It's a commercial Mauser 98 action built by George Honold of Ulm, Germany. Likely 1920's or 1930's vintage. The worksmanship is all excellent but it's definitely been beat up over the years.
Main concern is the cracks at the rear of the receiver and pistol grip. It doesn't look like they go all the way through but I can't be sure. I also can't tell if anyone attempted to repair this in the past. I also also can't be sure what caused the cracks to begin with.
Options are:
1. Shrinkage around metal parts. The standard woodworking error. The stock was inletted before the wood was dry enough or at some point someone allowed it to get wet or it was in a very humid environment, etc.
2. If the rear end of the action fits too tightly against the wood of the stock then the shock of firing the rifle can cause cracks right about where some of these are. This isn't uncommon in old rifles, especially Mausers like this one. I've seen it plenty of times myself but usually it caused a single crack right behind the action, in the middle of the pistol grip. Given this, part of me thinks it is more likely that option #1 is the culprit. This rifle has plenty of dings and wear so I wouldn't be surprised if it has been subjected to wet weather and humidity. Given the fine craftsmanship I also doubt that the original maker would have made mistakes like fitting the action too tightly into the stock.
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For the cracks I figure the best course of action is to fill with CA glue but I wanted to get some input from others before I do something so permanent. I'll relieve a little bit of wood at the rear of the action just incase option #2 did cause the initial cracking and I'll be glass-bedding the action as well. When filling with CA glue, though, should I clamp the cracks tight as the glue dries or should I put no stress on the wood at all and let the glue fill the cracks entirely?
So then there's this. The forend looks like it's made of buffalo horn which apparently is prone to shrinking and cracking. It looks like the shrinking is what caused this joint to start failing. It's still more or less solidly attached but more than half the surface is no longer in contact with the wood. Anywho, it needs to come off so it can be reattached with a better joint.
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My thoughts are to use some heat to see if the glue starts to give and then maybe use a thin chisel or putty knife to pop off the forend cap. But I don't know what kind of adhesive was used originally and I would rather not deal with any splintered or broken wood. I suppose another option is to saw right through the glue line but that would also lose a little bit of wood and horn so it isn't ideal. Anyone dealt with a problem like this before?
Thanks,
Matt
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