I have a short tang Browning Broadway with a salt stock that causes the receiver insides to rust. I have been looking for an inexpensive used stock to replace it with but have found none. Can the Salt stock be used if the inside is glass bedded to keep the metal away from the salt wood? Don
No. Lots of people tried to figure out a way to solve the problem, but the ultimate solution was to throw the stock and forend in the fire and replace them. Arts snaps salt wood stocks off at the cheeks when they come in for guns slated for rust repair and restocking regardless of grade to prevent them from getting back in circulation.
Salt wood resulted from a process used to speed up the curing time of wood...the salt would draw out the moisture and speed up the drying process, unfortunately the salt residue remained in the wood grain and caused metal corrosion where the metal and wood made contact. This was not a manufacturing problem, but a supplier problem. About 1965, a large wood supplier sent wood not only to Browning for FN's use but also to: Bishop, Fajen, Winchester, Ruger and to the US Military for M-14 stocks. This company was drying their walnut using granulated salt, by covering the wood with salt and placing it in quonset huts. The only figured wood available was planks bought in California but sent to South America for furniture. That's where the salt curing was being done. When the California wood supply disappeared, the only figured wood available was from South America. The wood dried so quickly that the workers said they could actually see a steady drip of moisture coming from the wood. The wood was already cut into the appropriate size planks and no one thought that any salt residue would remain on or in the wood after final shaping, sanding, and finishing. The US Government stopped using walnut for the M-14 rifles and went to other types of wood because properly cured wood was so scarce at the time. In Browning’s case, the problem first showed up starting in 1966 and ends on their guns about 1973. Superposed and T-Bolts made between 1967-1973 should be looked at; Safari, Medallion or Olympian made between 1967-1976; and any A5's 2,000,000 edition Commemoratives should be looked at. Rule of thumb on A5’s is if it has a square knob, its suspect. Inspect any place the metal touches the wood. Take out the butt plate screws and look them over carefully. If you find no rust, the gun is probably OK. Sometimes you can test the wood with silver nitrate. Place a drop or two on a hidden spot on the wood, if it bubbles you have a problem The SXM1 was made from 1974 to 1981. It is VERY likely it could have salt wood. And especially if its Fajen or Bishop aftermarket wood. ----------------- i'll bet art does a lot of snapping based on what guns have salt! lol.