Red’s Incredible Traditions Kentucky Build: Probably not what you would have done…

[Panama Red]

When repairing structural cracks or making butt joints in stock forearms I avoid the wood glues and Gorilla Glue, though great adhesives. If the crack or seam opens up again from stress these glues will not adhere to the old cured glue. You generally have to remove all of the old glue from the joint, a real PIA. Accuraglass or similar on the other hand will adhere to old repairs and allow you to build up the repair area if needed. Just what I have experienced.

Here are photographs of a repair I did to a 100 year old stock (it was made in 1917). Little bit different to say the least, but the concept uses multiple small thread rods for maximum strength and grip. I was able to square up the splice area and add a new piece of wood (it was difficult to get a close match). The splice is hidden under the metal ring in the second photo, but it’s very strong and the stock has seen about 2500 high power rifle rounds, among other abuses, and is as good as new.

Now if you never knock the stock over without the barrel in place or stress it in some other way (you have or will slot the pin holes in the barrel tenons, correct) you can get away with less reenforcement, I’ve just reach the point of wanting to do things once. Over killing a bear isn’t a bad thing, but under killing one sure can be bad.

Definitely slotting the tenons. I should have replaced the supplied pins with threaded rod, now that you mention it. Probably would have gripped better. Oh well. When I do it the third time, I will up the game even further.
-Red, underkilling bears one at a time…

 

[SDSmlf]

Definitely slotting the tenons. I should have replaced the supplied pins with threaded rod, now that you mention it. Probably would have gripped better. Oh well. When I do it the third time, I will up the game even further.
-Red, underkilling bears one at a time…

I prefer 4” long threaded rods, diameter to suit for a joint like this. I also rough up the drilled holes in the wood by running a tap into them. Idea is to give the Accuraglass or similar epoxy something in the hole to grip.

 

[davidmc62]

so Panama, what kind of music you play. Based on your picture and yer location, ill go out on a limb and say Jimmy Buffet(if not yer missing a calling Dude!). Long live Margaritaville, Parrot Heads Unite!

 

[Panama Red]

so Panama, what kind of music you play. Based on your picture and yer location, ill go out on a limb and say Jimmy Buffet(if not yer missing a calling Dude!). Long live Margaritaville, Parrot Heads Unite!

I can play quite a bit of Buffett. Saw him in concert back around 82. A bit of old school country. Lots of southern rock. But my main gig is leading worship at our church. I’m getting way too old to be leading the contemporary stuff, but I still manage to get away with it somehow… I keep telling them to keep an eye out for a younger guy.
I got in to the worship game a little late in life. We started out with church in a bar, back in 2011. It was awesome. Big stage, lights and sound, and no one was using the bar on Sunday morning… down side was cleaning up a bar after Saturday night, LOL!
We own a house over in the Bahamas, and take the Margaritaville Cruise to get to the island. I can do every song they play in the show…
Once a Parrot Head, always a Parrot Head I guess.

 

[davidmc62]

Im not worthy.....Im not worthy.....

 

[Panama Red]

Im not worthy.....Im not worthy.....

I’ve got a five string in the closet. Drove my wife NUTS practicing rolls on that thing. I really enjoyed it, but I just couldn’t get that syncopation down right. My “Cripple Creek” didn’t sound like it was supposed to. Then I thought I’d try the mandolin, which is an Italian word meaning “Finger Torture”. I can shuck some rhythm on it, but that’s about it.
So I just stick to guitar.
One thing for certain, whatever room I’m in, I’m always the worst musician in the room.
How long you been playing the banjo?

 

[davidmc62]

Sorry for the detour but your avatar was pulling me in. Back to your rifle! Started learnin in the 70's; you know Beverly Hillbillys, Deliverence, Bonny and Clyde, all Bluegrass heavy soundtracks. Burned up to learn bluegrass. Learned a little....very little. Then the fumes took over, you know car fumes and perfumes.. Picked up the banjo again in the late 80's and was big into CW reenacting, decided I needed to learn a different style and older music...claw hammer. Been playing it ever since off and on. I attribute the banjo to saving my sanity when I went though the big "D" around 2007 or so.

 

[Panama Red]

Sorry for the detour but your avatar was pulling me in. Back to your rifle! Started learnin in the 70's; you know Beverly Hillbillys, Deliverence, Bonny and Clyde, all Bluegrass heavy soundtracks. Burned up to learn bluegrass. Learned a little....very little. Then the fumes took over, you know car fumes and perfumes.. Picked up the banjo again in the late 80's and was big into CW reenacting, decided I needed to learn a different style and older music...claw hammer. Been playing it ever since off and on. I attribute the banjo to saving my sanity when I went though the big "D" around 2007 or so.

I always tell people I’ve been playing way too long to be this bad.
And, no worries about the hijack. I’ve got 24 hour epoxy drying on the stock, and 3 hours between coats of LMF Browning on the barrel. Lots of down time since that glue joint let go.

