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Cracked Hawkin Style Stock

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Reading over the 2006 TC Cougar thread. That fellow Roundball really knows his stuff when he wrote " you might want to add that strengthening kit to prevent the stock crack which is not all that uncommon...occurs on the left side of the stock, running 2-3" with the grain above the lock bolt washer forward into the barrel bed on the left side of the tang. (not just Cougars but all Hawkens)". That very thing showed its ugly cracked head this past weekend on my Lyman GPG 54 Caliber shooting PRB's over 90 grains of FFg.
Stock Crack.jpg


I really first noticed all the oil that was welled up in a line on the stock, rubbed it off and saw that it had come out of that crack above the lock screw. The person who previously owned it over oiled the stock as it is very dark. I am just now finding this crack. Could be it just showed up now that it is being shot on a fairly regular basis. Hoping access from the internal portions of the stock will allow some epoxy to hold it tight, if the oil allows it to adhere. Hmm, any of those long tang screw kits available?
 
Utilizing a wood working trick, took a Demel to cut a good size divit out of the barrel channel where the crack ended at. Pressed in JB WELD to fill the hole and let it sit. Many times cracks can go no further if they are 'stopped' at an end in the run. Seen this work on recurve bows that a crack in the laminate from the riser bolt. Couldn't hurt in this application and won't be noticed on the exterior once the barrel is reattached.

JB WELD at base of Crack.jpg
 
This 1985 model has one long tang screw that fastens into the trigger plate, but when removing all the hardware for this project it was snug enough not to back out but not very snug for support. Maybe that didn't allow the tang screw to hold the tang in place as much as it should have and permitted the recoil to batter the stock more than it would if the tang screw were tightened more. This is more of a conjecture than fact. I'll be sure to torque that long screw more when reinstalling then it was when removing.

Correction: The long tang screw on this GPR doesn't fasten into the trigger plate. There is a metal sleeve fixed in the stock that the it screws into just above the trigger plate. Sort of like what is found on a bedded CF stock with epoxied threaded pillars in the stock. Thought I would make this distinction for those interested.
 
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