Need No4 Mk2 forestock |
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Pandaman
Newbie Joined: January 16 2020 Location: Pasadena CA Status: Offline Points: 3 |
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Posted: January 16 2020 at 8:47pm |
Anyone out there got one. My brother sold me his enfield but he bought a warped stock. A stock set would be cool but I'd be happy with just the forestock. It was a sporterized one but my brother militarized it. I still have the sporter rear stock but that's ok for now but if anyone has one laying around =).
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Me likes old guns.
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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Try putting a couple of coats of Raw Linseed oil inside & out. Keep going a coat a day till it looks "even" not "Patchy", it may have warped because its extra dry!
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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The gentleman I've purchased a few Enfield from has some pictures on their web site on some of the processes they use to restore rifles. One looks like how they straighten warped stocks. It looks homemade, but in essence, to me anyways, it appears to be a wooden steam box. Internally it has adjustable clamping points. I suspect you install the warped stock, clamp, apply steam from the bottom (an electric kettle?) After putting a top on the box. I then suspect every so often (have know idea how long the heat soak would take) you tighten the clamps accordingly until the stock is true. Just an idea.
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Pandaman
Newbie Joined: January 16 2020 Location: Pasadena CA Status: Offline Points: 3 |
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I've read that a steam box would do the trick. Just like how they bend wood to make boats. If wish I was handy enough to build one or had the time. Maybe a steam iron and also linseed oil to lock in the moisture right after? Maybe letting it set like that might if it the elasticity of normal non dry wood and it would spring back a little.
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Me likes old guns.
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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If you use Raw it will do the same thing, raw never really dries so its stays in the pores filling the spaces that were once filled with sap. |
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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If you use an iron, make sure you put several layers of towel on the stock (wet). And wear leather gloves because the second you apply the iron, those towels will become hot hot! I'm not sure you wouldn't crack something unless heat/steam is applied to both sides. Got one of those Karcher steam cleaners? And a length of 4" PVC pipe? You could close one end, put the stock in, and make a kind of rifle sauna. Once it's sauteed, put it on a level surface, bend up, and put some wood clamps (use a towel or wood against the stock) and SLOWLY apply pressure. Then let dry. It may take a few saunas to get it level. You may even have to put the two ends on a 2x4 and actually bend it past level to get it to come straight. Worth a try.
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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You could also buy a large diameter mailing tube from Office Depot & use that with a steam kettle. I used one with a hair dryer to sweat the La Brea tar pits out of my No1 MkIII
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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Just make sure you have something between the clamp and stock. And little steps... Steam will also raise any small dent in the stock, but it may also raise some "burrs" that will need to be lightly buffed off (xxxx steel wool should do the trick) before starting the oil finish.
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englishman_ca
Senior Member Joined: September 08 2009 Location: Almaguin Status: Offline Points: 1089 |
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It is the heat that actually softens lignin bonds inside the wood and allows it to move. Boat making uses a lot of bent wood. So does chair making. Wood can be bent, so it can be straightened.
Steam is a good way to apply the heat. There is another technique using hot oil, but I have not tried it.
If the stock is jigged correctly with clamps, it can be straightened and when cooled, it will stay straight. That is until the next time that it gets hot. And there lies the problem. If you want to shoot the rifle much, that stock might give you grief again later. It can be pulled back straight, but doing so will put internal stresses back into the wood just waiting like a spring to be released. The stock warped because there were internal stresses inside the wood, which could have been there since it was cut from a tree. Then something happened that allowed them to overcome the natural stiffness of the stock. If say it got hot, or if it got or got wet. I was given a bunch of woodwork that had been stored for years in a chaps basement, nice and dry in the furnace room, lent against the wall beside the furnace. Every single piece had a warp. However, it was rare enough to warrant the effort to rescue. Still lots of nice straight Mk.2 stocks out there. All depends on if you like tinkering and how much effort you are prepared to put in. In service, a unit armourer would likely just replace the stock and be done with it. So your stock is fixable. It doesn't have to be straightened all in one session. The wood will warp in two directions in relation to the axes of the rifle. Usually there is a twist in that warp that manifests itself. It can take a bit to tweak it in the right directions. A real challenge at times to do, but doable. Patience is key. The fun part is in figuring out the clamps and jig. The steam box can be made of wood or anything that will contain the steam for a few hours (Press board is not good!). A Coleman stove and an old pressure cooker with a rubber hose fitted makes for the perfect steam generator. Oh yeah, and the steam box will remove the finish on the stock. Pop up and raise all the dents and raise the grain. Hence gunsmiths using the technique of hot oil which doesn't disturb the finish on customers expensive sporting guns. |
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