crack in operating slide spring tube?

hello, new here. i've lurked for a while. i picked up a carbine that would have been as issued WW2 except that the stock was "sporterized". it has a flip sight, flat bolt, type 1 band, etc. the stock is a write-off: really, poorly sanded into a sort of monte carlo looking thing and thickly varnishedl. i've noticed a small crack running lengthwise, maybe an inch long (or is it a poorly drilled hole?) in the slide tube bottom. is this reciever a write-off or is it stiil useable? i was hoping i could rescue it. thanks.

votan, pictures are what are needed. I have a line on a S'G' with a butchered up I cut, highwood. They tried to make it look like a hunting rifle. It's to bad, that kind of wood is becoming more costly than some complete carbines. Try and post some pictures.....Frank

i'll see what i can do for pix. yeah, it's too bad what folks have done to these guns. this is all IP and S'G' marked. it had a blue, winchester bolt that was quite worn. i'm hoping that the "crack" is just a poorly drilled hole but i doubt that would have slipped by inspection. i'd hate to part it out.

I'm just a newbie here and certainly no carbine expert but I'll offer my experience with my Inland receiver. It had several small cracks around the forward end of the hole drilled for the recoil spring. The cracks were about 3/4" to 1" long. My local smithy felt they could be repaired by welding so he TIG welded the cracks and let me grind the receiver back down to its original shape with a Dremel tool. I also polished the inside of the hole to remove any burrs. A little cold blue to darken the metal and the repair was done (the repaired area is completely covered by the stock). I've put about 300rds downrange since the repair and the cracks have not reappeared.

I'm assuming that you are referring to a drilled rather than a spring tube receiver. You need to stop the crack. Take a small diameter drill and make a small hole just ahead of the end of the crack. That should stop it from continuing on. As long as the crack is only about an inch long, it should not be a problem. Just keep watch that the crack doesn't start up again. Minor cracks and drill outs were acceptable to the Gov even on NEW carbines as long as they weren't too long. Most folks don't know that and think the damage happened years later, but could have been there since the carbine was manufactured.

yes, it is a drilled tube. the metal is really thin there.