So I got my hands on a real nice Kar98, 1917 dated, needs some minor TLC. Namely the gun has a duffel cut. The original owner fixed this putting a finish nail in it, chopping off the head, then sticking the two together with a bit of glue. Needless to say this didn't pass muster when firing it.

Here are some pictures (already took the nail out, and just hand holding it here).





I know the correct way is two dowels to prevent rotation and assure better alignment... however, with a Kar98az, and in test fitting, I found that the front and rear bands will more or less work to align the stock with the full length hand guard as needed. I was thinking simply drilling that hole out, putting a dowel in, gluing it up with everything together, and calling it good.

Now, the tough part here is that the cut was extremely rough, I've already tried to clean it up as best and carefully as I can (old glue here has since been painstakingly removed) and gotten it as good as it will be. When the two ends are placed up against each other there is a small gap in the barrel channel. What are some options for fixing this? Fill it with glue or putty, leave it alone?

Since the gun is going to be a shooter the thought of getting another stock for use and leaving the matching, original one for show did cross my mind... but unlike a Kar98kicon these earlier guns are very tough to get a stock for and as I've found before, getting them fitted can be another matter altogether.
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