Hi all, I picked up an antique Blegian 45cal double pistol. The grip has a piece split off on the top next to the tang. I'm wondering if I should try and match a piece of wood to it then glue it on with small dowels and shape or just leave it alone. I took some pics, but the site where I put them seems to be down.



Thoughts?



I'll see if this works.

Leave it alone, that crack represents a part of that guns history whatever that might have been. You'd devalue it by attempting a fix.

It looks like the trigger and hammer sear surfaces are worn way down. Any thoughts on welding them up and recutting?

I'm thinking some copper coated steel brazeing rod to build the surfaces up, then recut and harden afterwards???

The extractor is missing, but shouldn't be too much trouble to make a new one.

It's your gun, you can do whatever you like with it. If it were mine I would glue in a matching piece of wood where the stock is broken and build an extractor for it. I'm not interested in any guns that I can't shoot, at least once.
Be prepared to meet the wise men who say,"I would buy that for many $$ if only you hadn't restored it to shooting condition." If you don't repair it the same wise guys will say,"I would pay many $$ for it if the stock didn't have a part missing." Either way you lose. jcstead@telus.net

I don't think that type of gun is worth much in its' present condition, but have it appraised as-is before restoring it. If my guess is right, you won't hurt its' value much by making it shootable, plus you'd have the fun of shooting it after you get it working!

I'd probably do the repairs on that one were I gonna keep it, if for no other reason that it would bother me having a broken piece laying about.



Find somebody good with a TIG welder to build up the worn parts.



As to the wood, I wrote this a while back for somebody else, but it generally applies....the only difference being I'd like to have a piece of wood the same age and species as the antique....Dixie Gunworks used to sell old European military stocks just for this purpose, so check with them....and I save all stock scraps from antiques just for that purpose, and probably have a chunk of 1870-vintage walnut laying around if you need it:

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Adding Wood to Stock



I've done it before - many, many times - mostly on restorations. But my preference for your gun would be to make a new stock. Tough to make a splice perfect. Very tough - those glue lines will telegraph thru the finish in a few to ten years, requiring refinishing - I don't care how carefully you match grain, wood-age or moisture content. Boyds and Wenigs both have semi-inletted ones for Fox, I believe.



Buy a selection of 2" black walnut turning squares from Constantines.com. Not one, but a selection - you can send the others back. The hard part is getting the grain to match exactly - then to hide the glue line. Use a ruler and dividers for this - the figure and grain line may look like they match when raw - but any misalignment will look like a cheap neon sign with finish on it.



Mask entire stock w/3M masking tape. Draw center lines on comb, toe and butt using dividers on a flat surface. Decide on and draw your cut line. Insure you don't hit the bolt hole, if there is one. I find you are best cutting most of the comb off so the glue line follows a natural line of the stock and isn't too thin - like at the top of the comb.



Glue stock to heavy cardboard - a powder box side is perfect - use spray-on contact cement. Cut cardboard shims to level stock both horizontally (comb and toe centers level) and vertically (buttface square to table) and glue the shims in tight. Use dividers against your index lines to be exact.



Cut with either bandsaw or table saw with finish blade - I prefer bandsaws for this - but you will have to refinish anyway, so it's not as important. Sharp finish blades are, tho - not a place for a coarse, dull sawblade. Cut thru the cardboard as you go. Leaving stock in cardboard, touch against disk sander to clean up cut.



Glue matched turning square to cut with dyed Brownell's Acraglass. Clamp lightly or tie with surgical tubing. No need to pin or dowel with any good 4 to 1 epoxy. But the contact line has to be a perfectly-faying fit.



After curing, rasp off turning square on sides to draw your new stock profile. Draw it, and mount a sacrificial buttplate (cut to match your original) where you want it. Rasp stock to final form, sand and finish.



To hide the lines - get some Burnt Umber and Sienna oil paint tubes from an art supply (ground Japan pigments mixed w/acetone for lacquer finishes). Mix to match your color after staining and sealing - and smear a bit on the glue lines to hide. I use a Q-tip for this. Do this lightly and gradually between finish coats and you can hide it without looking too obvious about it. You want a translucent finish but with just enuf opacity to hide those lines without it looking like a painted stripe.



I'll send you a selection of papers on rasping, filing, sanding and finishing if you like - you can pick and choose from them for additional ideas.



Good luck.

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I 've got one of those too. Mine looks pretty cheesie. I would not expect a repair to be lasting. I also would not trust mine with live ammo. The engineering and seems pretty substandard. My extractor plunger is busted in half. The design of the plunger weakened the main shaft too much. The firing pins are tiny little things, pointed right at your eye. My lock up is very loose. I would bet the frame is soft iron. If I set everythig right it would not stay that way. I will keep mine as a curiosty, shooting it seems to be a unsafe at best.

I do intend to shoot this. I already have a box of 45 colt cases cut to .93". I slugged the barrel and it came out at .451" so I will load with a 230gn flatnose 45 acp bullet. The twist is 1:16. It has Nitro proof marks on the underside of the barrels. I was initially thinking of useing FFFg only, but may try some 2400 and keep the pressures at or under 10k per quickload. Any parts that I have to replace, I'll keep to go along with the gun. Maybe a new grip would be the way to go and just put this one up. I already drilled the screw holes and put hardwood dowels in to be able to hold the screws. I don't think this would detract from it as it isn't visible and really needed to be done. The fireing pins still have a sharp sholder on them to fit inside the nipples so I don't think I'll worry about that as pressures will be way low. I'm thinking that any new screws that I have to make will get a Plum brown treatment to more closely match the Patina. I think the gun will be shootable with the broken stock, but may look nicer with a new one. The broken grip wasn't shown in the Auction photos or in the discription, so I've emailed the seller. I"ll keep the gun, but I seems that it was intentially hid.