I got a Ruger No 1 that has a couple of light dents on the stock in the cheek-piece area. What is the best way to smooth out these light dents? My Ruger No 1 has a set of hardwood laminated stocks by the way. Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Ming,
How deep and is the grain broken? Since it's a lam, i don't know if "ironing" will work, but you can give it a try. You probably will destroy any finish on it.

get an iron, a steam one is better, turn it to it's highest setting. Place a washcloth, damp, not wet, just damp, over the dings. run the iron over the dings, hitting the steam button, and moving the heat. Try it, see if it's working, try it somemore.

This is what my wife does when I bring home a beatup wreck, and I want to keep the stock, but AFTER i strip the oil from it.
jeffe

Use a regular Iron, not a steam , iron and get the rag plumb wet for laminate, you can even put a little water on the hole then hold the iron on the rag until dry...Oh yes lightly sand the area with a sandpaper block first..After it has risen you may have to put a little hot stuff filler glue in the areas where the glass was...then sand flat and finish.

I agree with Atkinson (as usual :-) but I'd add an alternative.

I've encountered dents that refused to raise because the polyurethane finish kept the steam from penetrating. Trying to avoid sanding and patching the finish, I used a pin to poke a dozen holes in the finish over the dent, then raised it as described by Atkinson. The pinholes in the finish were filled by a quick smear of Trueoil which was wiped off -- the repair was alsmost invisible.

Next time, I'll try Atkinson's way of using Hot Stuff glue to patch the finish!

jpb

Thank you gentlemen for all the good suggestions. I will have to copy and paste all these good info into my gunsmithing folder. I will be sending the stock out to have a magnum recoil pad installed and LOP adjusted and will probably might as well let the pro fix it at the same time. Thanks again guys.

I forgot to ask that how can I remove the Ruger No 1 butt stock? I looked at the diagram from the manual and it looks like it has a long screw in the stock that is fastened to the frame in the tang area but it is not very obvious how to get to the this screw. Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Another thing to try is putting pinholes in the dent, then putting a drop of water in the dent and let it soak for a few minutes, then put the tip of a soldering iron in the middle of the drop. It doesn't work all the time but it works enough that I try it before using an iron. Like Ray says, dry iron and really wet rag.

Take the recoil pad off and use a long screw driver to reach the stock bolt....

Mingo---

A word of caution when removing any through bolt butt stock.

Be SURE the screwdriver blade is in the screw slot and not caught between the bolt head and the stock.

When you put torque on one that's wrong you'll hear a sickening crunch as the side the stock splits.

Good point,JBelk.

I like to slide a length of electrical conduit down the stock hole until it bottoms and run the screwdriver inside that. Pretty well eliminates the chance of splitting the stock.

Better than that, I like hex head stock screws, but you don't always get what you want.

Thanks Ray and Jack for the tip about removing the bolt in the stock. I have never thought it would be this tricky to remove the stock. Ruger really did come up with all these weird designs. Why can't a stock bolt be incoporated under the trigger graud somewhere? I guess that it must have something to do with the safety system. Oh well I guess that we will have to deal with it.

Thanks Mark and Leftoverdj for the additional tips.

Later guys!

Mingo--

Stock bolts are standard in hundreds of guns besides the Ruger #1 including the British 303 SMLE.

Look at any O/U and most doubles, most single shots, and all but a few pumps and autos.....all have through bolts.

I *guess* the first in the U.S. was the Civil War Spencer. Then Ballards, the British Martini.....et al.

Most lever guns have pinch-tang butt stocks. They loosen over time and can't be tightened without glass bedding.

[ 11-10-2002, 01:43: Message edited by: JBelk ]

Thanks Jack for the insight. I did not realize the commonality of this design. I thought that my Marlin 1895 got a good design as the stock is fastened to the frame via a bolt in the tang area.

I was planning to put a couple of mercury recoil reducers in the butt stock of my Ruger No 1 but not sure how are they gonna to fit in the stock with the stock bolt in there.

Thanks!

I decided to try to raise those dings by using an iron and a damped cloth but it did not seem to help. In fact, the area around the dings started to bubble so I was very nervous about the whole job. Those bubbles are leveled now but I can still see the bubble marks. I suppose that the bubbles were from the "gel" surface finish of the stock. It looks like I will have to sand it down. I wonder if I can just sand the trouble area and re-apply the finish. I do not have any experience whatsoever working with wood so this will be a learning experience for me. I hope that I will not ruin the stock while I am learning the fixing process. Thanks.

Mingo,

#1 rule of working with / finishing fine wood, gunstock or otherwise:

Thou shalt not sand without a backing block.

Preferrably something firm, like a piece of pine. For curved surfaces, put a piece of leather under the sandpaper. For getting into funny corners and angles, I often glue sandpaper to my block.

I would try asking Ruger what they use for finishing and what they recommend for touchup, perhaps you can avoid refinishing the whole thing.

Good luck,
Todd

Thanks Todd for the wood working tip.