Can anyone tell me how to repairs a dent or ding in the stock? I remember reading something about placing heat on it to draw the wood out. This is not a show piece, but a hunter that got a nasty ding and drag mark on it.

as long as the grain isn't broken, this may come right up..

but it may ruin the finish in the area, in fact, it probably will.

turn an iron on, at highest temp, with steam..

once it's good and hot, place a moist folded wash cloth on the dent, mash the steam button, and circle the area.

At least this is how my wife tells me she fixes those!!

jeffe

About the finish. It will probably turn white (or milky colored) if its varnish or lacquer, and will lighten and raise the grain on an oil finish. It also won't steam as well with that waterproof finish on it, try steaming first but if it doesn't penetrate and it isn't in the checkering your better off lightly sanding the area around the dent, then steaming. The finish will prevent the steam from pentetrating and it won't work as well if at all. Use very fine sandpaper like 660 grit, it doesn't need to be down to bare wood just enough sanding to cut through the finish and just a small spot around the dent, don't get carried away on the sanding just a little bit, enough to cut through the finish, not completly remove it. That way the steam will penetrate better. I have also found that on some dents the sandpaper won't get into the dent portion, and there is still varnish sealing it. On these very carefully use an Exacto knife to get into the hole and scape the finish of ( be careful your not cutting anything just lightly scatching through the finish in the bottom of the dent). This isn't neccessary on every dent but some seem to be a fairly clean dent with hole and varnish sealing the bottom of the hole or dent.

Another item, repeat the steaming process, some dents need to be steamed, then sit a while and be steamed again to do the best job.

I repair my finish with a good oil finish, or tru-oil. Rub that in very heavy at first, let dry, add more, I usually do this at least three times. Because the steam raises the grain, I usually wet sand with the oil the spot to blend the grain back in ( use the 660 above).

On a laquer or varnish finish some thinned down finish ( I use a cotton swab ) using a couple of light coats dryed between application will blend it back in.

When you have all of the above done, get some gun wax and polish the whole stock to blend it all back in.

Some spots repair very well, and you really have to look to see they were ever there, others especially where the wood has been cut can be made better, but never fully fixed.

Oh one last thought: fresh dents come out easier than old dents, I usually do this as gun maintenance after the hunt when I am cleaning and oiling. The old dents tend to want to set which makes them harder to get out. You can just add this to your cleaning task and it only adds 1/2 hour to the task. If you have a bad dent, try steaming it during the cleaning cycle if that doesn't get it, leave it and come back to it when you have more time. If your in a hurry just hit the dent (s) with the iron and hot steam and come back and fiddle with the finish stuff, bottom line is try to get the wood back to its original shape as quickly ( couple of days ) as possible.

I should note that the laquer and varnish finishes seem to be a lot more work than the oil finishes, I can fix my oil finish rifles in 1/2 the time it takes to repair the new sprayed on finishes.