 

[davidmc62]

someone mentioned in an earlier post about the similarities of the CVA/Traditions Kentucky and the full stock Hawken rifle. While they both seem tp have similar features, I was going more towards the Henry Leman Trade Rifle myself with my rebuild. It seemed more reasonable in my mind to simulate Leman stock architecture with what the CVA/Traditions kit has to work with. As they say, the devil is in the details.

 

[davidmc62]

Some examples pf Henry Leman rifles faux striped. Although they are obvious lines, they are not meticulously done to make even line with even space. It appears that this was a quick finish embellishment to cover up otherwise plain wood.

 

[Panama Red]

Some examples pf Henry Leman rifles faux striped. Although they are obvious lines, they are not meticulously done to make even line with even space. It appears that this was a quick finish embellishment to cover up otherwise plain wood.

I like the look of the faux striping. Probably just going to stick with my original plan though. Black it out a bit. Kind of like that stock on that full stock Hawken was, except not quite that much black…
-Red, skeered of striping…

 

[Panama Red]

Some examples pf Henry Leman rifles faux striped. Although they are obvious lines, they are not meticulously done to make even line with even space. It appears that this was a quick finish embellishment to cover up otherwise plain wood.

I like the look of the faux striping. Probably just going to stick with my original plan though. Black it out a bit. Kind of like that stock on that full stock Hawken was, except not quite that much black…
-Red, skeered of striping…

 

[Panama Red]

I grind stumps as a side hustle, to supplement my toy fund, and when I’m in the roots of a lot of these stumps, I find some beautiful wood. If I see something I like, I’ll just grind out a chunk, and dry it, and make pipes. This is a Live Oak root from a very old tree. I did nothing more than tung oil it to get that dark finish.
Will this beech color up that well with just tung oil?

 

[Loja man]

Hey Red,
I used tung oil on mine. If you read through my post again towards the end you will see the situation I ran into. I will still use the Real Paint Co. pure tongue oil on knife handles. But I will used Sutherland Wells pure polymerized tung oil on gun stock from now on.

 

[64Springer]

I grind stumps as a side hustle, to supplement my toy fund, and when I’m in the roost so lots of these stumps, I find some beautiful wood. If I see something I like, I’ll just grind out a chunk, and dry it, and make pipes. This is a Live Oak root from a very old tree. I did nothing more than tung oil it to get that dark finish.
Will this beech color up that well with just tung oil?

BLO, in my opinion, will look awful by itself.

Especially with the two dissimilar grains that stock has. BLO will be too light and too yellowish and too unfinished looking. Wipe some BLO inside the barrel channel and see if you like it.

I'd go as dark as possible without making it black. I'd use an alcohol stain like Trans-Tint so it really absorbs into the wood.

 

[davidmc62]

I grind stumps as a side hustle, to supplement my toy fund, and when I’m in the roots of a lot of these stumps, I find some beautiful wood. If I see something I like, I’ll just grind out a chunk, and dry it, and make pipes. This is a Live Oak root from a very old tree. I did nothing more than tung oil it to get that dark finish.
Will this beech color up that well with just tung oil?

Dont know, try it on the inside barrel channel as 64Springer suggested. Thats some pretty good advice. I typically dont worry too much about it as I can always go darker if I dont final finish it. But I have heard that Beech is pretty finicky about staining.

 

[64Springer]

Beech and Birch are hard to finish woods.

The grain structure is so tight that oil based stains slide right off the wood.

 

[S.Kenton]

Beech and Birch are hard to finish woods.

The grain structure is so tight that oil based stains slide right off the wood.

I normally use an alcohol based stain such as feiblings leather dye when refinishing any cva, traditions or beech stock in general.

 

[Panama Red]

Shaped up the lock panel and the plate on the other side to match. The back end of it is easy peasy. The front side, not so much…
Finished browning the barrel, so I can get it mounted in there tomorrow, and start shaping the front end and the nose cap.
Still reducing weight on that fore grip. It’s coming along nicely.
And before everyone chimes in, I know, you think I should make the lock panel smaller so it is tighter to the lock… I would refer you to the title of this thread. After looking at TONS of pics of old rifles, this comes out real close to what I liked. There’s still more shaping to do at the tang, so some of that may change as that wood comes off. Will have to see when I get it shaped.
-Red, whittling away…

 

[Panama Red]

Hey Red,
I used tung oil on mine. If you read through my post again towards the end you will see the situation I ran into. I will still use the Real Paint Co. pure tongue oil on knife handles. But I will used Sutherland Wells pure polymerized tung oil on gun stock from now on.

Just re-read your thread. I’ll have to check in the barn and see what tung oil I have. I’m still quite a ways from any type of finish, so I got time to change my mind about a hundred times.
-Red, still deciding.