Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Learning to Bed a rifle

One thing I did on the last rifle I bedded was to tape off the bottom of the lug recess in the stock. Once everthing set up it was extra easy to dremel out most of the epoxy in the unwanted areas and then just peel the tape away for a perfect "looking" bedding job. I used a chisel to cut clean lines where needed before peeling the tape off.

Basically, if you plan on removing excess epoxy in unwanted areas, taping if first, provided it won't affect clearances, makes the clean up job way easier. This is all for comestic purposes - it really has nothing do with a functional bedding job.

FWIW, I use Brownells water soluable release agent. Works good for me.

That release agent works for me too. Everything where I don't expect epoxy to end up, like on the outside of the stock, gets a coat of paste wax just in case. Not so hard to miss a spot on complicated pieces with paste wax. (Hard paste wax was the original release agent for hand layups, and is still used as far as I know.)

If you are glass bedding a plastic stock, I would suggest using piller blocks, along with the glass bedding. Those plastic stocks will compress as you tighten and loosen the action screws, causing the action and bottom metal to actually sink into the plastic. Pillers prevent this.

A question for the experts. The above, with pillers, is the way I do a wood or plastic stock.

I have a Rem 700 with a laminated stock. I have never messed with the bedding on it, because I felt that the laminates and the material it was impregnated with is hard enough to prevent the wood from compressing when the bolts are tightened.

Does anyone have an opinion on this, or do I need to install piller blocks?

what would happen if you just put tape over the action screw holes in the action, or used something to plug them, then just drilled out the action screw holes in stock after everything has cured??

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but one way to deal with it is to use headless action screws. You just push them down through the wet bedding, then remove them from the bottom, and insert the regular action screws in their place. Better yet, use stockmakers hand screws. This is the part of bedding job that gets messy, and the best way to deal with it is to have a plan that includes plenty of paper towels and q-tips.

Besides aligning things, the other good thing about the headless screws is that they block the bedding from getting through the holes into the action. Once the action is pressed into place before the headless screws are removed, most of the hydraulic pressure is off, so little compound can get into the holes. It's still a good idea to have plenty of grease or wax inside the action over the holes. Hardened epoxy in the interior of an action is bad news. I have a story about that that I won't tell, to protect the guilty party.

Paul

Take the phone off the hook while doing this, don't ask me how I know.
whelennut

I keep bedding out of the action screws, action holes, and stock holes for the action screws this way:

1) Put layers of tape around the screws until they just fit snug in the holes. Cut through the tape so that the tape pillar is long enough to contact the bottom of the barrel with 2 - 3 turns until tight. This lets the tape compress a little at the action/screw junction when the screws are tightened all the way, so it acts like a gasket to keep bedding material out of the action screw holes. I've also found some plastic tubing that slips over the screws to serve the same purpose as the tape.

2) Wax everything - screw threads, tape, screw holes, action, barrel, recoil lug, etcetera.

3) Put the taped screws in the stock. Put the barreled action in a vise by the barrel with the bottom of the action up.

4) Put the bedding compound in the stock being careful to not get it on the threads.

5) Turn the stock upside down and hold over the action while watching from the side and slightly below to line the screws up with the action holes.

6) Start the screws and turn them in, alternating until tight.

7) Turn the rifle right side up in cleaning cradle or shooting vise and clean up any excess bedding material.

8) Back the screws off 1 turn.

9) Let the bedding cure overnight then remove the barreled action, clean it up, and take the tape off the screws, then reassemble.

This also gives you the benefit of having the screws centered in the bedding, and not touching the bedding.

Truthfully, your rifles are shooting well enough for hunting purposes not to warrant bedding them. If these numbers are with factory loads, then I would recommend to learn how to reload and your accuracy will improve more significantly than by bedding the rifles and will be applicable to all of your shooting, rifles and pistols. Just imho.

Just one more note. Each rifle of different manufacture requires different techniques in bedding. With some the recoil lug is integral to the front receiver screw, with others it is not; some require the rear tang to be floated and with others bedded. The job like posters said is not difficult, but there is a learning curve. And as they said, trying to learn on a cheap stock is the best way to go. Remember the whole idea of bedding is to achieve a stress free platform, so that you may tighten one action screw and the barrel of the rifle will not move up or down by any significant degree. It is though the action is sitting on it's own rigid table. The action screws need to touch nothing. Pillar bedding is not totally necessary for hunting rifles, but if you desire can be done at the same time. I prefer a two step method with allows me to assure proper alignment of everything and free floating of the action screws. Of course, it is not unusual that I am doing Howa actions where the floorplate is angled at about 16 degrees which means the pillars need to be machined at that angle and it is easier to control fewer variables at with each step. This is when doing new stocks, but with bedding an existing stock, a pillar will not necessarily go in. Maybe try getting a Boyd's stock for one of the rifles, about a 100 dollars or less used. Good sturdy stock to work with and follow the above instructions. One other thing, do not go overboard on the epoxy. It will get everywhere and it will go further than you think. I remember my first job with Marine Tex, I had that white stuff all over the stock, rifle and myself. What a disaster. Good stuff, but I used Devcon now and I still get it on me every now and then, but I am a messy person. Good luck.

Good points, Dolphin. It takes experience to estimate the right amount of epoxy to mix, but too little can be a problem as well. You don't want to run short in the middle of a job. OTOH, epoxy has gotten expensive and you don't want to waste it.

A mixed batch of epoxy can be frozen, and it will still be good for a day or so, and can be used for the inevitable touch ups that will be necessary. It will harden, but the process slows down when it is frozen.

Paul

I did this on a Tang Safety Ruger, though I did not bed the tang area. I was focused on the lug area and barrel boss. I taped the tube to help center in the channel, plugged and taped off the screw hole in the lug and and lightly snugged the tang screw. When cured, I drilled out the whole in the stock and was off to the races.

Brown Precision used to have a print out on how They bed. I've used these instructions for years. Other opinions will vary. Bottom line, it isn't really that hard. Using a gel or putty type material, makes it stay put and a lot easier.

Don't you just hate it when someone reads the OP?