doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Baker Black Beauty Model - & sidelocks in general

I recently bought a Baker Black Beauty Model in 12 gauge at auction. It was bit beat up with some fine cracks in the wrist area, a chip at the toe, five notches cut in just behind the grip and a few light dents in the tubes. So far, I have removed the dents and fixed the numerous fine cracks in the wrist which is the reason for this post to begin with. While doing the repairs, I couldn't help but notice how little wood is there to to take the force of the recoil and it is no wonder the stock got so busted up. I've seen stocks busted up like this on hardware store type sidelock doubles too. Is it the same with higher quality sidelocks? I realize that precise fitting/inletting of the stock is quite critical to the ability of the stock to last but there is still going to be little wood in that area to absorb the shock, high quality or not. I imagine that the quality of the wood plays a part in this as well.

Purdey courtesy of C.J. Opacak



Smith



Baker Batavia Special



G grade Lefever



M21

Those are scary photos! Long live the boxlock!

I was going to say the same thing Joe but I bit my tongue.

My engineering friends (hunters, but not gunsmiths) used to tell me, that the important thing is the size of the wood-to-metal contact area, which in sidelock guns is potentially greater than in boxlocks. So, the actual impact per square inch of wood, considering the way the locks and action come far into the grip, miight aclually be less than that of a boxlock - provided the fit is perfect at every point of the contact area.

That's why it's important to Acraglass BEFORE trouble rears it's ugly head.

One of the reason Elsie's have little recoil surface is the cutout for the rotary bolt, but.....also on rotary bolt boxlocks.

Sterlingworth



NID

I'll keep telling myself that and hope. I realize "hope is not a strategy" but Acraglas is.

Having experienced stock problems, I look carefully at metal to wood finish and eliminate any poins where the metal acts as a wedge into the wood, ie the locks pushing back into the stock and cracking it. And then it is glass bedding for ALL guns.

English trained gunsmiths are amused at the idea of glass bedding a shotgun. Fact is that since doing it there has not been a single cracked stock.

Thanks for all the replies. So it seems that all sidelocks suffer to some degree from the same design issue (the Purdy did look to be the most stout though). I did glass bed the stock including the lock plates.