Gents, to say it bluntly, last time I hunted Africa my rifle cracked severely at the wrist..thus a restock is needed..decades of drying out and perhaps gun oil seeping in did it..

The original stock is of a reddish walnut, presumably english or french as the rifle is about 100 years old.

My plan is to restock as original as possible but will beef it up somewhat at the wrist and lengthen it a bit to my measures..I have found a dense and heavy turkish walnut blank..and will use a red english pad as original..

Others details to consider..?

I assume the original stock is available to use as a pattern?
If so, the smith doing the duplication can add meat to it with bondo or filler to build up the stock in areas where you want more wood while keeping the architecture of the original.

Huvius...yes..that is how it will be done..

In the Selous in 2006 I slipped in a stream and broke the stock of my .450-400 at the wrist. I needed it (and the scope) to shoot a croc so I wrapped the wrist in electrical tape, then several layers of 1'x3" cut from an aluminum Coke can, more tape, and then bound in wet sable hide strips and let it dry in the sun of two days. It held, and I shot my croc.

Upon returning home the stock was de-oiled (it was made in 1920) and pinned and epoxied. I have been hunting with the rifle 10 years now and the last result can be seen on the Alaska hunting section of AR.

My point is that a good gunsmith can repair the stock and it will work fine. I would much rather do this than a restock.

As a sideline, I play a small game with myself when viewing Chaplin Arms' website. When I look at the fine doubles for sale I notice wood that, while very well done, just does not seem to be original. Most of the time I am correct, it is a restock and Champlin sells a lot of restocked doubles. The work is excellent but many, if not most, do not look right and they are easy to spot.

If possible, Pondoro, keep the original stock.
Cal

Cal...good points as always..

Yes, I will follow your advice and try to save the original..and your story from Selous with improvised Selous sideplates is a good one..

BTW, I still kick myself for not being able to act on that .600 Evans you advised me on....one day..

Cal
Is this , a dual stocked double, the type of difference you speak of in restocked guns.

Pondoro,I would leave that to someone well trained in choosing and working with stocks like Ralf Martini.I would also seek his opinion.

Gentlemen, there are unfortunately times when the original stock cannot be saved. However the key is to find a comparative wood with a comparative grain that can be shaped the same as the original. Once that is found the use of original oils used in the time frame when the rifle was new should be used to finish the wood.

I have a H. Berella cape gun chambered for 16ga left barrel and 8X57JR on the right that was made around 1910 with the normal German very straight grain wood and the finish almost blond. The wrist is very narrow and some idiot tried to freshen up the worn smooth checkering and botched the job badly.

I got a Turkish blank from Ray with a very straight grain, and I have some stock finish the will dup the original color. This will be a very expensive re-stocking because this cape gun is a side lock, exposed hammer gun that will require some very complex inletting of the locks as well as fitting to the action body’s extended tangs.

I’ve been putting this off for some time, because the stock is solid as is, and the little gun is a shooter par excellence but the botched checkering on the left side of the wrist is simply butt ugly on this otherwise beautiful little gun and the wrist is too thin to sand the checkering away and re-checker.

In this case I will likely get the wood duped for shape, and finish it myself after checkering of the new wood. Since this is a German gun the collector value is not the same as ventage Britt doubles I will go ahead and re-black the barrels as well and replace the original red recoil pad. The grip cap is buffalo horn with a layer of elephant ivory between the buffalo horn and the wood which will also be salvaged.

If this were a Britt double I would be reluctant to restocking at all, but I wish the Cretan who botched the checkering would leave all futher checkering jobs to those who know of what the are doing.
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I also suggest repairing & retaining the original buttstock if possible. In the USA, I recommend www.thestockdr.com or www.bmdgunstocks.com. Others are good too. Since you are in Norway, probably someone closer to home.

+1 for the Stock Dr.

I had 2-1/2" cut off the butt of a shotgun then 5 years later I needed it back on. I had kept the cut off piece. The slice was nice and clean, made by a gunsmith. I sent it to the Stock Dr. and he put the butt back together. You can't even tell it was ever cut!

a little bit ago i restocked a wm evans double. turned out really beautiful but what a sofabitch of a job that was. definitely not one for an amateur - especially me

Canuck32, I know that rifle well. Have been salivating over it and have handled both stocks. I think George could be talked into a good deal on this rifle, though it is on consignment. A wonderful rifle y a great maker.

quote:

Originally posted by fla3006:
I also suggest repairing & retaining the original buttstock if possible. In the USA, I recommend www.thestockdr.com or www.bmdgunstocks.com. Others are good too. Since you are in Norway, probably someone closer to home.

Pondoro, If cant find the right stock maker in Norway for this job, contact P O Stenmark in Skellefteå, Sweden. He will help you.