doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Sealing the butt under the pad

We have a thread, every now and then, about what to use for this job. I use a drop or two of whatever is handy, usually TruOil. It has occurred to me that I don't recall ever seeing the original cut sealed with anything. The most recent pad job I did was on an 1893 Lefer F Grade. It had an old Jostam pad installed on the usual curved cut that was left when the original hard plate was removed(I believe). I think it is a good idea to seal this area but wonder if others have observed the same, unfinished condition?? It doesn't appear to me that the factories bothered with this.

Jim;

Have noticed this also. However, while working for production facilities in the gun industry, I noticed a representation of guns that were returned for swollen or shrunken buttstocks. This latter depended on where the gun was shipped to and the amount of humidity in that area. I decided that since I was having to rework and seal the buttstocks anyway...do it the first time so I didn't have.

Observation...guns finished with laquer or varnish which lap over the buttplate usually don't move much. A Browning Citori, that I am oil finishing now, has moved three times in the past week. Our temps started in the 60's and yesterday it was 100 here. There is need to slow down before I get the final coats sanded into the stock. I will seal the endgrain with this one.

The first time I sealed a stock on the butt end and in the inletting was 30 yrs ago on a Rem 700. I wanted to ensure the inletting, checkering, and butt didn't let moisture in or out, changing the POI. It worked since that time.

I've only read one book that suggested sealing a stock entirely, including the inletting, checkering and butt. It was in SDH's book on double shotguns.

Old time stockmakers such as Dale Goens, Maurice Ottmar, Roger Biesen, Alvin Linden, Leonard Brownell all gave word about sealing the wood well. I got the word directly from Dale about what a mess he was having in realation to this subject, during my tenure at Kimber. It mirrored the experiences I was having in reworking all the returned gunstocks. Gary Goudy passed on the trick of using very thin superglue to seal magazine and trigger inletting during the 2001 ACGG show.

I usually seal all of my stocks now. Several customers have asked me not too and I have paid the price. The Browning mentioned earlier is such a case. Because the plastic buttplate is taken on and off to assemble and disassemble I will use acraglass to seal the end grain this time. For recoil pads, I like to use toilet bowl wax. The wax holds the baseplate close and really hangs on to it. It also repels water really well.

Have used hot parafin; that works well, similar to Dennis' idea but the hot wax might penetrate a tad before it cools. But thin is the operative word here.

On through bolt stocks I even try to seal the bolt hole some.I use a pistol rod with a patch and some trueoil.

Hola Jaime,

Just did a couple of Uggie stocks and used Minwax Antique Oil with a dash of BLO to seal inletting, checkering and butt. It is easy to work with, dries quickly and seals quite well, as far as I can tell. Used an artist paint brush to get to all the crevices. JMTC.

JC

P.S. The butt under the pad had no sealing whatsoever. JC

I read a chapter on gunstock finishes a year or so ago that I think was in Wolfe Publishings' Gunsmithing Tips and Projects. There was a chart depicting moisture transmission into wood with everything from BLO and London Oil to the bowling pin finishes like epoxies, and polyurethanes. The bowling pin finishes were best by far, but far from perfect. The old hand rubbed oils were only slightly better than bare wood. The gist of it was that at best we can only moderate the entry and exit of moisture in wood and our current choices are a compromise between effectiveness and traditional appearance, ease of application, repairability, etc. Sam Fadala wrote of moving finely fit and finished guns, sealed in inlets and under butts, from a humid climate to high dry Montana, and having wood swell considerably above the metal. We just do the best we can or trade up to a Stevens 311 with a Tenite stock.