first time bedding, savage 111 LRH

[shawn338lapua]

I am wanting to bed my savage 111 LRH 338 lapua. I have never done this before so tips would be great! Some of the more specific questions i have include..

How much material will i need to remove?
does the aluminum base in the accustock create any challenges? (all the videos i have seen were on wood stocks)
favorit brands of glass?
Should i bed any of the barrel or leave the entire thing free floating?

Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you

 

[Iclimb]

I don't think The accustock is a good candidate to bed. Have you removed the receiver from the stock? They're such a void between the aluminum chassis and the bottom of the receiver it'll take a ton of bedding compound. You don't have to worry about removing any material it's nothing like any of the videos you've watched on Wood stocks. If I was you I would check to make sure the barrels free floated and I would play with the torque on your action screws I believe that good groups will be attainable without bedding. I have a LRH and wanted to bed the recoil lug but... The above stopped me, I think the savage design, particularly the lug area is poor. There is not enough surface area for the recoil lug to engage the chassis. I can't understand why they didn't leave a little more aluminum there for the lug to set against. If your rifle shoots great right now I wouldn't remove your stock. If it doesn't shoot I would play with the torque on the action screws first. If you must remove your stock and your rifle is shooting good, use a torque wrench starting low probably around 20 pounds; meassure the torque that is on the action screws before you remove them. That way when you put it back together you can just torque it properly to a known torque that shoots. I know this from experience in having a good shooting rifle and not having accuracy after stock removal. As far as bedding, I wouldn't waste your time.

If you still want to bed it, it's going to take a lot of bedding so buy accordingly. Also I would suggest drilling some shallow, angled holes into the AL chassis to give some grip. As far as favorite compound I exclusively use JB Weld. I'm kind of a shade tree type of guy though.

 

[Hired Gun]

I believe in fully floated barrels. Nothing touching anywhere. A stress free bedded action usually will shoot better than one under a bunch of stress.

I'm not familiar with that stock so sorry no help there but I do want to weigh in on compound. JB Weld is mostly a cosmetic thing. It's compressive strength is not rated. Devcon Titanium is the strongest 15,200 followed by Marine Tex Grey at 13,000. I use Marine Tex on almost everything.

If you have some big voids to fill in I would cut pieces of aluminum and MarineTex them in to give a uniform foundation then final bed in Marine Tex.

 

[Daveinjax]

+1 for marine tex grey. I haven't seen a rifle yet that couldn't be improved with a bed job. I use kiwi neutral shoe polish as a release agent and spray the whole thing down with Hornady one shot case lube for good measure. They say you can use just the one shot but I'm not that brave. Rough the area up and go for it. I've marred a few stocks but it was the power tools I kept trying to use not the actual bedding. I use small hand chisels I got fron the Home despot and haven't had a problem since. Tape off any place you don't want bedding material and set up all your tools and supplies before you start. You don't want to be fumbling around for a tongue depressor or trying to dig out a towel to wipe your fingers off with bedding on you. It's like the tar baby. Once you touch it you're stuck with it. A little on a finger or the side of your hand and the next thing you know it's all over the place. Thats why you cover the whole stock not just around the inletting. Don't forget the modeling clay to keep it out of places you don't want filled. If the barrel nut is the older grooved type don't forget to fill the grooves. Good luck and stay strong. You will be more than a little nervous on the first job. I'm still a little apprehensive when I go to take it out when it dries.

 

[Dosh]

I'm with Hiredgun and Daveinjax with the Marinetex. Would like to add some of the Kiwi neutral to the tape on areas covered, it helps in clean up. Try applying the Kiwi with a wide art brush and again don't forget to fill the barrel nut splines with clay if needed. Good luck

 

[chad44]

I bedded my 111 LRH. I removed all the material that touched the action. I even ground out the place where the recoil lug sat. Then I bedded with Devon. Improved accuracy a little. It was shooting good before tho. Like under an inch. Now it's 1/2 on a good day. Mine needed the barrel channel sanded way down Before bedding. My barrel sat crooked in the stock. So before I sanded iti bedded it and now she's sitting straight in the stock. I thought it was fun to do also.

 

[Iclimb]

I contacted savage and they informed me that the tang and front action screw are supposed to contact the AL "post" that sticks up where the bolt goes throughout. For what it's worth. I imagine there may be differences in the stocks that will be discussed. Gen1 accustock v. Gen 2. As for the JB weld, there are certainly better products out there. Martine tex is a great one! You won't find a cheaper product than JB. How much pressure will be exerted on it? You can use JB for anything and bedding is one of them! It's no "softer" than Accu-glass or whatever brownell's sells.
*I'm no gunsmith* but I've bedded many rifles with JB Weld and it works wonderfully. The void that must be filled on the accustock is what I'm not a fan of. Shoot it first is all I'm saying. I think your gains may be minimal if any.

Marine tex has a tensile strength of 4000psi, JB is at 3960psi, Devcon Ti is at 4000psi
For what it's worth.
Compressive strength of JB is 10,733psi
marine tex gray is 13kpsi white is 8k+Psi
Devcon Ti 18k+Psi 5minute plastic steel is at 10,400psi Normal plastic steel & AL are a little over 8kpsi
All this assuming you mix it properly

I bedded my 111 LRH. I removed all the material that touched the action. I even ground out the place where the recoil lug sat. Then I bedded with Devon. Improved accuracy a little. It was shooting good before tho. Like under an inch. Now it's 1/2 on a good day. Mine needed the barrel channel sanded way down Before bedding. My barrel sat crooked in the stock. So before I sanded iti bedded it and now she's sitting straight in the stock. I thought it was fun to do also.

Is yours a gen1 or gen2 accustock? (Maybe the lrh was new enough that it only was made with the newest)

 

[shawn338lapua]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Not sure what Gen the stock is but i have taken it off and worked the front end some to make sure the barrel was free floating. i haven't had a chance to shoot it since so ill give it a go first. also have a late season elk hunt in Jan so i won't do anything till after that is over. Still working on a load.

 

[SofaKing]

Just bought the savage 111 LRH in 300 win mag with accu stock. Any recommendations on bedding.