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Hi there,
On the forearm of my 1873 Winchester there is some shrinkage by about 2-4mm thus sits below the forearm cap. Looking at other pictures the wood on other guns the wood sits above.
Now this shouldn't really bother me.. but it does.
I don't really want to shell out on a new forearm , also don't want to bugger perhaps an original part.

Just wondered if anyone perhaps has any suggestions or tips. I have read about water and expansion ?
It may mean me living with it worst case scenario.

Is this an original rifle? Any photos?

Redcat

redcat wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 7:36 pm Is this an original rifle? Any photos?

Redcat

Hi there, yes its orginal 1892 dated, some pictures.

It's 130 years old, it's had a life. You can't expect it to be perfect. Someone may have altered it for a reason or it just was built like that to begin with

I am not expecting it to be perfect, just wondered about the wood shrinkage ?

dirtbag wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 9:07 pm I am not expecting it to be perfect, just wondered about the wood shrinkage ?

It's possible the wood wasn't fully seasoned when it was selected for cutting. It happens. I was surprised to see a section of kiln dried floorboards that I meticulously laid good and tight develope gaps up to three mm in places. Natural products have natural tendencies.

Plastic FTW!

My wife restores antique wooden pieces and she said it was probably kept too close to a fireplace or heat source and dried the moisture out . She has a humidifier to control the moisture content of valuable pieces and monitors this at all times. Apparently with a good humidifier you can control the shrinkage or expansion and then by using 'special stains' to fix the change rate to a far lesser degree. However she did say the rifle has had a life and a story to tell and if you wanted a perfect one then buy a modern reproduction. (I did not know that shrinkage is taken into account by making modern wood pieces very slightly oversized ie very tight fit which allows for shrinkage with time,,, I guess same with the original winchesters then) . (My uberti 1873 repo is a very tight fit all around).

Thanks all for input, I will leave as is.