1st Solo Bedding Job

[JuddL]

Gonna be good km. Congrats on giving it a try!

 

[JuddL]

Try putting masking tape around the screws to center them up, put release agent on them.

I've seen folks do that, put surgical tubing around the screw shafts. But the coolest trick I've seen, a gentleman named Al on accurate shooter shared, was to drill the pillars to 5/16" (won't work on the Mesa or McMillan pillars they use) and insert these into them. It perfectly centers stuff.

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

I also pull my tape after I clean the excess, seems to pull easier when it's wet than afterwards.

As said…many ways to skin this cat.

 

[Kmccord]

I've seen folks do that, put surgical tubing around the screw shafts. But the coolest trick I've seen, a gentleman named Al on accurate shooter shared, was to drill the pillars to 5/16" (won't work on the Mesa or McMillan pillars they use) and insert these into them. It perfectly centers stuff.

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

I also pull my tape after I clean the excess, seems to pull easier when it's wet than afterwards.

As said…many ways to skin this cat.

Thanks for the information, we will see how this one pops out, I take little pieces of information from everyone and see if I can apply it for my stuff.

 

[JuddL]

That's exactly what you'll end up doing and finding your own way to do it. I am pretty certain no two guys (even full time gunsmiths) do it the same. There are things most guys do…like the tape to center up and set your level on the fore-end.

Check your work when you're done and if there is little to no stress, roll on.

Try different stuff and enjoy the journey. Look forward to seeing how it looks when you're done.

 

[VinceMule]

I have a piloted 5/16/-1/2" spiral end mill that I use to drill out all of the stock screw holes, these are darn cheap on ebay and will last a life time.

 

[Rflshootr]

Don't forget to loosen the bedding screws a 1/4 of a turn after about 10 hours. And really don't forget to remove them before cracking the action loose from the stock.

 

[Dean2]

Don't forget to loosen the bedding screws a 1/4 of a turn after about 10 hours. And really don't forget to remove them before cracking the action loose.

Very good point, I actually loosen and remove one screw at a time at 8 to 10 hours. That cuts threads into the Devcon, and yes I know lots of guys say the screws should not be touching anywhere between bottom metal and action but this is how I like mine.

 

[Rflshootr]

I have a piloted 5/16/-1/2" spiral end mill that I use to drill out all of the stock screw holes, these are darn cheap on ebay and will last a life time.

Do you mean a spiral fluted counterbore?

 

[Rflshootr]

Very good point, I actually loosen and remove one screw at a time at 8 to 10 hours. That cuts threads into the Devcon, and yes I know lots of guys say the screws should not be touching anywhere between bottom metal and action but this is how I like mine.

I always drill the epoxy out of the screw holes in the stock so nothing touches.

 

[Wedgy]

Do you mean a spiral fluted counterbore?

One of these in 1/2" with a 5/16" pilot

Counterbores - Spotfacers - Countersinks - Consumables

www.yardstore.com

 

[HRM Johnny]

Don't forget to post a picture when you remove the stock.

I second Ol' Red's motion.

 

[WapitiBob]

I don't know what a curing box is. I let mine sit for 3-7 days and never touch it.

On an assembled rifle, If you stand the gun up on the butt, for a right handed man, use the left hand to grab the fore arm Tip and wedge the finger tip against the barrel. Now with your right hand, loosen the front guard screw. You can feel a few thousandths of movement by doing this. If you feel movement, your gun is out of bed, the action is stressed.

Every time I used tape around the barrel when bedding I could feel that movement when done. It went away when I quite trying to center the barrel with tape.

 

[JakeC]

Looks really good! Really looking forward to what you get for results. I use electrical tape to hold it in there, it gives a nice moderate amount of elasticity. Some tension but not too much, lets it normalize any tension I add.

What tape is that, exactly? I tried that once with blue tape and got real bad results. Acetone and blue scocthbrite for hours.

I've been using pro-bed, I'm pretty neutral about it. It flows very well with a long open time but it doesn't have that great of adhesion on the stock. That could be my fault since I pop it after just 16 hours or so to make sure I can clean any mistakes up. That's probably why it usually takes me 2 rounds, the thinner spots haven't really bonded yet. It seems to take eons to get to glass hardness. But it stays sandable more than any other epoxy I've used. I'll probably try something else next time, might be time to try the devcon. Really pretty rig.

 

[Dean2]

For wet cleanup you can't beat Hoppes 9 on paper towel. Devcon, Marintex etc cleans up great with Hoppes. If your bedding is easily sandable it isn't near hard enough, which is why I now exclusively use Devcon. Hard enough it can be tapped for threads, near zero shrinkage on drying or due to temperature in use, and pretty impervious to oil, solvents etc