Cracked Encore Butt-Stocks


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In seven years I've had two cracked butt stocks on my Encore. The first

was a factory walnut and now, a Boyd's laminate, both in the pistol grip

area. The walnut stock was cracked both front and rear when discovered,

and a wood working pro who examined it told me there was a flaw in the

wood grain....should never have been used for a gun stock.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, when I discovered the laminated

stock had a crack in the front of the pistol grip. Great!

I know that tightening the bolt extending through the pistol grip portion of

the stock to hold the action can be over done. That COULD POSSIBLY have

been the problem with the factory stock (but not according to the wood

worker), but great care was taken in tightening the bolt in the laminated

stock.

Since the warranty is long gone on the laminated stock, since I have

added a grind-to-fit Simms recoil pad, since I have added a mercury

recoil suppressor, there is little to lose by attempting a repair. Has

anyone else tried this?

I drilled a couple holes in the pistol grip and added a 5/16" as well as

a 3/8" dowel epoxied in place. The crack was also CAed (thick super

glue) immediately before clamping. Will allow the epoxy to completely

cure before cutting off excess of dowels and sanding. Only time will

tell if this works!

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Re: Cracked Encore Butt-Stocks

Yep, I hear ya. I am not too wild about the rifle stocks on the Encore. Never have been. Your repair job should work just fine. I recommend doing a pillar bed job to the action screw. This involves adding a metal cylinder to the through hole and will keep the stock from being damaged in the future. I know that Virgin Valley did their grips and stocks that way.

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Re: Cracked Encore Butt-Stocks

Thanks, AJ, am thinking about that pillar job. I didn't want

to go to the expense of getting the VV stock back then....

but now, wish I had.

too pointer, ya ain't gonna like this. When the crack was

discovered, the action was sporting a Tactical 20 barrel,

which is a ballistic twin sister to the .204 Ruger. The

recoil is so light that one can keep the scope on target

upon firing. I haven't shot 150gr loads with the

209x50 barrel for years. This stock has only received

recoil from around 120gr of T7 for just a few shots

(weren't accurate) about three years ago. Since then

its been a max of 120gr of Clean Shot, and lately,

under 100gr of anything.

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Re: Cracked Encore Butt-Stocks

One thing I should mention, "glue separation" should

have been the term used rather than "crack". Just

because this happened to mine, doesn't mean it will

happen to yours, Mike. I don't blame Boyd's at all for

this -- they just buy the laminated wood and cut stocks

out of it. There may have been an area in the lamination

which just wasn't filled quite as well as the rest of it.

That may very well not be the case with your stock.

At any rate, "the fix" is almost done and I will post a

photo or two of it when finished.

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Re: Cracked Encore Butt-Stocks

Your repair looks pretty good. It should hold up just fine. A buddy of mine had a laminated stock on his 300 RUM and it delaminated also. After installing crossbolts and re-glueing, it has held up for the past 6 years just fine.

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