Wood shrinkage on gun forearm

[dirtbag]

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.

[redcat]

Is this an original rifle? Any photos?

Redcat

[dirtbag]

Is this an original rifle? Any photos?

Redcat

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

[bradaz11]

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

[dirtbag]

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

[Dark Skies]

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.

[Blackstuff]

Plastic FTW!

[Peter Leigh]

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).

[dirtbag]

Thanks all for input, I will leave as is.