How to repair a duffle cut

[Patrick Chadwick]

How to repair a duffle cut Part 2

Step 4) Marking the other half of the stock. Insert the dowel centers into the holes in the fore-end.


Assemble the fore-end with dowel centers and the back end onto the locating device. In my case, that was the threaded rod already shown in Part 1. For a rifle without a ramrod channel, you will have to use the barrel itself. Simply tie the two parts onto the barrel with thick rubber bands or other elastic material.

Now, making sure that the two halves of the stock are properly aligned, push them together very firmly, so that the back half is marked by the pins on the dowel centers.


Step 5) Dismantle the assembly and drill the holes in the back end of the stock, as already described for the fore-end. This is probably the most difficult part of the operation, as it is very awkward indeed to get the butt end properly clamped and aligned. Take your time over this.

Step 6) Check that the holes are properly aligned by reassemblying the two halves on the locating rod or barrel, using a couple of drills instead of the intended dowels. It should be possible to push them together without any binding, and the sides of the cut should match up well-nigh perfectly (OK, I'm an optimist).


Step 7) Stop and think, before you do something irreversible! What material are you going to use for the dowels? What glue are you going to use. After the glued dowels have been inserted into the holes, it will be too late to change your mind! I used 1/4" beech dowelling, with a ribbed surface to allow excess glue to be squeezed out. If you think that this is too weak, then you could use metal, in the form of a threaded rod (for grip). The only suitable metal available to the normal consumer would be stainless steel.

But consider this: if something goes wrong with wood dowels, then it would be just about possible to saw the parts apart once more, drill out the faulty dowels, and redo the job. If you use metal dowels, you will never get it apart again without ruining the wood. I therefore advise wood dowels, which are quite strong enough for a target rifle - if the job is done properly. And PVA glue ("white glue") is also quite strong enough, as I have demonstrated elsewhere. Epoxy glues are risky, as they can start to harden up before you have got all parts properly aligned and pushed together. This is one job where you do not want fast-setting glue.

If you are using the barrel as a locating device, you don't want to glue it to the joint. So cover it with thin tape before...

Step 8) Apply glue to the face of the cut and one half of each of the the dowels and push them into the holes.
Apply glue to the the protruding half of the dowels and push the two halves of the stock not quite fully together. Now stabilize this assembly by firmly binding it to the taped-up barrel in the barrel channel and then pushing both halves fully together. A tap with a wooden mallet on a block of wood held against the muzzle end of the stock will assist in getting the ends of the joint firmly together.



Now you can and should do nothing, but wait until the next day!

Step 9) Undo the barrel/stock assembly, clean up any glue that has been squeezed out of the joint - which will anyway be invisible, as it is covered by the barrel band.

And if you followed these instruction, you now have a nearly-invisible repair to the stock. A stock that is perfectly usable for a target rifle.

FINISHED !