Wood stock crack - repair or call it good?

[45flint]

On my 120 year old FLZ rifle there is a crack in the stock. The stock is still rock solid and I can’t move the crack closer at all with hand pressure. Given it doesn’t affect the shooting of the rifle my tendency is to leave it alone. I’m not going to shoot the rifle that much. Not sure that I could even close it given the drying of the wood for all those years? I could try also to fill it to make it less noticeable? I’m sure some of you have had similar issues with old BSA’s etc. To me its more about looks than structure. Any thoughts?

[Bedazzled]

Might be worth trying to blast some wood glue into the split if you have a compressor might help stabilise the wood from further damage

[Faerie]

A clear epoxy would fill the crack & hide it fairly well, but given the width of it & the chequering it's more like work for a jeweller than a carpenter.
Anyway, by now the wood will be very stable so it shouldn't get worse even if you do nothing.

[45flint]

A clear epoxy would fill the crack & hide it fairly well, but given the width of it & the chequering it's more like work for a jeweller than a carpenter.
Anyway, by now the wood will be very stable so it shouldn't get worse even if you do nothing.

I am leaning to what you are saying. Its a cosmetic issue and filling the crack would be work of a jeweler, the type of work I am fairly good at. But is the crack part of the story of a old gun and now worth covering up? The worse thing that would happen is that I make it more noticable by my work.

[Dutch]

My method is: remove the stock and repair with a bit of clear low viscosity super glue /epoxy resin. then clamp it (if possible, otherwise don't). Carefully wipe glue with wet cloth. You could also in advance moisten or grease the outside of the stock meticulously to lower risk of the epoxy sticking to it. Inside might tighten a bit (because of the clamping), so light sanding might be needed. tried using wooddust mixed with the resin to match the colour of the wood, but it made the crack darker. A good matching hobby paint (use right paint) job used on car, train plane models etc., does provide far better results.

[trajectory]

How sure are you the crack is not creeping? Has it been the same since your ownership, & if so how long has that been? Will the rifle be kept in a fairly even environment regarding temperature & humidity as tha might effect the possible propagation of the crack.

In my opinion with the chequering present only closing the crack up will give a continuation of line like the original appearance, & if it doesn't want to close then forcing it might just set up stresses for it to split somewhere else. Filling might disguise it a bit, epoxy has been suggested & that's not a bad idea as it shouldn't shrink that much when it cres & so might not induce too much stress in the repair. Slipping a bit of colour matched veneer into the split without forcing it open might be worth considering. When cured it could be finished off as best you can to match the surrounding wood & pattern. Good surface prep is essential if you are going to get a good bond. Not easy to do on a narrow split, as there could be years of dust, debris & oil in there that would need to be cleaned out.
Some furniture restorers use hard colour matched wax to fill splits & imperfections, that might be an idea but if the crack starts to open in the future then it will hinder the surface prep. to get a good bond if you decide to glue it at a later date.
Not an easy choice, if it doesn't move, or pinch your hand when you fire it then if it were mine I think I might be tempted to leave it alone at the moment.

Maybe the other consideration is how easy is it to remove the stock from this? Sometimes the bolts are well & truly 'frozen' in place & you might risk damaging something if its on there good & solid.