Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Bedding compound

I’ve used most of the bedding compounds and some epoxies on bedding rifles.

The dates I have done some of the jobs on the rifles I’ve bedded is quite old. The first were before gels were available, I think - more than 50 years ago.

After talking with a very good gunsmith (in his 80’s) who is famous for his stock work, I find that this popular bedding compound did not find favor with him. Main complaint = too soft. Besides this Gunsmith’s opinion some/many people accounts this compound is soft compared to the “good stuff”. While some swear by it. I’m thinking those who swear by it might not have a long history with it.

I have a rifle that used to shoot sub minute of angle groups with a variety of loads after I bedded it maybe 45 years ago. Now, not so much and I believe it’s bedding issues. The rifle isn’t shot out. I have not put that many rounds through it. Without a bunch of: did you check this or check that or is it your scope etc. I’d like to get some advice.

I just ordered a 4 oz kit of Pro-Bed2000, by the way, and would like to redo some of these earlier bedding jobs. There seems to be several highly recommended compounds and I picked this Pro-Bed2000. If I [bleep] up let me know with that purchase let me know.

Finally:

My questions are these: “What steps are needed to redo a bedding job?”

“How much of the old bedding compound needs to come out if any, etc?”

Thanks

In my opinion if the old stuff is "soft", and causing problems, and in need of a re-do, then take it all out and re do it.

Devcon Steel is my go-to.

I like Devcon 10110 as well, but damn it's getting expensive!!! i also agree about removing the old bedding. I try to remove as much as possible. Especially if it's getting soft. I've had to redo some that were horrible. The bedding compound that I dislike the most is Acraglass, and whatever Winchester used on their rifles. A lot of us call it "hot glue" bedding. I know, a lot of guys use acraglass, but I'd rather use JB weld, if given the choice between the 2. However, Devcon 10110 is my favorite. It's easy to work with, and gets the job done. It lasts for many years. I suspect the OP's bedding may have shrunk, or even got pounded enough from recoil, that the barreled action is loose in the stock. The reason why we glass bed rifles, is to keep things nice and tight, which helps greatly with maintaining consistent precision. Good luck to the OP.

I use Marine Tex Gray here. I would not leave any of the old bedding in place if it is suspect. Prep is always the key to a good bedding job. I no longer bed the barrel shank. I use modeling clay to manage flow and Kiwi clear shoe polish on metal. It is wiped on and buffed off (twice). No need for large amounts as I want my bedding clean. Painters tape, Q-tips and Popsicle sticks are your friends. A little WD-40 helps with cleanup.

I’ve used all the ones mentioned including the soft one that is sold it seems all over the place. It seems to me that product is both the worst bedding compound on the market and yet the most popular. I used the product before there was a gel version. Back then I read about people adding metal shavings and mixing with the be product. Fiberglass was sold with that product and that was what I used on my early bedding jobs.

Is it not just being soft the problem, but the shrinkage? It seemed to me (erroneously???) what I needed to remove was mainly behind the recoil lug, because the recoil was causing deformation/shrinkage behind the recoil lug. The bedding below the receiver had less stress and less shrinkage. Or, is shrinkage with certain product(s) a problem no matter where it’s applied?

Lot’s of favorites out there, from guys that know what they’re doing. But, the product not mentioned by name, in my opinion, is something I’ll use as repair on wood products, never again for bedding. I’m thinking that someday I’ll hopefully graduate from the school of hard knocks.

Just to be clear, which are you referring to as the “soft” one?

I have used Brownell's Accuglas jel for 40 plus years. Never had problem. The first rifle was Win. 88 in 308, bedded in 1964. It still shoots 1MOA. I did two 7mm Mags and also had no problem. Ditto the .06, I bedded 20 years ago. Several more of different flavors.

I am not a gunsmith, target shooter or long range, just a hunter that has made few stocks, rifle and shotgun and have sent more than a few bullets. downrange. Problems could be not following mixing instructions correctly or, not degreasing correctly,or oil soaked wood

To answer your question, if worried remove all the old bedding.

