Repair of cracked handguard?

[JCherry]

I noticed an earlier reference by Tom Butts to glueing a handguard back together. I posed this question there but it got lost amoung the other posts.

I have a 1896 Krag with a handguard that is cracked front and rear of the rear sight. The crack is between the metal rivets and it appears the rivets and springs hold it together.

What type of glue do you recommend that will withstand the robust springs and not affect the appearance of the weapon?

The rifle I have appears to be all original except I'm missing the middle band swivel and stacking swivel which I hope to get from Gun Parts. If the handguard is glued will that affect the value of the rifle?

The weapon is operational as it is so the answer may be for me to do nothing in my particular situation.

Thanks, Have Fun, JCherry

[Ned Butts]

I have repaired cracked handguards before with epoxy. The trick is, obviously, not to epoxy the handguard to the barrel! Make sure both sides of the crack are clean and down to raw wood. Fold a piece of fine sand paper and slip it between the sides when they are together. One or two passes should be sufficent. Epoxy won't adhear to a waxed surface so I used a piece of wax paper slightly longer than the handguard and folded once to make two layers for extra protection. Then take the stock off of your rifle, remove the rear sight and slide the handguard down and off of the barrel. Coat each side of the crack very lightly with epoxy, put the waxpaper over the barrel, put the handguard over the waxpaper and slide both back into the proper position and let set for 24 hrs. Some epoxy will be forced out of the joint. If your handguard has any finnish on it the epoxy should not stick. DO not wipe off before it is dry. Once the epoxy has set, a fine file used gently will remove the ridge of excess. If it is a fine crack with no pieces missing it will probably look like a grain line in the wood.
I can't make any guarantee on any of this only that I have done it a couple of times and it has worked for me.
Let me know if you have questions.
Good luck,
Ned

[JCherry]

Ned Butts,

Thanks, your description is very concise and clear. I will check things out further on exactly what type of epoxy will work best for this application. I should be able to find epoxy of a color to match the wood very closely so the final result is as you stated. Thanks again.

Have Fun, JCherry

[tcbartke]

Check again with S&S in NYC. In their current website (SSFirearms.com), they have a section on specials, in which they list 1898 handguards including clips for $15. They are repros but S&S has very nice repros. They lost their old stock supplier, but apparently have found a new one. Previously, I got one of the handguards from them without the clips and without the opening for the rear sight. This looks very nice on my 1896 with the Redfield 102K receiver sight.

Ted Bartke

[Fred G.]

Hello, There is a glue that I've used for years for just this and other wood repairs on my antique firearms. Duro makes a special super glue for "wood" that you'll find right along side of their other superglue. It is thicker and will not just run into the wood and not bond like the regular glue that they make for ceramics etc. after gently spreading the crack, just run a thin bead over the crack getting all you can inside the full lenth, and allow to dry while pushing it together so as not to allow too much of a visible gap where the crack had been. After a very short while, you can "gently" shave off any excess glue off the surface with a clean razor, or wipe it off with a rag or #0000 steel wool dampened with acetone. If at any time too much pressure on the wood results in the grain being smoothed down slightly more than the rest of the surface, you can then place a towel or rag with Hot water over the wood and the grain will raise back again. This glue is able to bond on a molecular level (very thin) and still hold better than any other type I've used which usually required a greater thickness to give strength. An application of boiled linseed oil to the area after drying and cleaning will return the wood to Armory standard appearance.