I bedded a rifle last night and was thinking about how to make it more stress free. Has anyone hung a rifle by the muzzle while the bedding was drying? Not sure it matters, just curious.
Hang a rifle when bedding??
- Thread starter Mram10us
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Blancoalex
Well-Known Member
My only input would be is that I don't hold stock
in vis e or clamping system. I like the rifle stock and action to be setting in it's natural horizontal postion using padded vee rest or even on bipod and r ear bag. I use alignment pins along with either my 1" wide rubber band or electrical tape.
in vis e or clamping system. I like the rifle stock and action to be setting in it's natural horizontal postion using padded vee rest or even on bipod and r ear bag. I use alignment pins along with either my 1" wide rubber band or electrical tape.
I bed mine in portions....parrallel to the table....
First portion is the lug...so i can keep everything lined up nice and pretty....
Then if needed I can add to the volume of the lug area with precise amount of bedding...
Then I can bed the rear screw area and forward of the lug at rhe same time....knowing precisely how much I want to add without going over board...
On my new rifle the bdl didn't look very good as to the position to the stock...so I dremeled out some materials and rebuilt those areas....once all that was done I added enough to finish off the front of the lug area.....
Three groups of three at 100 yards...all sub .75"....with old load...
Today just readjusted bullet seating...and in a few days powder charge......
But now i have to find a place to shoot closer than 30 miles...
First portion is the lug...so i can keep everything lined up nice and pretty....
Then if needed I can add to the volume of the lug area with precise amount of bedding...
Then I can bed the rear screw area and forward of the lug at rhe same time....knowing precisely how much I want to add without going over board...
On my new rifle the bdl didn't look very good as to the position to the stock...so I dremeled out some materials and rebuilt those areas....once all that was done I added enough to finish off the front of the lug area.....
Three groups of three at 100 yards...all sub .75"....with old load...
Today just readjusted bullet seating...and in a few days powder charge......
But now i have to find a place to shoot closer than 30 miles...
cohunt
Well-Known Member
I hold the barreled action by the barrel in a vice just in front of the stock in a horizontal position, never held one by the stock so I cant compare. Just my way of doing it.
entoptics
Well-Known Member
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- Jan 16, 2018
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I've only "skim" bedded a couple cheap rifles, so maybe I'm confused?
As I'm sure you're aware, the compound will flow until it's cured pretty solid (hours in my experience with various epoxies not necessarily for bedding rifles). Might be "time-lapse" slow, but it flows. I'd think hanging the rifle would run the risk of the goop heading towards the back end of the rifle.
Guess what I'm confused about is...
1) If it's solid enough not to flow, it's already made the rifle imprint, and hanging would offer no "stress free" advantage.
2) If it's not hard enough to stay in place (no peanut butter creep), hanging it would result in thickened epoxy towards the ground.
Also, how "stress free" can you go, before you're not getting a good mold of the action in a state that it will be after installed?
As I'm sure you're aware, the compound will flow until it's cured pretty solid (hours in my experience with various epoxies not necessarily for bedding rifles). Might be "time-lapse" slow, but it flows. I'd think hanging the rifle would run the risk of the goop heading towards the back end of the rifle.
Guess what I'm confused about is...
1) If it's solid enough not to flow, it's already made the rifle imprint, and hanging would offer no "stress free" advantage.
2) If it's not hard enough to stay in place (no peanut butter creep), hanging it would result in thickened epoxy towards the ground.
Also, how "stress free" can you go, before you're not getting a good mold of the action in a state that it will be after installed?
Devcon putty stays in place for me. I like to line the action up with screws then wrap with electrical tape for a bungee affect.
Again, I haven't tried this. Just curious if anyone else has. Hanging seems to make sense in my brain
I set mine against the wall like this when drying with a heater pointed at it (impatient)
entoptics
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2018
- Messages
- 878
I also did the tape wrap for the two I've tried.
I have a fair amount of experience with epoxy (not bedding), and even the thick stuff will flow, even if real slow. Drop a dollop of the stuff on something, and it will slowly flatten out like silly putty over hours.
Perhaps you should try an experiment to see how much it flows in both scenarios. From what I've seen, you have the tools, materials, and inclination for that sort of thing.
Easy enough to take a piece of bar (or old hunk of barrel), and bed it to a piece of angle iron. Perhaps an 8" piece. Hang one, and lay one horizontal, and see if there's a measurable difference in bedding thickness front to back on the two.
I suppose some rearward pressure during curing actually makes sense to me though, as that's the "recoil state" of the system your trying to make uniform with bedding.
I have a fair amount of experience with epoxy (not bedding), and even the thick stuff will flow, even if real slow. Drop a dollop of the stuff on something, and it will slowly flatten out like silly putty over hours.
Perhaps you should try an experiment to see how much it flows in both scenarios. From what I've seen, you have the tools, materials, and inclination for that sort of thing.
Easy enough to take a piece of bar (or old hunk of barrel), and bed it to a piece of angle iron. Perhaps an 8" piece. Hang one, and lay one horizontal, and see if there's a measurable difference in bedding thickness front to back on the two.
I suppose some rearward pressure during curing actually makes sense to me though, as that's the "recoil state" of the system your trying to make uniform with bedding.
