rifle stock screw hole worn out

Hi everybody,

I have a rifle with a wooden stock. One of the screw holes is so worn out that the "repairman" shoved the screw hole full of steel wool and then replaced the screw. I don't think this is going to work long. Replacing the stock is an option, but I really like this one. What kind of repair can be done?

Please help, I can't shoot til this is fixed. -Sigh-

Thanks, Eric

Reply to
Eric Bragas
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What size of thread goes into the hole or is it actually a wood screw?

Can you get to the location to effect a repair I presume? Is it a visible location so grain matching is/is not important?

General route I would take would be to try to replace a section around the hole w/ a suitable plug for a new screw hole.

Many other alternatives depending on the details are, of course, available...

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

Drill out a bit larger, fill with expoxy, then redrill the hole

John

Reply to
john

Reply to
Dave W

Drill it out and insert a contrasting/dyed hard-wood plug, depending on what the screw does of course.

Reply to
Badger

Get a small container of carpenter's glue, a 15/64" drill bit, and a

1/4" dowel. Drill the area about as deep as the screw, glue in a piece of dowel (sand to fit as necessary; they're usually oval and under 1/4" to begin with), and let dry. Saw, file and sand the dowel flush to the stock, avoiding the stock other than the repair area so you don't have to refinish. Now redrill for the screw, and use brown shoe polish to match the finish if part of the repair shows. ;)

That should fix it for the next two generations' use, Eric.

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Reply to
Larry Jaques

This is a very common repair. Any competent gunsmith (or let's be honest here, even a fairly shoddy plumber) can do a good permanent repair. Like all gun repairs it needs to be well-done, not just a bodge, because the strains of shooting it will work most bodges loose.

Any decent gunsmithing book ought to describe this too.

What's a "screw" here anyway?

For woodscrews, insert a wooden plug. This is ideally a similar timber to the stock and should be old, stable, dry timber. Don't bake the insert to dry it (it might split the stock if it gets wet again). Don't use oak (it will stain with iron, and also makes the screw hard to remove). Walnut is itself a good material. Don't be afraid to enlarge the hole to get a decent plug into it.

The pre-drill the plug a little to give your screw a start into it.

For parallel-threaded machine screws (which you do sometimes see screwed directly into timber stocks), then do it properly and insert a metal nut. These can either be inserts designed to screw into timber, or they can have a coarse surface and be glued in. I use a boxful of little brass ones with knurled outers that were originally meant to be pushed hot into plastic. They hold fine in timber with a little epoxy. Brass is hard to glue, but the knurling helps.

When gluing screw inserts, check alignment with the screw itself - but watch you don't glue the whole thing together!

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Sat, Aug 27, 2005, 12:39pm (EDT-3) snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Eric=A0Bragas) mumbled: Please help, I can't shoot til this is fixed.

WHY can't you shoot it? You neglected to give any details about what screw hole is worn out. With steel wool as a "fix", my thought is somewhere in the metal parts - I don't see any reaon a worn out wood scrw hole would keep one from shooting. Why is it worn out anyway? Without the missing information, no one can reasonably be expected to give an appropriate response. So many people ask questions, and then fail to give enough details for a viable answer.

JOAT The grass on the other side of the fence is seldom greener. It just gets more media attention.

Reply to
J T

A common method is to drill out the hole so a dowel or better yet, a plug with face grain at the ends, can be glued in, then redrill for the screw.

Reply to
Lawrence Wasserman

So, wouldn't it be better to use a plug-cutter and cut from the face grain? Otherwise, his screw will be going into end-grain, which is generally weak.

scott

Reply to
Scott Lurndal

Joat offered this link just today:

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>>>>>I have a rifle with a wooden stock. One of the screw holes is so worn

Reply to
Ron Hock

Sat, Aug 27, 2005, 12:39pm (EDT-3) snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Eric=A0Bragas) did post, and then left: I have a rifle with a wooden stock. One of the screw holes is so worn out that the "repairman" shoved the screw hole full of steel wool

I got to wondering if this guy was ever going to return - apparently not, because he posted a similar post on rec.guns - link below. There's some additional info, and a link to a picture - which apparently doesn't work all the time. But, he's got a close of a semi-auto AK-47 type rifle, and apparently this is a buttstock screw. I'm thinking that HE was the "repairman", from the way things are worded. Anyway, he got about the same guidance there, as he did here. I'm wondering why in the world he would be taking the screw out so often the wood got stripped.

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snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.c= om&rnum=3D2&hl=3Den

JOAT Plans? Plans? Don' need no steenkin' plans.

Reply to
J T

On Tue, 30 Aug 2005 20:01:05 GMT, the blithe spirit snipped-for-privacy@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) clearly indicated:

Ideally, yes. But it really shouldn't matter much unless the gun is tossed around a whole lot. (In which case, why should WE care? ;)

Reply to
Larry Jaques

FYI, JOAT, I didn't buy this new from China, so there's no telling how many times it was fired before I bought it. The screw hole is worn and gets progressively worse with each firing. (But thanks for your skepticism, because I'm sure you know we're all liars here on the web.)

Thank you to everybody for all your help. I still haven't decided if it's time for me to buy a new stock altogether. I had no idea there were so many repair options.

Reply to
Eric Bragas

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