doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com top screw out of time

Just conversation Stan. If the action functions correctly, but found to be inletted too deep, why not bed with a good epoxy instead? Back the screw off to in time, plus a little. After bedding it, should be able to snug down into time.

Stan, Richard, et al;

There are all kinds of way to repair a butt stock for the subject issue and it is good to see all these comments and experiences. It brings to my mind what I did a decade or so back with a Birmingham made A&D (boxlock) gun. The internal wood of the gun was falling apart, but the outer layer of the hand of the stock of about 1/4 inch thick was good. I cut the center of the hand of the stock out and fitted an oak insert glued in place; then re-inletted the hand of the stock to the action. I am satisfied that others have done the same.

Modern adhesives are marvelous, and certainly a compound of walnut dust and the proper adhesives is worth the time and effort to use.

Kind Regards;
Stephen Howell

I hate to interrupt.

Comes to mind the expression, first do no harm.



95% of you could put a drop of clear nail polish underneath the head of the screw
Tighten it to wherever you want it and then let it sit overnight.
Because there isn’t really much use going to happen. Nothing is going to knock the screw loose.

It ain’t the space shuttle.

Yah, but the other 5% want to know how to do it RIGHT.

A drop on nail polish was certainly not going to hold on my M21’s.

It's tough to determine what is exactly right sometimes. For a Best Quality British or a very high grade American double shotgun many would agree that a perfectly timed custom made replacement screw is the only acceptable repair. The idea of perfectly timed screw slots is mostly a vanity thing reserved for higher grade and hand made guns. Quite a few manufacturers gave virtually no thought to screw slot timing on lower and mid grade doubles. You can find well regarded guns that have visible screws that are set in position with a smaller lock screw, where the head of the lock screw is inset into the perimeter of the main screw head, yet the main screw slot is not timed.

Early on in this Thread, someone said that the method of using a thin "shim" or washer under a screw head did not constitute proper gunsmithing. However, for the vast majority of field or mid-grade guns, it simply wouldn't make sense to pay a Purdey trained gunsmith to make a screw from scratch. The video that was posted separately on making a gun screw was very incomplete. It didn't show anything about selecting the proper screw stock, machining of the threads, or any engraving, or correct bluing or finishing. All of that work just doesn't make economic sense for the majority of guns, and most guys would be happy with a good used screw from Numrich, no matter where the slot ended up.

It is interesting to hear the various thoughts or methods available to accomplish the goal of timing screw slots, but for the most part, there isn't much new under the Sun. The idea of mixing cyanoacrylate glue with sawdust as a filler sounds very much like epoxy glass bedding. Rotted or punky internal wood has been replaced with Baltic Birch plywood, and inletted to fit. Same for pillar bedding to maintain spacing between top and bottom tangs. And the method of gluing in a small piece of wood, and then inletting to fit has been mentioned here by the Stock Doctor DES/TSD, and certainly wasn't invented by him. Some of these repairs might be a big disappointment if found inside a gun that was represented as unmolested and original.

Nail polish. Yeah, I think I will dub that the Grey Man fix. If only I can remember it. You come up with so many.

It works, and people would be lying if they said they don’t do it, because I have found it way too many times, but a 1032 screw twists off at about 7 1/2 foot pounds and can put about 2000 pounds of compressive force between the pieces that are being tightened together.

And what do you know, the compressive force for cyanoacrylate glue before it will creep is about 2000 pounds.

A little dab’ll do ya.

Many of these pins experience almost 0 torque.
The adhesive force far exceeds the rotational force.

I guess you can call it clear Loctite.