I picked up a new McMillan stock for my Weatherby Mk V, any tips on the best method to bed the action? I've done some M70 and M98 rifles in the past with good results. I have some Accraglass gel and that is what I intend to use. Is it a good idea to use the powdered metal for heavy recoiling rifles? This is a .340.

Any tips would be appreciated, including action screw torque and sequence.

kciH,

The only thing about a Mark V that is slightly different is that you need to bed the bottom of the lug flush to the bedding compound (don't leave any clearance using tape on the BOTTOM of the lug). If you do leave clearance, when the front action screw is tightened, you'll get some torquing of the action due to the gap.

I bed about 1.5" forward of the lug in the barrel channel like on every other rifle, and I also skim bed the tang while I'm at it. For the record, I've used about all of them, and I'm a big fan of DEVCON Plastic Steel for bedding. The most recent Mk V I bedded was a McMillan.

Why McMillan and HSP stock designs leave an obscenely large gap between the barrel and the forearm tip is beyond me, but, unless you decide to build it up a bit, you'll have to learn to live with it.

Thanks for the tip. What are the advantages of the Devcon over the other products you have tried?

With big boomers, I like to bed the lug with Steel Bed. Sometimes I'll come back and bed more of the action with Acraglas Gel.

DF

DEVCON (#10110) has almost no tendency to shrink once it's cured. It's absurdly strong, and it's highly machinable when cured. The mix ratio doesn't seem to be as critical as some, as I mix to 2.5:1 by eyeball on a paper plate, and I have NEVER had a problem. It doesn't cure so fast that you don't have time to work with it, but you can bed it in the evening and pop out the action first thing in the morning (I've actually done it sooner).

I also had very good luck with Marine Tex and consider it to be every bit as good. Both have metal particulate embedded in the compound for strength.

I'll second Devcon 10110. Just did a Remington 700 ADL last night. Easy to mix and work with. I put the epoxy in the stock at 10:20, had the action set and cleaned up by 10:30. Woke up this am and popped it right out. The stuff is super easy to work with, and the results are repeatable and look good. This is my third bedding job with it and all have been the same.