doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Which boxlock stock heads never crack? And why?

I will answer your question if you can answer mine . How long is a piece of string ?

Point is I think , that the question can not be answered other than theoretically as we are dealing with many unknowns as well as a piece of natural material with no control over conditions of use or treatment . Some stocks seem to last the life of the gun others don't and I have no doubt that some due to the design and fitting are more prone to break than others . May be you should have asked "which stock heads are most prone to breaking "?

How long is a piece of string ?


No longer than it can be measured.

Another boxlock I can't recall seeing a panel crack is the later years of ther Fulton series. Like the Huglu the panels are wedged into the receiver but not as far.

But you can always Sleeve two bits (or more )of string together.
I'd say its like Gunman said,mostly dependent on the individual gun, the sum + fit of the parts that count, which would vary a wee bit with each gun of equal grade from the same maker.
Another answer might be.."Hopefully, mine!"
cheers
franc
I have had a few, & looked at many more Francottes & can't say I remember having seen one with head cracks...

I had one that cracked at the head; it actually split a piece off. I didn't take a picture, so I'll try to describe:

Looking at the gun from the top, barrel pointed away from you - the top, right corner of the head came off. The split was maybe halfway between the edge of the stock and the tang cutout. It split back, about two inches or so. The split went down at an angle, and back to the edge. Sort of a wedge-shaped piece.

The Huglu was a De Haan U5E, which Mark De Haan repaired under warranty. He offered to replace it, but for my own reasons, I chose repair. I've no idea why it split, there were no apparent problems.

I also had a Ruger Red Label 28 ga split in the head, though it stayed in one piece. Ruger replaced the stock at no charge. In this case, I think it may have been a slightly loose through-bolt that was responsible. The crack started at the right/rear of the upper tang and travels towards the trigger.

Here's a pic of the cracked RRL stock:

The distinguishing feature of the Savage built Fox-Sterlingworths with the "drawbolt" is the wide top tang with big screw head and kind of a notch in the profiling on the sides of the receiver just below the watertable --











To date, all the observed "drawbolt" Fox-Sterlingworths have been 12-gauges. The first batch is a bunch in the 133xxx serial number range, to date all observed with 30 inch barrels. Then another bunch in the upper 143xxx range with both 28- and 30-inch barrels, and finally a batch right at the end including the one shown, in the 1615xx range with 26-inch barrels. While most of the "Drawbolts" observed are double trigger plain extractor, a few have been observed with ejectors and one with both ejectors and a Fox-Kautzky single selective trigger.

Thank you for that information Researcher.

Originally Posted By: 2holer
They haven't been around but about 15 years. The Huglu made stock panels are robustly wedged into the reciever. I have never seen one cracked and maybe never will if the stock bolt is kept snug.

Quote:
I had one that cracked at the head; it actually split a piece off. I didn't take a picture, so I'll try to describe:

Looking at the gun from the top, barrel pointed away from you - the top, right corner of the head came off. The split was maybe halfway between the edge of the stock and the tang cutout. It split back, about two inches or so. The split went down at an angle, and back to the edge. Sort of a wedge-shaped piece."


Sounds like tha classic case of the wood not being mated well with the receiver and more recoil force was on the upper part or the stock bolt got a little loose.

I think we're back to the Model 21 with those thick tenons that go into the receiver. We still have to keep the tang screws tight, though.

I'm not sure about the best but the worst and most consistently bad is the Ithaca SKB. I think to a large degree due to the scalloped receiver.