Uberti 1885 Highwall Stock Repair.

[KansasTrapper77]

I have a Uberti 1885 in 45-70 with nothing wrong with it. BUT it came from the factory with a crescent stock. While I understand that its “traditional and you should hold it further down your arm etc etc.” I would like a shotgun style straight cut butt plate. It is simply more practical for how I use the gun.

My options are:
Wedge something into the crescent and cover it with a sleeve. (Tried it, didn’t work well.)
Cut the stock. (I’m iffy of irreversibly altering the factory condition.)

Buy a second stock and cut it the way I want. I like this option, except stocks from Uberti are $300 plus. So I jumped on EBAY and the only stock available is cracked at the grip.

I would like opinions on the feasibility of repairing this stock for full time use. I don’t mind if the repair is visible I just want it to be tidy.

 

[Col. Harrumph]

Check with Mark Novak of the "Anvil" Youtube channel, which is chock full of stock repair videos. He will recommend using AcraGlas stained dark.

 

[Jim Watson]

I don't know about repair methods, but that is not a shotgun butt, it is a carbine butt; less curve than the crescent but still a good bit and the buttplate running well forward on the comb.

I found a shotgun butt stock for my Winchester on eBay. It is not a good color and grain matchup but it is a lot more comfortable to shoot.

 

[Mauser fan]

Does the crack in the stock go all the way through the tenon or not? I cant tell from your photo. If you don't know use some mineral spirits to find out where it stops. If it doesn't then pinning it with brass pins or hardwood dowels and using an epoxy such as accurglas with the matching stain is a viable fix. If the crack goes through most of the tenon and wrist then cutting and filling the broken part of the stock is you next best option. However finding a piece of wood that matches the stock to replace what you remove will be a bit challenging.

Besides you have to ask yourself. What are my limitations to tools and more importantly wood working skill? Maybe the best bet would be to replace it and use the broken one to practice on.

 

[KansasTrapper77]

I haven’t bought this stock these are pictures from the seller. Seller claims the crack seals up tightly when held. And I understand the pictured stock is a crescent but my plan was to repair it and cut the crescent out. Something I’m unwilling to do on my factory stock.

 

[KansasTrapper77]

Check with Mark Novak of the "Anvil" Youtube channel, which is chock full of stock repair videos. He will recommend using AcraGlas stained dark.

Thanks for the suggestion I will go look him up.

 

[Mauser fan]

Sounds good. Good luck.

 

[Blue68f100]

@GunnyUSMC would probably recommend running a bamboo dowel down pinning it in the closed position. Also open it up filling the crack with epoxy. This would hide the repair from the surface. Will require a couple of dowels for strength. The Dowel will be wrapped in fiber glass and epoxied in place. It a time consuming process, but the fiberglass dowel is a lot stronger than the wood base. If done right you may not be able to see the epoxy line once set. Then you have to address the fit, that caused it crack in the first place.

Not sure its worth the effort unless the price was right.

 

[KansasTrapper77]

Not sure its worth the effort unless the price was right.

That is the question. I’m also considering buying a replacement steel plate and welding a piece on to cover the flat. Im a better welder than I am woodworker.

 

[doubleh]

Looking at the picture closely this is going to be difficult to reinforce. Not impossible but difficult. If I already owned it I would make an attempt to fix it and if the price were low enough I would buy it and try. As it is it's junk.

 

[a2x4bbl]

Check with Mark Novak of the "Anvil" Youtube channel, which is chock full of stock repair videos. He will recommend using AcraGlas stained dark.

I was going to suggest the same . I’ve watched him fix worse than that . The repair will probably be stronger than the wood .

 

[Blue68f100]

@GunnyUSMC has done repairs like this. Search for his threads and you will probably find what your looking for. I did a repair on Rem Model 7 stock that every one said was kindling. It came out very nice and it had many cracks running through the stock.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

The stock in the photos is reparable. If you look closely, you can see that the wood grain runs almost from side to side in the grip area.
I would bet that the butt stock took a good bump on side that the crack in on, causing it to crack.
The repair is not to hard, but needs to be done in steps.
First, cut a block of wood to fit the tang area. It needs to be snug. This will help to close the crack.
Next, work epoxy resin into the cracks and clamp everything and let it cure.
Now the next part is the most important part of the repair. This will reinforce the wrist area and keep it from breaking.
You will need some long drill bits, very long ones. Harbor Freight sells them for a good price.
You will need to drill into both sides of the wrist from the ends. The reason for doing both sides is due to the grain pattern of the wood. You don’t want to repair the broken side and then hat to repair the other later on when it breaks. you will also need to drill into the center. So that’s there holes.

People always ask what size holes and dowels to use. The answer is the largest you can go with. 1/8 to 1/4” will work. I like bamboo for my dowels because, the area much stronger then regular wood dowels.
I also wrap the dowels with strand of fiberglass to make the repair stronger. Fill the holes with resin and insert the dowels. You need to make sure that you get enough resin in the holes.
Once the resin is created, trim off the ends of the dowels and you’re done.
There’s a lot of tips and tricks that go along with this type of repair that I left out, but if you get the stock, I’ll be happy to go into more detail.
Look up some of my post on repairs and you will find lots of detailed info with pics.

 

[KansasTrapper77]

Thank you for the advice!

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Thank you for the advice!

To have this repair done, it would cost almost $200, or maybe more. Most gunsmiths wouldn’t even attempt the repair. Value on the broken stock should be around $100, or less.

 

[KansasTrapper77]

To have this repair done, it would cost almost $200, or maybe more. Most gunsmiths wouldn’t even attempt the repair. Value on the broken stock should be around $100, or less.

The damaged stock is $40 on EBAY. A new stock from Uberti is like $300ish. And remember this is for a gun which has a perfectly fine in tact stock. I am just not a fan of the crescent stock. I am not entirely confident of my woodworking skills after watching a few youtube videos on stock repair. I might try and alter a steel butt plate purchased from Uberti. As that is only like $70 and I’m a better welder than woodworker.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

$40 is a good price on the stock. Make the repairs and then have a gunsmith cut the butt and install a butt pad or butt plate

 

[Jim Watson]

Right. I like the English system of lengthening a rifle butt. Don't look for matching grain, just fair in a piece of black buffalo horn.