Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles About to attempt my first bedding job and i'm terrified.

Hey guys. Hoping I can get some pointers as I'm about to attempt glass bedding and have never done it before. Rifle is a FN Win M70 that I put in a new Boyds classic walnut stock after breaking the original. I'm using brownell's acraglass kit, so any feed back on it would be nice. Any general do's/dont's and advice?

Is the release agent provided in the kit good or should I seek out another option? Tape up the sides and front of the recoil lug and leave the bottom and back exposed right? Theres a million questions in my head... I don't want to ruin the stock!

Finally, should I just bed the tang and recoil lug like the factory stock, or attempt to bed the whole action? TIA.

Most important advice I can give is to use more release agent than you think you need - many coats.

Use modeling clay, or something similar, to fill any recesses in the action that may lock the action in the stock. Electrical tape over the trigger assembly, bolt release linkage, etc. with release agent coating on it will assure an easy action removal. I also put electrical tape on the front and the bottom of the recoil lug. This provides clearance later to allow the action to be tighter in the stock without bottoming the recoil lug. Again apply release agent to the electrical tape.

Do not be afraid, you can do it.

Bedding Job?

Have we become that PC?

In my day we called it what it was. Gigolo for rich broads.

Don't be scared. Man's got to make a living.

But I agree with the previous poster, make sure you layer up the release agent.

Savvy?

I like to add some tape (a few wraps) to the barrel near the fore end to help keep the barrel "centered" in the channel.

I use Johnson floor Wax as a release agent... no problems yet.

I put on a couple of coats to make sure I got everything covered.
You got a dermal tool? if so don't worry go for it.

Remember to make places for the epoxy to "take", by drilling judiciously with a small Dremel into solid places along the stock where you can make little pegs/legs of epoxy inside the wood.

If the taping off doesn't make sense to you as to how the barrel/action will be able to come away, stop and think it out. You'll feel terrified anyway, so that's normal. Just go slow and think it out. Might have to set it all in a deep freeze after everything's cured, to get a tight fitting job to come back apart. Use a rubber mallet to strike the metal if needed.

Generous release agent use is good, and remember to degrease with rubbing alcohol before applying it. The directions are actually good, but I've used magazine articles and pictures to help me out.

...especially the tang area.

All excellent advice. I'll add that in addition to a few tiny holes mentioned above, scuff all areas of contact so the epoxy has the best chance of biting fast.

Remember too, epoxy doesn't adhere worth a tinker's dam to end grain. So for the area behind the recoil lug I trim the wood back about 1/16", and bevel the edge where that end grain meets the ledge behind it to provide a more substantial hunk of epoxy on that transition area.

You want to use the Accruglass Gel not Accruglass.
You do not want the bottom of the recoil lug to touch.
The mold release supplied with the kit works fine. Use two coats.
Modeling clay ( Hobby Lobby sells it),and a Dremel tool is a must.
I degrease with acetone and you need some anyway for cleanup and to cut any epoxy that gets away from you. You can get it in quart cans instead of a whole gallon if you want.
Leave small pillars or sections of wood in places so the stock is in the correct location. ie,
Mask the stock where you don't want any epoxy, especially along the outside ,top of the barrel channel and action.
Remember to put some light grease on the action screws before assembly and don't tighten them down too tight when you set the stock in after epoxy is applied.
Before epoxy hardens all the way, use an exacto knife or razor blade to cut away some of the excess that squishes out around the barrel or action. When done, make sure the action screws are not touching in the hole at all. ie., you might need to drill the hole out a smidge.
I always relieve any epoxy at the rear of the tang after curing, maybe .015 or so.
I use some hypodermic syringes to apply some of the epoxy in areas that I don't want lot of. You can use a popsicle stick to put the epoxy in the syringe. Those too are available at Hobby Lobby.
Cotton tip applicators are nice to have around also .Those are like Q- tips,but on wooden sticks and longer.
Where rubber/latex gloves.

Plain old rubbing alcohol works good as a solvent for cleanup too, as does vinegar. I always use alcohol (denatured or rubbing)in the shop rather than acetone as it is a lot less likely to mar the finish if I get some where it's not supposed to be. Alcohol or vinegar is pretty benign, too, not like the known carcinogen that acetone is. I glove up and use acetone only when I have a serious cleaning/degreasing task at hand.

Don't be a slave to Brown-give-me-all-your-money-ell's. Any quality epoxy with suitable filler works ok as a bedding material. I used West System thickened with colloidal silica (the white fluff supplied in the Accuglass kits) for the last few bedding jobs because I happen to have it in my shop for all around gluing purposes. Results have been fine.

A factory rep for a major epoxy maker told us once that essentially all epoxy resins come out of the same spigot, that the only real differences are in the proprietary hardeners.

After the epoxy has cured, and you have removed the action from the stock (hopefully!), swab the exposed epoxy surfaces with solvent to remove the amine blush- that trace of wet/thin film that forms on the surface as it cures. It's benign, but it will impede bonding of any subsequent application of epoxy should you need to fill a void or air bubble. You have a 24 hour window of opportunity to make such an application without scuffing the surface. After that, sand it lightly before slathering on any more epoxy for a good bond.

If you don't pay attention to anything else here, pay attention to this.

Regular AcraGlass, while a good product, is not for beginners.

AcraGlass Gel is far easier to work with.

The rest of the advice given is also good direction.

MM

Great advice above.

Don't worry, you'll worry the whole time


i've only done one rifle, but was nervous the entire time. Especially when I had to use a rubber mallet to get it to separate.

I've used that kit on 2 rifles and they both came out great and shoot much better than before. Follow the directions carefully and read what others have posted (degrease and 2 coats of release and make sure you get it in the cracks good) and you will be fine.
PS You will still worry.

I try to remember to pop it out of the stock after a couple of hours while the epoxy is still a little soft (keep checking the left over stuff to monitor consistency), just to relieve my anxiety over gluing it in. I put it back in then and let it finish curing. While it's out at that point is a good time to trim any epoxy away that might have migrated toward where you don't want it to go.

True that there are many epoxies that will do the job, but with the Brownell's kit you get everything you need and a quantity that you can use AND a set of instructions for bedding.

Denatured alcohol will do the job, but rubbing alcohol is usually 70% alcohol,30% water. There are some chemicals that alcohol will not dissolve (which is true for acetone also, but not as many).I have been working with acetone for 50+ years and not dead yet.

Drink just enough to get up the courage to do it, but not so much as to screw it up.
I've done several, and am nervous every time. Popping the action out at the right time is key (not too soon, not too late).

Too much release agent is just enough.

I was still nervous after about my 10th. one, but after that it was like second nature.

I know the feeling....grin.

I've bedded three of my Rem 700s, and a 10/22 with Devcon 10110 Steel Putty.

They have all worked out well. I was a little paranoid about accidentally locking the action to the stock, but no troubles.

I fill any potential locks with modeling clay (Walmart arts/crafts) and used Johnson's Paste Wax (Walmart) for release agent.

If you can 'bed' two slices of bread together with peanut butter, you're 95% there....grin

Here's some pics from a couple bedding jobs, they are pretty much self explanatory.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/montanamarine/library/Bedding?sort=3&page=1#