Savage Model 720 forearm help

[45LongColt]

I purchased a old 1930ish Savage Model 720 auto load shotgun to restore and refinish. Completed all the receiver metal and the mechanical parts so now Im onto restoring and refinishing the wood. The gun has some amazing feathercrotch walnut that will just look stellar when completed. One issue I have with the wood that I have pondered over for weeks without a concrete solution comes to mind.

The forearm piece is missing about 70% of the wood rim that inserts into the front receiver groove. That wooden rim is there to prevent the forearm from twisting while shooting the gun and to ensure tight lockup of the barrel/forearm assembly. No cracks in the wood yet, so Im looking for suggestions on how best to repair that missing portion of the forearm wood to prevent future cracking of the wood.

Thanks so much for any assistance.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYb1dLvLT5v/?utm_medium=copy_link

[J.Baker]

That's going to be a tough one!

One thing that comes to mind, and not sure if it would even be feasible, would be replacing the wood lip with metal epoxied to the wood. You'd have to relieve the wood to accommodate the metal and depending on thickness required it could be a real pain to get formed to fit. The other question would be if it will show or not once reassembled onto the gun - though if it would be you could use steel and blue it so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. Might be able to do the same with wood, but that would be a lot of hand carving since I'm sure it's more oval shaped than round.

Might be able to do something similar with three or four small metal pins that could be used to locate and prevent the forearm from rotating (thinking 3, 5, 7, 9 o'clock positions).Just sand/cut the face of the forearm flush then drill the four small holes where needed and epoxy in the pins so they protrude the correct amount.

[45LongColt]

Thank you for the suggestions. I thought of both, the issue with the first option is getting the correct curve to the shape of the metal, next is cutting a relief groove in the wood edge as there is very little wood at the bottom.

The second option has the same issue where the wood is so thin on the bottom and top sides. The 4:00 and 8:00 position have a good amount of wood to place pins there. The only problem with that, is Remington & Browning tried that on some model 11’s and A5’s and those ended up splitting at the pins.

[GaryB]

Macon Gunstocks says they make a replacement if you want to go that route instead of repairing what you have.

https://www.macongunstocks.com/catalog-pricing-n-z.html

[45LongColt]

Yeah, issue with that is the gun has amazing wood, reason why I bought it so swapping out the forearm kind of defeats the reason I bought it. I doubt I would come across wood this nice as a replacement, plus that would most likely be pretty expensive. I only paid $400 for the shotgun.

https://postimg.cc/SXdhZrF9https://i.postimg.cc/9M5QQ8LL/AB5600-B7-C116-4-DE0-98-FD-5-F7720-AF74-EE.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/j2vxvst1/D909-D9-CA-C8-F6-402-C-A924-AD111935-DA35.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/yNP32z1F/041-C399-C-EA73-4-B84-A580-A719-E6-C89-B8-F.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/CKYfvKgh/A063-C0-F6-03-F2-4-EA8-9323-EEC441-A28-D31.jpg

[GaryB]

After seeing those pictures I completely understand! Beautiful!