I finally did it, and did it good... knocked my fnx45 with can and it fell onto the wife's golden boy... probably the front sight caught the forearm. Gashed it through the finish to bare wood.

Wife is pissed. I probably could've kept it from her if I hadn't screamed like a school girl for damaging her baby...

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What course of action do I have to unfuck this? I know it won't be perfect, but need to get rid of the eye sore on such a beautiful rifle.

Not GD but we do have rules...

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Buy another handguard

Genius... that's why I asked the refinishing section...

Is that a dent or a gouge?  I can't see very well on my phone.  You can take a dent out with a wet cloth and a clothes iron.  if its a gouge you will have to either a) sand it out, b) fill it with epoxy) or c) a combo of both.

It's gouged. The fnx took a good little chunk out of it. There's raw wood in the bottom of the hole.

Are there epoxy mixes designed for detail wood work like this? Guess I'd then have to try to re-stain/finish the spot to match the stocks...

Do you know the species of wood? There are wood fillers specific to wood type. I'm guessing cherry, but its only a guess.

Removing the handguard you can usually see the unfinished wood that's under the barrel and make a good determination of the wood type.

If the coloration under the barrel is different, then the wood is likely stained. This is not easy to do if not seeing it first hand. If your not comfortable working on it yourself, someone local that restores furniture might be able to help. Wood restoration and repair is an art. Good luck with it.

Might ask the manufacturer of the rifle to get their thoughts too.

Unfortunately you aren’t going to be able to match the existing finish no matter what you do.  You will need to strip all of the wood.  This can probably be done with lacquer thinner, a rag, and some time.  You can sand down the area around the gouge and mix the sand dust with epoxy to blend colors.  Come back with whatever stain/finish you please.

Good thing is you don’t have a lot of checkering to deal with.

Thanks. Yes I ought to give Henry a call.


That's kind of what I fear, and why I might opt for professional help, but at the same time I also don't need it to look mint again. It's a real rifle that sees real use. While it doesn't get taken out on rainy days or anything, it does get some dirt and dust. It's connected on the tree stand before. Those are very minor dings and from honest wear. Not a gouge from some dumbass knocking a huge pistol onto it.

A proper fix, even if not a perfect match, is going to require quite some patience and elbow grease I suppose.

I should take the forend off and see if the wood is raw underneath. That could also allow for a small test space to get a good color match.

Not that woodworking is a secret, but it does require some skill and knowledge I don't currently possess. I figure I'd ask before I go making it worse because of *whatever reason an experienced woodworker know, but a pipe welder doesnt*.

The cheap way would be to color the gouge in with a brown Magic Marker, then smear it a bit with your thumb before it fully dries to "blend" it. I've seen black markers used too. Then just don't look so closely at that side from now on.

Plan B- There are gunsmiths & stockmakers who do piece work. Start calling around your area. Expect a lengthy downtime, they are gunsmiths after all.

Plan C- Call Henry and order a replacement.

Is it a dent or has wood actually been removed from the stock? Dents can often be steamed out with a damp rag and a clothes iron. I've done it and it works surprisingly well. Matching the finish is another matter.