Mikes Gilbert Bedrock ?

J

jsthntn247

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Buddy gave me a Wheeler Eng kit with this bedding. Anybody ever use it? I have Marine Tex which I normally use but didn't know if this was harder and had less shrinkage.
 
Not familiar with it so I looked it up...
Apparently they provide microballoon filler to thicken the consistency, which is about the worst additive I can think of.

Microballoons are a fairing filler- you add them when you want to increase volume and for ease of sanding (I've used piles of the stuff over the years on boats). You can literally dig into the cured epoxy with your fingernail- the opposite of what I'd want in a bedding compound. I don't know why they'd include that instead of a high-density filler, which is more appropriate for that application.
 
I bought that but haven't used it yet. I practised first with JB Weld and then started looking at Devcon after that.
 
The first rifle I ever bedded was with a miles gilbert kit I ordered from midway usa. It was the worst bedding job I have ever done and I would never use that junk again. The release agent in that kit did not work and I had to beat the barreled action out of the stock with a deadblow hammer. When it finally came apart the epoxy had broken and part was stuck to the barreled action and part was stuck to the stock, I had to scrape it all off and start over. Ever since then I use Devcon, or Marine Tex and clear shoe polish and have never had an issue.
 
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Timnterra said:
The first rifle I ever bedded was with a miles gilbert kit I ordered from midway usa. It was the worst bedding job I have ever done and I would never use that junk again. T release agent in that kit did not work and I had to beat the barreled action out of the stock with a deadblow hammer. When it finally came apart the epoxy had broken and part was stuck to the barreled action and part was stuck to the stock, I had to scrape it all off and start over. Ever since then I use Devcon, or Marine Tex and clear shoe polish and have never had an issue.
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That's a bummer since I still have the kit lol. JB Weld isn't bad but it's runny. Letting it sit for awhile may help with that. I'm looking forward to trying Devcon in the future.
 
Timnterra said:
The epoxy might be fine if you leave out the micro balloons and use shoe polish for the release agent.
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Yes I use shoe polish or Johnson Paste wax. I considered using the micro balloons, but to be honest I'll probably keep on using JB Weld, and move on to Marine Tex or Devon. I have Marine Tex but the catalyst got misplaced somewhere during a move. I probably put in a safe place rather than the original box lol.
 
You can add silica fume to JB or any epoxy to thicken it. Microballons are fillers. Unless you have large voids to fill, I wouldn't use them to bed a stock. Probed-2000 is another good option.
 
I've been bedding rifles since the 70's and I use either Brownell's Steel Bed or Devcon. Both work really well with a slight nod to Brownell's. I use Brownell's spray release agent, I like it because I get really complete coverage and it works. Don't skimp on mixing time and ratios must be correct as well as surface prep. I rough the surface (depending on what it is) with 80 crocus cloth for aluminum or wood. clean it well. Marine Tex is good as well, just never used it.
 
osok-1k said:
I've been bedding rifles since the 70's and I use either Brownell's Steel Bed or Devcon. Both work really well with a slight nod to Brownell's. I use Brownell's spray release agent, I like it because I get really complete coverage and it works. Don't skimp on mixing time and ratios must be correct as well as surface prep. I rough the surface (depending on what it is) with 80 crocus cloth for aluminum or wood. clean it well. Marine Tex is good as well, just never used it.
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Same here
 
I have used the Miles Gilbert kit on three rifles; skim bed on a HS Precision stock (6mmBRNorma), a laminated stock with pillars (.300WinMag) and a cheap, plastic, "Tupperware" stock (.223Rem). All three turned out great and are still in my position turning out incredibly tight groups. I did not use the micro-balloons but the epoxy works great IMO.
 
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