Years ago I read "Gunsmithing: Rifles by Patrick Sweeney" and it emboldened me to glass bed a rifle.
What could go wrong?
The epoxy leaked out, and got all over my pants, my chair, and the rug.
The epoxy hardened and the action was glued to the stock.
I had to break the stock into pieces to salvage the barreled action.
Since then when making pillars I have had stainless steel tubing work harden in the lathe, get hot, and squeal at me.
I have had pillar after pillar get cut too short and turn into scrap.
I had pillars not seem too long when feeding round nose dummy cartridges, and then jam between magazine and receiver when hunting with pointed cartridges.
I have had epoxy splatter onto the barrel and receiver, and when I tried to scrape it off, I scratched the bluing.
I have had epoxy never harden because I mixed the resin and catalyst at less than room temperature.
I have had epoxy never harden because the resin and catalyst were 20 years old.
I have had epoxy get on the action threads with no release agent, and I could not unscrew the screws.
I have noticed that 223s do not get any more accurate with bedding.
**** !! You Need to take up bow hunting.
Just Kidding, All of these things can be avoided by using the right materials and pre planning
the bedding job.
Not to say that this has not happened to any of us, But it is not that hard.
When I started out I used Accu- glass and it was not the most forgiving so I switched to accu-
glass Gel. It worked better (Did not run as bad).
I also used bedding screws,and they were problematic so I started using spring clamps and did
not have to worry about stuck screws.
It does take a little time to perfect how it is done but as long as you don't skip a step it is easy
and the results allways improve the performance.
So Clean the stock, install the pillars, check the barreled action to stock fit,apply any good release
agent (I like stock wax), mix a slow reacting bedding compound that takes about 4 hours to
cure and has about 30 min to 1 hour working time (I have been using Steel Bed from Brownells
with very good results), Mask of all ares of the stock on the outside that you don't wont bedding
to get on,apply a generous amount of bedding compound to the areas to be bedded, insert the barreled action carefully using guide screws that are to be removed before bedding has completely
cured and let it set .
Remove any excess bedding on the outside possible without disturbing the bedding under the action.
(This makes cleanup easy)
After it has cured remove the barreled action and clean up all excess bedding and make sure that the pillars are clean and do not touch the sides of the action screws. (You may have to drill them a little
larger).
I recomend not shooting the rifle for several days to allow the compound to reach it's full strength.
You are done. Bada Bing, Bada Boom.
J E CUSTOM