Wood replacement patches to stock of 1903

[jrapose]

I just bought a super early 1903 but the stock has been hacked....someone cut out for a Lyman sight and also filed down the top of the comb.... (dumb)
I have seen field and rebuild patches inserted into stocks....can someone point me to someone who can do a field patch ? I looked at stock restoration places but they seem to just do crack repair and finish repair...not what I want... I want a field repair and an original finish...

Thanks
Joel
Kalifornia

Information

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[RCS]

It is very difficult to match the wood grain when cut across the grain for the rear sight, the comb might not be as bad but unless the stock is stained very dark, always noticeable repairs.

Unless the stock is very rare without the stock bolts or just a single stock and a nice cartouche, you might want to reconsider the repairs

[jrapose]

Yes it is one of the rare ones...1908 with fine stamps ..... no bolts...Rock Island ...it would be wonderful if it had not been hacked up...

Joel

[Flying10uk]

Could you post a few pictures of the stock showing the area in which you wish to patch, please. It's not that difficult to patch stocks but it can be difficult to find some wood to make the patches which matches the wood of the existing stock. If you find that you do need to dye a stock or just the repairs I have found that Fieblings leather dye is very good and I would go for the solvent based version, not the water based one they do.

[Peter Laidler]

I feel sure that US Military Armourers worked in exactly the same way as we did in the UK/Commonwealth did with repairs to wood. We never made any efforts to hide a repair. Just so long as it was done correctly, dovetailed and then pegged in place to make it serviceable, they lasted for 100 years. The aesthetics were really academic as someone who's done about a zillion of them.

There's something about a well repaired butt or a fore-end that's seemingly been there......, done that.....

[RCS]

Attachment 68359Attachment 68360Attachment 68361


Here is a patch around the butt plate tang which is very old and would guess a pre WW1 period. Any help with the unit markings would be appreciated

The rifle is dated1907 and the barrel is also dated '07, serial number is 6446 over x

It is thought that this is an early Mark 1 action body and not a conversion from an early rifle?

[Seaspriter]

We never made any efforts to hide a repair. Just so long as it was done correctly, dovetailed and then pegged in place to make it serviceable, they lasted for 100 years. The aesthetics were really academic

Captain Laidler's advice is spot on. Make the repair like a arsenal armourer -- it is part of the history of the gun. Just be sure to document repair, and place the documentation with the gun's papers.

If you insist on a cosmetic cover-up, my father, who was an amateur oil painter and flintlock gun restorer, showed me how to make the repair less detectable.
- First, the patch would be made with the same type of wood with a similar grain pattern. He'd mix sawdust with carpenter's glue in the area where the seam was visible.
- Then the seam area would be carefully smoothed, first with very fine sandpaper, followed by very fine steel wool.
- If it was end-grain, he'd apply a wood sealer to ensure an even application of what follows.
- Next, he'd arrange an assortment of aniline dyes (from Constantine's). His favorites were Colonial Maple, Golden Oak, Red Mahogany, Cherry, and Walnut. These dyes are transparent, so they affect the colour, but not the grain pattern. Using these he'd try to match the colours across the seam and feather the dyes using the "dry brush technique, followed by a smoothing with his finger at the edges of the dye area.
- Once the dyes had set, he'd then open up his artist's kit and pull out the following oil colours: Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Black, and Yellow Ochre. These are opaque, so they will tend to "mask" the differences in grain pattern and colour.
- He'd mix and match a palette of oil colours with a blend of varnish and boiled linseed oil or tung oil to create a varnish stain. The opaqueness of the varnish stain was controlled by the concentration/intensity of the colours versus the oil/varnish.
- Next, using his fine brushes with a variety of palette colours, he would "paint" the grain onto the repair, blending it across the seam and feathering the edge with his little finger.
- Once dry, he'd check the colour, apply a thinner coat if necessary, and repeat this process until he was happy. Often he'd layer up several coats to get a finish with some "depth."
- Lastly, after the repair area had “set” and dried for several days, he’d go back over the entire stock with a coat of Briwax applied with very fine steel wool to ensure the surface finish had the “rubbed wax” texture. This removed any glossiness that may have been left in the repair area, leaving a “satin” finish on the furniture.

I've used this method with great success on antique furniture where the cosmetics/aesthetics are more important.

[jrapose]

Yes, that is exactly the type repair that I want... those pictures show how well they did it...
I have a war time Russian SVT-40 that has three patches and they made no attempt to match the wood...but the patches fit perfectly and appear well done... I have several 1903 stocks that are damaged or cut and will be able to use for donors, the wood in them matches real well.

[Flying10uk]

On some of the Russian Mosin Nagant rifles that were refurbished post war the stocks are a real patchwork quilt of patches/repairs. They then seem to have had a thick layer of varnish applied which partially hid the repairs but I have to admit the Russian armourers made a lovely job of the woodwork. I suspect part of the reason that Russia refurbished many of it's and captured WW2 weapons was to provide employment for it's people.