Racepres Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Hey all!!! Has anyone heard of a method of straightening a warped forend on a riflestock?? I have one that I really would like to save, that is warped, starting at the last 2/3 of the forend, about 1/8 or so of an inch off to the left, at the end!!! Help!!! Thanks. MV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumbum Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 you can bend it with steam apparently. there was quite a discussion over this at accuratereloading. some for, some against. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racepres Posted February 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Thanks... I'll try to find it.. MV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradD Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 RP, you can steam and press or soak and press and move wood. Woodworkers do it all the time. However, you can't be sure it won't move again. Some years ago I had the most gorgeous birdseye maple stock for a 98. Through the whole time I was inletting it, the forearm was pointing to a different compass point everytime I picked it up. I could only remove so much wood from the barrel channel and had to stop. What I ended up doing was hogging out most all of the wood inside the forearm, dropping a steel rod in the channel and then filling it with Accraglass. So it was really a 1/4"-3/8" shell filled with epoxy. Looked the same but doesn't move anymore. Good luck, Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
680guy Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 I don't know if's the right way but I had a 788 rem stock warp as you say, except to the right. Since 788s have very plain cheap "hardwood" stocks I figured I had little to loose. I removed the stock and found a piece of thin flexible plastic cut a 1" strip, then put the rifle back togather with that piece of plastic between the barrel and the stock at the tip of the forearm, then put the rifle back in the closet for five months. When I finally removed the stock it had returned close to it's original position. I then glass bedded the action and a few inches in front of the reciever. I had to sand just a little on the left side of barrel channel then sealed the barrel channel with marine spar varnish. That always was an accurate rifle but now shoots even better. I don't know if this will work for you that stock was soft I think its birch and the barrel is pretty stiff and heavy, I'm not sure I would of tried it on light sporter barrel. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racepres Posted February 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Very good stuff guys!!! I can steam/soak this [soft] stock, put an action w/ a very stiff bbl into it and maybe get it to "come back".. If it does I think that I will "hog out" the inner channel, where ya won't see it, and put a rod into it also!!! Crossed fingers here... Thanks bunches.. MV Hmm!! It occurs to me that if I hog out hte channel first... maybe it will come back a bit easier!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z1r Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Very good stuff guys!!! I can steam/soak this [soft] stock, put an action w/ a very stiff bbl into it and maybe get it to "come back".. If it does I think that I will "hog out" the inner channel, where ya won't see it, and put a rod into it also!!! Crossed fingers here... Thanks bunches.. MV Hmm!! It occurs to me that if I hog out hte channel first... maybe it will come back a bit easier!!!!! if the wood isn't dry enough when you start to duplicate or inlet it you can see it move. One duplicator I know cuts the stock in two operations. First, he roughs it, then waits a few days to see if it has moved. Natural stresses he believes will cause it to shift. then he goes back and does the final cut. That said, if the forend in question has moved and you don't have the barrel channel inletted, you can usually just inlet it and then reshape the exterior. All depends of course on how much material you have to work with. If you don't have enough to alter substantially then either steaming and bending or soaking & bending will work and if you are really concerned about it moving afterward there are two way's I'd recommend fixing it. First would be to glass bed the entire channel. Second would be to make a series of relief cuts along the channel in the fore end. Don't just make one long cut, leave a web of material every couple of inches. This will break up the forend into sections of sorts and not allow the fore end to exert substantuial force on the barrel. If you go the rod route instead of a steel rod, I'd use a kevlar arrow shaft. Lighter, and more rigid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzRednek Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 I hate to sound like a pessimist. Years ago a friend and I fooled around with a warped stock and a few months or so after straightening it, it moved right back. Possibly out technique was wrong or we just had a bad piece of wood. We knocked the finish off, let it soak in a swimming pool for a couple of days, squeezed and pushed it straight in a wooden frame we built around it. We let the frame and stock sit in the hot sun for a few days and dry out. After removing it from the frame it came out straight as an arrow but a few months later the stock warped right back into the same crooked position. Perhaps if we had reinforced it with a rod or an arrow as Z suggests it might have stayed put. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z1r Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 I hate to sound like a pessimist. Years ago a friend and I fooled around with a warped stock and a few months or so after straightening it, it moved right back. Possibly out technique was wrong or we just had a bad piece of wood. We knocked the finish off, let it soak in a swimming pool for a couple of days, squeezed and pushed it straight in a wooden frame we built around it. We let the frame and stock sit in the hot sun for a few days and dry out. After removing it from the frame it came out straight as an arrow but a few months later the stock warped right back into the same crooked position. Perhaps if we had reinforced it with a rod or an arrow as Z suggests it might have stayed put. the technique is sound. Look at shotgunners, they routinely have stocks adjusted for cast and they hold. Not being a stockmaker myself, I'd suspect there is something in the process being left out. In the fore end I know the relief cuts I mentioned work, I have spoken to several high end stock makers and they all employ this technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racepres Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 the technique is sound. Look at shotgunners, they routinely have stocks adjusted for cast and they hold. Not being a stockmaker myself, I'd suspect there is something in the process being left out. In the fore end I know the relief cuts I mentioned work, I have spoken to several high end stock makers and they all employ this technique. So you believe that the relief cut operation would be superior to the reinforcement?? Thanks.. MV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z1r Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 So you believe that the relief cut operation would be superior to the reinforcement?? Thanks.. MV I do it on new stocks where the channel is straight. Never tried straightening one yet I'll have to admit. But, if you do straighten the fore end and let it set, I suspect it should work. The theory is that the wood cannot exert as much force. I'd cut the channels first, then straighten. I'd be worried about straightening first then cutting because much like a barrel you could relieve stresses. Of course, with an arrow shaft (rod) you'd be assured it won't move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlecanoe Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 How many inches of the end of the stock are warped? Can the stock be shortened to remove the warped area and still be functional and asthetic? lc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racepres Posted February 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 How many inches of the end of the stock are warped? Can the stock be shortened to remove the warped area and still be functional and asthetic? lc I like yer thinkin LC.. but she is quite short already for my taste! I am going to relieve it today.. then try to get it straight. MV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z1r Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 Just a thought, relieving it takes away a lot of strength. Maybe bend it (straighten it( first then relieve. I'd be worried that if you exerted a lot of force on it with the fore end being thinned out like that it may break. And, if for some reason the channel trick doesn't work all you need do is remove the webs that connect the channels and you have a built in channel for your rod/arrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racepres Posted February 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 Thanks Mike... MV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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