So I have been paying more attention to one of the rifles in my collection, a 1918 production Eddystone M1917. The rifle exhibits good accuracy, but one of the issues I have with it is that I have to have the front sight drifted almost as far as it will go to the left in order to hit the target accurately.
Taking the action out of the stock I now see the issue, with the handguards taken off and the front band removed, the forend drops about 1/8" off the barrel and to the left. This means it is warped and putting pressure on the barrel and causing it to shoot left. With the front band on, the stock falls correctly and I have no bearing between the action and the point at which the barrel contacts the wood at the front of the stock.
Is there any way I can correct this without replacing the stock, which is getting pricey these days?
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You could straighten it with steam but the wood has found it's happy place and it will return there in short order. A permanent solution is bedding in a steel rod but that is completely inappropriate to do on a Milsurp. In short, Either live with it or replace the stock.
I agree with warpig. That's 100 year old wood your dealing with, your not going to change its mind so easily. You can hog out some wood where its contacting the barrel on the side but whenever you replace the front band you will still be putting uneven pressure on the barrel end. You can try steaming it but you may have to do it 100 times for the slightest change.
You can also leave it warped and trim away any wood that is out of line and then build it back up with glass bedding. Remember these barrels are designed for slight upward pressure at the bottom of the barrel in the front band area. Without it the rifle will never deliver full accuracy potential.
My suggestion is to work with what you have unless you want to buy a replacement stock which is a crap shoot. - Bill
Alright, I guess I'll just live with it, the accuracy is good the only issue is that with the front sight drifted over to the left it's easy to get it confused with one of the front sight protector ears.
Hcompton: I've successfully bent a couple of warped stocks using the hot linseed oil technique shown on the video attached by Cinders. It is far superior to steam! First was a badly warped No. 4 forend which remains straight after 3 years. More recently I straightened the tip of the forend on a Finn M24 which was similar to what you're describing. The process is pretty simple but you have to give it enough time to let the heat get into the interior of the wood to avoid cracking it. I found it best to do multiple treatments and straighten it a bit at a time. Also a good plan to have a proper "jig" set up to allow you to bend and hold the piece while hot. I should note that neither of the ones I've done showed discolouration after the treatment.
The hot linseed oil method sounds like the best bet, although I'll need to set aside some time and work up the courage to light up the torch for this stock.
If you use a jig you can use heat lamps to heat the stock and oil - safer in that you can adjust the lamp distance to the oil soaked cloth and not have it catch fire. Heat tends to be more even.