Same here.

Is it a wooden stock? If so, did you use pillars when it was bedded initially?

Good shootin' -Al

???

Brownells Acraglass, I didn’t come up with this on my own. I probably should have said it from the start. Let the howling begin.

No, never heard of that when I started bedding stocks in the 60’s. I’d guess I did this one around 1972. I sold the earlier ones I’ve done.

I believe I have bedded north of 60 stocks 90%+ wood. The recent (30-40 years or so) I’ve not had problems - yet. What I’ve done since reading about pillar bedding and this might be wrong. I drill the screw holes out, fill in with glass and drill again after the glass hardens just enough to clear the action screws. The bedding compound around the action screws being the ‘pillar’.

I did buy pillars and thought about using them but decided doing it the way I’ve described.

I’ve used much better compounds lately than acruglass.

As far as soft goes, it’s all relative.

Bugger I pour the pillars too, for better or worse. I mostly use Acraglas, often adding atomized metal to the mixture for added strength, though have doubts that it's necessary.

Though I prefer to make pillars, there is nothing wrong with 'pouring' for the pillars as both accomplish the same thing. When you're done, make sure there more than adequate clearance around the action screws. For 1/4" screws, I make the I.D. 5/16".

You definitely want to remove all the old AcraGlas. I allow for .020 clearance around the entire recoil lug...except the back, of course. You only want one recoil surface. The exception to this is actions where the front screw goes into the bottom of the lug. On those, the bottom needs to be tight to the bedding, for obvious reasons.

When mixing the ProBed, fold it together like you're working with cake batter as that minimizes air getting trapped in it which results in voids. After that, I spread it out on my mixing board and let it sit for about 10 minutes. If you pay attention, you'll see it change appearance and get almost shiny. That's when I put it in the stock. Sometimes I'll load it into a 20ml syringe but you need to be careful about getting air trapped.

PlayDoh works great for filling holes and cuts and cleans up way better than modeling clay.

Lots of other little details, depending on the action of course. Remember what bedding is actually trying to accomplish and the rest falls into place.

Common mistakes are not having a good guiding means of locating the barreled action into the pillars, not having the barrelled action supported in a 'neutral' position in the bedding, applying too much external pressure to hold the barrelled action in place during curing and inadequate action screw clearance. And lots of little details after it comes out of the bedding...edge relieving, chamfering, etc, etc.

Good shootin' -Al

Sounds similar to how I do it. Except how you prepare probed - letting it sit 10 minutes.

The acraglas at the rear action screw - I was thinking there’s not much stress there and was tempted to only remove the bedding compound around the recoil lug and front action screw - everything in front of the magazine well.

I have some questions about bedding Krag’s and other older military rifles but that’s another story.

Pm to you Al

All the products mentioned, and alluded to, are epoxies, and most people would probably be surprised how similar the ingredients are between all of them.

Acraglas/Acraglas gel has continually improved over the decades.

All adhesives will “age out” over time, that includes the adhesives in our high dollar composite stocks.

If bedding a wood stock, the wood slowly continues to shrink over the decades, its dimensions will change, and the bedding may no longer fit properly.

Totally agree

The imporant thing to look at with anything being used as a bedding compound is the percentage of shrinkage.
Mfgs will have this listed in the technical sheets for a particular product. In general, the shorter the cure time, the higher the percentage of shrinkage. The higher the percent of shrinkage, the less the stability and durability.

Bedding compound can also be too hard. I worked with a couple of ceramic compounds that were developed for applications much like bedding.

Good shootin' -Al

Not the easiest to work with, but Philadelphia Resin makes Marine Tex...at one time, PR had the only products approved by USCG and American Bureau of Shipping (the Underwriters Laboratories of marine standards) for 'through hull' repairs and bedding of engines and reduction gears. Vibration, heat, petroleum exposure...no problem.

We used to use splash zone for underwater repairs. Chockfast for bedding engines in tugs. Both of those epoxy's are tough as hell. I'll bet they would work well, but the chockfast is orange. Could look funny on a stock..