Trapdoor Rifles

Among the bits I have acquired from Al Frasca over the years were two forends which were actually cut BELOW the lower band, making them absolutely perfect for stretching a whacked gun. WHY they were cut there I do not know, but I AM thankful for it!

I could, considering the rifle will be handled very little, just make a butt joint under the band, but I've been kicking around the idea of leaving a stub on one and making a squared hole in the other, to get more glue surface, especially in the shear plane, as opposed to just tending to pull apart. Then I got to thinking even more wildly, wondering if - leaving the stub on the butt side - I might be able to use the band-spring as a cross pin?

Just mulling in my head right now; when I get to "3D", there just may not be enough wood to make it practical. Has anyone tried this? Any other thoughts? I know that others have used pins parallel to the barrel, but that means the holes have to be PERFECTLY aligned or you risk inducing a twist or a bind when you slide the sections together.

Splicing is best done under a band.
The ONLY thing to use is epoxy (various types, including Brownells Accraglas). Avoid the "one minute or 5 minute" types and go for the ones with longer working times.
Do NOT try to match the brown wood color, but use BLACK dye, as it will be less obvious as a repair, and if repairing cracks or breaks will seem to be part of a grain feature.

A but to butt joint is doomed to failure on smooth surfaces. You might get away with it using epoxy if you use a Dremel or small drill and make numerous tiny holes at various angles into bot surfaces which will provide areas for the epoxy to get a good grip.

A stub fitting into a recess is excellent, but trying to work in the band spring somehow is overthinking it way too much. In lieu of the stuff and recess, you can drill holes in both pieces. Precise alignment is not needed, only that they are large enough so that you can put some sort of reinforcement in them. Plenty of epoxy in the hole makes alignment irrelevant. I usually use wood dowels made for the purpose with grooves cut in them to allow air/epoxy to escape as the pieces are pushed together on final assembly, so you don't want a perfect fit, or pressure in the holes will tend to push the two pieces away from each other. Mark Novak recommends using a piece of a long machine screw.

The hardest part will be keeping the forend aligned with the cleaning rod hole in the butt, and keeping the hole from getting filled with epoxy. You can use a long ramrod drill (used by muzzleloader makers to drill holes) if you have one to clear out excess epoxy, but you don't want to have to cope with more than a tiny bit. Maybe use a piece of wire/rod wrapped with tape and plenty of release agent/wax as a plug in the hole in the butt piece. Have it stick forward maybe 1/2 inch and then a 90 degree bend so you can pull it out after everything is aligned and firmly clamped in place, but before the epoxy sets up. A piece of plastic rod might be better as you could more easily drill it out and you could leave it in place.

Cover the rest of the stock with blue painter tape or saran wrap and tape as your hands (with vinyl gloves) WILL get epoxy on them and this will avoid extra problems. The good news is that if unprotected, there is usually enough oil etc on a stock exterior that epoxy is pretty easy to pop off, but it may need finish touch up. Use plenty of release agent/wax on the barrel which you will need when you so the epoxy work.

Stock stretching is not that hard. Dry fit everything so it does not need any clamps to force it in position. When clamping a stock stretching job, C clamps are preferable to using surgical tubing, as tubing will twist the forend so while you thought it was lied up perfectly, it will be a few degrees out by the time everything dries. (As ADM Rickover said: "Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live ling enough to make them all yourself.")

Thank you, John. All GOOD suggestions, especially about the rod hole - probably won't start for a month or so.

Dick, I wrote an article on this very subject a couple years ago for the N-SSA magazine "The Skirmish Line". I'll send you a copy of the draft. There are a couple ways to do it. If you can't find Acraglas (it's been hard to get lately) West Systems Epoxy from the boat builders and plane builders works quite well, and it can be tinted with dye based stains. Use the slow hardener unless you live in the frozen North.