halves were off register and when removing the fore end it folded in on it self, as a hinge would do. On the outside (the checkered side of the fore end the crack was even more visible and about a 1/16 " open.
I opended the fore end so it was in the shape it should have been and found an old piece of aluminum which would keep it spread to that shape. I put some Gorilla glue in a large needle syringe, removed the aluminum, spread and sprayed the inside of the opened crack with water, laid in a good solid line of the glue the entire length, inserted the aluminum piece and wiped off the excess from the checkered outside of the fore end. I then set the fore end between some six inch vice jaws with no pressure, just the weight of the aluminum and the fore end keeping it in position, It was sitting more on the jaws than in the jaws (think chord of circle) with the gap in the jaws narrower than the fore end. I let it sit for around 24 hours and then used an exacto knife to remove what little glue had come out of the crack.
So far with about 21 shots of varying degrees of power the crack has not separated and there are no additional cracks.
Eventually I want to make a mold of the fore end and stock. I've done mold work for a long time and figure I can find a hard enough rubber to take the place of the wood. I figure maybe an aluminum inner shell of 1/8" plate , or enough thickness to lock into where the wood does now at the front and rear of the fore end with the rubber as body. I'm figuring maybe an 80 or 90 durometer. Polytek in Pennsylvania should have what's needed for a good long lasting silicon mold and the rubber composition.
I opended the fore end so it was in the shape it should have been and found an old piece of aluminum which would keep it spread to that shape. I put some Gorilla glue in a large needle syringe, removed the aluminum, spread and sprayed the inside of the opened crack with water, laid in a good solid line of the glue the entire length, inserted the aluminum piece and wiped off the excess from the checkered outside of the fore end. I then set the fore end between some six inch vice jaws with no pressure, just the weight of the aluminum and the fore end keeping it in position, It was sitting more on the jaws than in the jaws (think chord of circle) with the gap in the jaws narrower than the fore end. I let it sit for around 24 hours and then used an exacto knife to remove what little glue had come out of the crack.
So far with about 21 shots of varying degrees of power the crack has not separated and there are no additional cracks.
Eventually I want to make a mold of the fore end and stock. I've done mold work for a long time and figure I can find a hard enough rubber to take the place of the wood. I figure maybe an aluminum inner shell of 1/8" plate , or enough thickness to lock into where the wood does now at the front and rear of the fore end with the rubber as body. I'm figuring maybe an 80 or 90 durometer. Polytek in Pennsylvania should have what's needed for a good long lasting silicon mold and the rubber composition.