Here’s an idea

[Colonial Boy]

that might come in handy.
I’m making a stock for an antique pistol and as it’s not worth much I joined two pieces of walnut together, the wood came out of a toilet door from the Railway and the pieces just weren’t big enough.

The join is in the butt and it is reenforced by a dowel.

The top of the dowel can be covered by the top plate and the bottom by the grip cap.
The idea could be used to repair broken stocks as well, I must add that it’s not original as I’ve seen a similar repair that was possibly done in the 1850s.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Very clever. And period correct. You lined up the grain direction in the dowel to be crosswise too. Well done!

Grain runout is the biggest reason for weakness in any stock, and pistol stocks are particularly vulnerable to it due to the radical bend at the handle, and force / support place needed to reload them. Grain direction through that area (along with wood species) is the very first thing that needs to be examined in stock selection.