16ga.com ~ View topic - Reviving the cracked fore-end on a Sweet 16 thread

Joined: 12 Sep 2010 Posts: 1975 Location: Maine

Some time back, there were some extended discussions about the infamous crack that appears on the fore-ends of Sweet 16s.

Today at the end of a hunt I got to talking with one of the other hunters as he shucked purple shells out of his gun. He was quite proud of it being a high-condition Belgian Sweet 16, but unhappy with the crack on the bottom of the fore-end, starting at the receiver end. I said I was aware of this being a common problem and that there was a guy in Missouri who was the man to work on Brownings.

He had never heard of 16ga.com, so I told him about it.

In anticipation that he might stop by here, could someone pull up the thread(s) on (a) getting the fore-end repaired and (b) how to do the repairs yourself. My searching skills wind up running me in circles. As a non-member the other hunter wouldn't be able to ask.

Had a good day. Got two pheasants. Word from another friend, who spent the week up north, is that there are grouse, but they are wildly skittish.

Thanks in advance.

Joined: 30 Jul 2012 Posts: 319 Location: Central, ND

Art is the guy. Arts Gun Shop in MO. I believe he uses super glue

Joined: 03 Sep 2014 Posts: 398 Location: Rochester, MN

Larry Potterfield, via YouTube, taught me how to fix my Savage 720 (auto5 clone).

When I got it, it had 7 cracks in the fore end. Some wood was missing and the gun would not headspace properly. I have since repaired it with epoxy and the techniques shown in the video below. It looks great and has held up for several years of use.

https://youtu.be/x-HdLKcSu1w