I have acquired a gas operated shotgun with the coil action spring mounted in a tube in the buttstock. The stock bolt mounts the buttstock to the action by screwing into the back end of the tube.

I have removed the stock bolt, but it was quite rusty and so is the stock tube. The gun must have been exposed to a lot of wet conditions.

The tube is a pretty close fit in the buttstock. The stock seems to be frozen to the tube and will not move. I have injected a small amount of Evapo-Rust into the gaps around the tube a couple of times, but so far it hasn't done much good.

I am hesitant to use Liquid Wrench or the like for fear that it might soak into the wood and soften it.

I would appreciate any tips or advice as to how I might remove this buttstock without damaging it.

Thanks.

If you can get a much longer bolt the same thread, to where it protrudes out past the stock you can then screw that in to the stock bolt hole and while sitting and holding the stock, tap it out with a 12 ounce or so hammer. If you cannot find a long enough bolt then get a steel rod to turn the threads on and it will help if the rod is slightly larger in diameter than the bolt was.

What gun is it? If there is that much rust then the stock will likely be the least of your problems.

In lieu of a longer stock bolt, you can reinstall the original stock bolt, back it out a couple of threads, get a large wooden dowel that will clear the hole and beat on that while holding the stock. Once it starts to move, back the screw out a little more and whack it again as needed. Or, like Mark was suggesting, you can use a steel rod in place of a wooden dowel.

Many thanks.

I sat here and read your advice and scratched my head until I got it.

Pound the action off of the stock!

I found a long bolt and did just that.

Many thanks!

As for the rust, it's the strangest thing.

The gun is an Ithaca Mag-10 and is in tip top shape, but for the recoil spring tube, the stock bolt, the stock bolt washer and lock nut. All of these are rusted.

Makes me wonder if a prior owner was hunting geese and used his shotgun as an oar!

Thanks again.

Might be the wood. Browning had a problem a while ago with wood that was salt cured, and they warranted a lot of stock replacements. Made for better wood, but unfortunately, rusted the wood where it touched.

Cure on wood that rusts the gun is to overream and over-inlet the wood, and acra-glass it back to the gun. Then, it's sealed and won't rust the steel. Be sure to remove or fill any pitting on the steel before you glass it in, or the mechanical fit of the acra glass in the pits will keep you from ever removing it again!

dave

Interesting idea, Dave. I know about the salt wood Brownings from the late '60s, but I've never heard that Ithacas had that problem.

Never heard of anybody salt drying wood except Browning and they don't do it anymore.