Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Bedding a Sako 85 into a McMillan Stock (Pics)

I've never seen pics of anyone bedding a Sako 85 with its crazy proprietary lug, and I finally decided to tackle mine. I've done quite a bit of bedding, but this is completely different. I'd really like to get some critiques from the pros... if you think this approach has problems, please let me know. If you've done a Sako 85 and would do it differently, I'd also like to hear that. The stock is a standard fill McMillan fiberglass (not Edge); the rifle is chambered in .25-06 but will eventually become a .30-06.

I had to think about my approach to this, as this design essentially introduces a third part into the receiver/stock equation. For the record, I don't like the design at all; it's a cost-cutting measure on an otherwise top-shelf rifle, and it's a PITA for projects like this. I decided that the best approach was to bed/epoxy the block into the stock as the first step, then skim bed the action over the block (and into the tang) as step two. It's a long story, but I had to reuse the old aluminum recoil block from the factory stock--that's why it's dinged up a bit (getting it out was a mother).


1) Here's the lug area hogged out to prepare the surface for bedding and prepped to make sure that the block sits flush on the pillar. The photo is washed out a bit, but it was roughed up pretty good, all the dust blown away, and then degreased thoroughly with denatured alcohol.






2) I rough sanded all of the anodizing off of the block to "etch" the surface, then drilled shallow recesses into the block to allow the Devcon to make a mechanical lock. I then cleaned up the holes and gave it a good degreasing. Right before inserting the block into the Devcon, I took a flexible putty knife and firmly pressed Devcon into these holes, filling them before setting the block into the lug--this reduced the likelihood of getting voids in these recesses. As the Devcon surrounds the block, it'll cure against the Devcon in these voids and create a mechanical lock (I think).




3) Here's the sanded block, sitting in the prepped area so that I could gauge how much Devcon I'd need. You can see that I left room on each side for the bedding compound to surround the edges and lock into the recesses.




4) After Devcon was pushed into the lug area and onto the flat, I inserted the block, cleaned up the ooze, and used a large machine screw and bolt (coated with release agent) to ensure the block was making firm contact with the lug and stock flat. Not a lot of torque here, just a bit more than finger tight.






5) Here's the finished product, before I skim bed over the top and insert the action. Everything lines up nice, and I managed to clean up the ooze.

[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f25/redoakoutfitter/null_zpscdca72f0.jpg[/img]


** One thing I didn't do was screw or otherwise mechanically "fasten" the block to the stock flat along with the bedding compound. So, the weakest link in this system is the Devcon's bond with the stock itself. Given my experience with Devcon, I don't think it'll be an issue, but we'll see. In the factory stock, the block fits with a very firm press fit and probably wouldn't come out in a thousand years. This older style block really doesn't lend itself to screwing like the newer one, so I decided that it probably wouldn't be an issue as long as block was flush against the pillar and otherwise bedded perfectly flat. We'll see.

Here's a pic of the bedded block looking up through the floor plate access.

[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f25/redoakoutfitter/null_zps892be917.jpg[/img]

More pics as I finish the skim bedding...

Sir, Please continue posting progress pictures and follow up. I have a Sako AV (square bridge) and a couple Sako MRI rifles with removable recoil lug, and a McMillan Sako stock. Trying to figure out which rifle gets the nod for the McMillan.

Curious why you did not first epoxy the recoil lug to the receiver (with release agent) and then proceed to bed the action+recoil lug to the stock in the usual way?

It seems that keeping all the three pieces square with one another would be easier that way.

Interesting idea. I guess this way seemed easiest to me at the time. Have you done it like that before?

Seems to me the mating of the recoil lug with action would be the most critical feature. Then bed it into the stock.

As stated previously, the 85 is an otherwise top shelf rifle. One of the reasons I like the Mk V action is due to the recoil lug being integral with the action.

Whether you do it before or after the lug goes in the stock, there is still a layer of compound between the lug and the receiver. There isn't going to be a perfect fit between the two components otherwise. The pictures you see at the end are before the final skim bed.

I've got a Sako that I will be epoxy bedding. In thinking about how to go about it, it seemed less problematic to fix the recoil lug to the action first. That way, I won't have to do any further inletting of the recoil lug mortice if the recoil lug did not get bedded in the stock squarely with respect to the barrelled action.

That is why I was curious why you chose to epoxy the recoil lug to the stock first.

Carbon12,

When I initially sat the recoil lug into the mortise (prior to epoxying in place), it was almost a perfect fit except for the lateral play. McMillan had done such a good job inletting the stock that the receiver sat virtually flush on the lug and tang without bedding; when I tightened the action screws, they firmed up almost immediately. In fact, had I not been worried about the side-to-side, I might have shot the gun before bedding. Based on the fit, I knew that as long as I kept the lug flush against the mortise flat while the epoxy cured, I was going to have an easy time with it.

Again, I think your approach is sound...just a little tougher to execute. Two things...

1) You're going to have to come up with a modified action screw that will allow you to snug-up and perfectly center the lug against the receiver while it cures.

2) Unless you tighten the front action screw while you epoxy the lug into the mortise, the lug surface is not going to lie in the same plane as the receiver flat once it's cured.

I'm about to post pics of the finished product...

After the final bedding and some initial clean-up, here's how it tuned out. I'll do some minor fitting as it goes back together, but I think the approach was sound.

Looks like your approach worked out just fine.

Looks very good. Neat and professional.

Thanks...I'll be interested in hearing how yours turns out. Keep me posted.

The vertical surfaces on the back and sides of the rear tang of the stock should not be bedded tight to the stock. When you shoot the rifle the recoil impulse is transferred to the stock at the front lug and the sidewalls along the magazine box flex a bit causing some foreshorting of the guard screw spacing in the stock. According to the Sako factory stock inletting prints you need about .75 mm to 1 mm ( .045" to .060") gap behind the rear tang to allow for this stock flex. If you bed the vertical rear surfaces of the rear tang tight to the stock it will act as a secondary recoil lug and probably cause some chips and battering of the rear tang of the stock as the side walls flex.
I have seen a lot of nice Sako and Howa/Vanguard wood stocks with a big chunk of the wood at the rear tang knocked out when the rear tang was bedded tight. Please put two layers of electrical tape around the vertical surfaces of the rear tang when bedding the action in this area.

Thanks Dick. I did bed the rear tang with clearance, but not two pieces of tape worth of clearance. The action goes in and out without any trouble, and the action screws have plenty of clearance all around (I made sure of that).

Do you think the fact that it's only a .25-06 mitigates the issue somewhat? Should I hog out the tang area and rebed it, or just watch for signs of trouble?

I wonder if I could "polish" out some additional clearance there with...dare I say it... a Dremel tool?

Richard, the 25-06 won't flex the stock as much as the belted mags do. I wouldn't hog it out and re-bed, but I might suggest you put some sandpaper around a 3/8" dowel or something and sand the verticle bedded surfaces back until you can slide about 4 sheets of paper around the back of the rear tang. After you shoot it awhile if you can see marks on these sanded surfaces where the rear tang has been hitting them then sand it out a bit more.

Thanks Dick, will do.

I'll be doing mine here pretty quick.

I'm thinking that I want some clearance on the front side of any flat lug surface so I'll tape the front of the groove, and lug before I do a no tension bed job.

Nice pictures that fully explain the process - thanks for posting.