Best Bedding Material

This thermal expansion, yield strength, tension and shrinkage talk is laughable to me. How much of a shock are you really subjecting the bedding to when there is a great big shock absorber on the end of the stock.

FTR, Elmer's glue is the equivalent of some of the stuff I have found in some rifles from the factory.

PS: I ain't talking about the recoil pad either.
 
Thermal expansion is important to a hunting rifle that sees large differences in ambient temperature. The EXTREMELY common complaint about traditional wood stocks changing their POI with the weather is directly caused by this. If we're going to add something to the system it makes sense that that something is as temperature stable as possible.

Yield strength is important for the bedding material to resist any thermally induced change in the stock. Not strong enough and it warps with the stock.

The degree of shrinkage determines just how good the fit of the bedding to the action is. When that fit is poor the bedding or the stock are subjected to large Impulse loads when the action, under recoil, slams into the stock or bedding or both. Classic failure mode right there, results in a cracked stock.

I haven't tried flying on any of my rifles, how does that work? Is the FAA going to issue a Cert for this? I think that I'll stick to the RV-7 Express instead.
 
I too have a very extensive aircraft backround, and building and drag racing motorcycles and cars. Wish I had stayed with aircraft to spend more time with my dad ( life lesson)! I do not remember Devcon either, no bluing, no rifling, no Ceracoating, no headspace, no on-and -on. I do remember Devcon products in engine building though. Basically, SO WHAT! It is not aircraft, it is not many things, it is firearms. We have done our due diligence and found a product that has excellent properties, does an excellent job for the intended purpose, and even if there were something that someone thought was better. This hobby is filled with so many opinions that someone seeking knowledge here never will.
 
Did a bedding job a couple months ago. Was debating between Devcon and Marine Tex. Went with MT given the significant price difference. Was easy to use and turned out great...
 
How much thermal expansion/contraction is going to happen from room temp cure to whatever average temperature you hunt in?

You can worry yourself silly thinking about a .0002% shrinkage, a couple thousand lbs of tensile strength, shear strength or any other property you think may or may not matter.

The bedding material is only as good as the weakest component in the assembly.

My point is, quit worrying about the specific intricacies of the bedding material and use a quality product and quality processes and rock on.

The sheer number of products mentioned prove that with today's manufacturing that all of these exceed anything readily available a generation ago. I can remember when Acraglass WAS the standard all others were judged by, now there are a few that set the standard.

I use A4 Metalset because I work with it quite a bit. I am familiar with how it reacts, how to prep for it's use, how to apply it to avoid excess squeeze out, it's pot life and how it cures .

Most every product mentioned exceeds any demand anyone of us could subject it to and that is why they are so popular today.

I think moisture/humidity have more effect of POI changes in wood stocked rifles than temperature.
 
Darryle said:
This thermal expansion, yield strength, tension and shrinkage talk is laughable to me. How much of a shock are you really subjecting the bedding to when there is a great big shock absorber on the end of the stock.

FTR, Elmer's glue is the equivalent of some of the stuff I have found in some rifles from the factory.

PS: I ain't talking about the recoil pad either.
Click to expand...

Darryle said:
How much thermal expansion/contraction is going to happen from room temp cure to whatever average temperature you hunt in?

You can worry yourself silly thinking about a .0002% shrinkage, a couple thousand lbs of tensile strength, shear strength or any other property you think may or may not matter.

The bedding material is only as good as the weakest component in the assembly.

My point is, quit worrying about the specific intricacies of the bedding material and use a quality product and quality processes and rock on.

The sheer number of products mentioned prove that with today's manufacturing that all of these exceed anything readily available a generation ago. I can remember when Acraglass WAS the standard all others were judged by, now there are a few that set the standard.

I use A4 Metalset because I work with it quite a bit. I am familiar with how it reacts, how to prep for it's use, how to apply it to avoid excess squeeze out, it's pot life and how it cures .

Most every product mentioned exceeds any demand anyone of us could subject it to and that is why they are so popular today.

I think moisture/humidity have more effect of POI changes in wood stocked rifles than temperature.
Click to expand...
Darryle speaks good, common sense. The modern epoxies mentioned will do the job. I'm not so certain there is a 'best'. I am a firm believer in pillars properly and stress free installed. I seem to remember a post that said, apply the bedding material and tighten down the screws. That could very well negate "stress free". Another thing to consider, when the barreled action is properly bedded, it is "unitized" to the stock, resulting in the barreled action and stock becoming 1 piece when the screws are properly torqued. The guard screws should NOT make contact with the stock (or pillars) anywhere, as they can act as a wedge that might damage the stock if there's any movement between stock and barreled action. Also, some actions require relief at the tang, as that can act as a wedge also. Lots of 'little things' need tended to for best possible accuracy.
 
When you bed a wood stock, you are trying to fix several issues. #1 Fit, #2 expansion & contraction, #3 Effects of chemicals. Bedding materials help in all of these areas, but can never cure all of them. The expansion and contraction from environmental changes will effect the wood most no matter what compound you use to bed tge action. The bedding compounds have nowhere near the thermal issues as the wood. If you are attempting to make a precision target stock you might consider purchasing one that has been manufactured to accomplish this.
The lack of use of Devcon in aircraft component repair may well be because of the appoved methods that must be followed by aircraft A&P mechanics, not the functionality of Devcon. I have had a fare share of interactions with A&P mechanics and understand the world they work in. I own a precision automated machine design and build company. We have used Devcon in building fixtures as well as repairing various components. We have used the titainium version most for it's strength and machinability. It is possible to make some very good repairs to metal parts with it. Because we use it in our business I choose to use it for my bedding projects, it has never disappointed me. I also use their release agent and would not endorse any others, because I know the Devcon products are made to work together. As I have said earlier I don't think you will see enough shrinkage between the Devcon steel, aluminum or titainium for the average person or gunsmith to accurately measure. Again, for bedding a wood stock, pretty much all of the compounds mentioned in this thread will work if properly executed, and I'm sure some are better than others for given priorities.
 
That is my point, from where I stand the AL Putty is the best set of compromises. I will continue to argue for it while also recognizing that others have different criteria to judge by and will arrive at different conclusions. I know of rifles that were bedded using polyester resin with talc mixed in (otherwise known as "Bondo"), so clearly there's a wide range in criteria.

Moisture/humidity doesn't occur in a thermal vacuum. There is always a temperature component involved. The whole point of bedding a wood stock is to eliminate the moisture/humidity factor in how the metal fits the stock. Have a look at the Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Water, I'll save some trouble, it is a non-linear function. Meaning it is an ugly thing that varies it's effect depending on the temperature itself.

I don't care what the Federal Anti Aircraft commission's stance on Devcon is. It doesn't apply, and one need only look at the moribund stagnation of certified GA aircraft vs. the literal explosion in home-built/"experimental" aircraft to see just how screwed up they are.
I too have used in racing and recreational engines with excellent results for roughly 30 years.
 
Darryle said:
I use A4 Metalset because I work with it quite a bit. I am familiar with how it reacts, how to prep for it's use, how to apply it to avoid excess squeeze out, it's pot life and how it cures .
Click to expand...
I see that A4 Metalset has AL in it. I wonder how it compares to Devcon AL.
 

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