Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Glass bedding a Winchester model 70 (my way)

Hi guys. I'm continually getting pm's about glass bedding Ruger m77's and Winchester model 70's so I'm going to try and walk you thru the process I've found to be the most simple for me. I've been glass bedding rifles since I was about 20, so I've been doing this for a while. This is something where your first time is always the hardest and most memorable. Hope this can be of some help to some of you guys that are on the fence about bedding some of your own rifles:

The first thing I'm going to do is make up a list of things you will probably need (besides the barreled action and stock):

1. Bedding compound
a. This can be anything from JB weld, Acraglass, Devcon 10110, or even marine tex.

2. Release agent
a. I've found Johnston's paste wax and Hornady one shot case lube to work great for this.

3. Measuring utensils for the bedding compound.
4. Something to mix the bedding compound with, a container for this and something to apply the bedding compound with.
a. I prefer using a 1/4" dowel cut to about 12" long. I grind one end to a point for easier more precise application of the bedding compound.
5. Q-tips. Never forget the q-tips!!!
6. Inletting guide screws.
7. Blue painters masking tape.
8. Electricians tape.
9. Dremel
10. 40-60 grit sand paper for roughing up the surface of the stock being glass bedded.
11. Good rifle vise.
12. A LOT of patience!!

Ok, first thing I do is remove the barreled action from the stock. I make sure the surface of the rifle is clean. I then apply Hornady one shot case lube to the hard to get to areas of the barreled action. I let that dry and then I finish applying release agent (in my case I use the Johnson's paste wax) to the receiver and barrel and all the small parts: IE, mag box, floorplate, and trigger guard.




Next step is to work on the stock. I use a dremel tool with a small grinding stone attachment and rough up the recoil lug area and tang. I use the 40-60 grit sand paper to do the final sanding and roughing. This is more than enough to hold the bedding compound for years to come. Especially if you are using my favorite (Devcon 10110 steel bed). My rifle (XTR FWT 270w) looked like this when I started:

Now after roughing up the wood, it looks like this:

Notice I left the area around the front action screw hole high so the action will sit at the correct depth in the stock. I then apply the blue masking tape in the barrel channel just forward of the recoil lug. I apply some release agent to the blue tape so the compound that does go into the barrel channel won't stick. I also use release agent (paste wax) in the barrel channel if the stock is to be freefloated. This makes cleanup a lot easier since the bedding compound won't want to stick to the stock there:


I then apply Johnston's paste wax to the outside of the stock (sans the checkering). This minimizes time. I can generally bed a rifle stock in about 45 minutes if all goes as planned. Of course this does not include the cure time of the bedding compound and clean up time.

When you are 100% sure the barreled action has enough release agent on it, you can mix your epoxy.
You will need 2.5 parts (by volume) of the epoxy and 1 part hardner when you are working with the Devcon 10110:

I use about 1 1/4 tsp of epoxy and 1/2 a tsp of hardner for most recoil lug and tang bedding jobs..

I then apply the mixed bedding compound to the sweet spots:
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/IMG_0769_zpsf468450d.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/IMG_0770_zpsa2ffea8e.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/IMG_0771_zpsf7eddcb2.jpg[/img]

Keep in mind, this doesn't have to be overflowing out onto the floor to work. Try to keep it in the right areas and you don't have to worry about it getting onto everything else!!

After you are happy with the amount of bedding compound in the stock, you can then carefully lower the barreled action into the stock. Most of the time, I'll throw the trigger guard on, put the mag box in, and use the middle screw to keep things together (just snug the screw up), I also put the floor plate on to make sure the mag box stays put and then wrap electrical tape around the receiver. Don't worry, this won't torque the receiver. I've done this many different ways and sometimes even use my action screws to hold everything in place. I've yet to see any difference in performance and have yet to torque an action. This is what some call a neutral bedded action or stress free bedding:

[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/IMG_0772_zpsbb22f15b.jpg[/img]