Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Removing bedding material from a walnut stock

Looking at purchasing a used walnut stock that has previously been bedded Bedding job looks good but if I needed to remove it How much trouble would it be It’s on a model 70 long action factory stock

It's usually a lot of work and a PITA. BTDT.

Its about a 4 minute job. Those that say it's a PITA, just don't have the tools or knowhow...

GFY

Dremel + Turkish coffee?

Snort!

I'd like to know best way too. Have a Mod 70 Safari Express stock coming that I want to bed properly before it splits like the last one (I bought it that way, and boy was it split!).

I usually use my mill and dremel tool and it is not too bad (most of the time.)

A mill is the best way of doing it this way you can keep a light cut and control your depth…

You can use a Drexel but it’s a pain if things go wonky


It takes more then 4 minutes - you really don’t want to deepen it, and you can ever so lightly clean it up with a mill while staying perfectly lined up.

Normally, I plop them in the mill and do it. On wood stocks that I don't want to risk damage by clamping in the mill vise (even with good padding) a soldering iron with a wide tip on the bedding material will soften it so it can be removed with a small scraping tool shaped to fit the area. I'll sometimes use a crafters mini heat gun...c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y.

I mainly use these plastic automotive windshield trim sticks as a scraping tool...just reshape as needed. Only pic I have of one but you'll get the idea.

If you use a Dremel, get the flexible extension kit that allows you to hold the cutting tool like a pencil. The difference in control you'll have is amazing.

Good shootin' -Al

You only have to remove a small amount, just enough to let the new action drop in, then mix up some epoxy and re-bed it. Don't overthink it. No need to hog out a gross amount of the old bedding, especially if the action going in is the same make/model as it was previously bedded for. Not a "four minute job" but not especially difficult.

If there are areas that are already undersize for the new action, simply wash it with acetone to remove whatever amine blush may remain from the first bedding job (and residual oils) and scuff it to provide a good adhesion surface for the new epoxy.

This ^^^

Not a 4 minute job because you mother fu ckers are slow or have not done enough to be competent.. It's alright if it takes you longer, but it doesn't really have to if you have the right tools and know how.

Here's a good example of what's being discussed.

This is a Model 70 Super Grade stock I finished up a couple weeks ago. This stock was the nicest piece of walnut I've ever seen on a factory gun. It had the original Winchester bedding blobbed in there with a lot of 'wrong'. In all fairness, Winchester certainly didn't want any bedding material showing on a stock like this so I give them kudos for that.

Factory Winchester bedding:





Carefully removing the factory bedding while preserving the original bedding height (to duplicate the correct height of the barrelled action in the stock) while working all of this out with the aluminum pillars I was installing, took some time. You don't have an egg timer set for some ridiculous time.

When doing something like this, I simply take whatever time it takes....to do it correctly.







Good shootin' -Al

If you have the tools, a mill is probably the most accurate way to do it. The fast way is with a Die grinder and some sharp cutters, but be careful so it doesn't get away from you. I never worried too much about taking out too much because you're going to be rebedding it anyway so what does it matter if you have to add a little more compound ?

If you just have basic tools, a set of curved and flat rasps will take care of it pretty quickly.