Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Bedding a Weatherby or other action with front screw in the recoil lug

So I pulled apart my Weatherby Mark V tonight to think about bedding it and I realize that the front screw goes into the bottom of the recoil lug. With all the bedding jobs I've seen here the recoil lug is taped with two layers of tape on the front, sides, and bottom of the lug. So, if I wanted to bed this rifle, how would I go about doing it? What is the best plan for putting devcon in the recoil lug area?


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You bed the bottom of the lug. You want it to make contact.. You always bed the part where the action screw attaches. If you are inclined to provide any clearance to the lug, let it be to just the front surface.

So just put a touch of devcon on the bottom of the lug so too much doesn't ooze out into the screw hole before I can insert the screw?

Grease (wax) the screw well and stick it up through the hole, then apply epoxy to the well.

After curing you want to drill the hole oversize.
art

As a more or less casual observer, some have success with only the rear of the recoil lug making contact, relying on the area immediately behind and possibly in front of the lug to take the down force and torque. Others have success with the bottom and/or sides of the lug making contact. I've read much back-and-forth on the matter over the years and it is just plain confusing, so I don't know if there's a clear answer. Certainly can make your head spin trying to sort it out.

Given the tons of rifles Malm and Sitka have bedded (for a living) I'd feel confident in following their advice. It must work or they wouldn't do it that way.

Just a comment from someone who has been all through this himself.

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I use grease to keep the screw from sticking. If any epoxy ends up in the hole, a bottoming tap and a fine wire wheel on the screw threads gets rid of it easily.

Like Art, I wax the screw and insert it up into the stock before applying the epoxy. I use a piece of masking tape across the screw head to hold it in place while I load the lug area with the epoxy. The tape holds the screw in place until I can get a screw driver on it. Don't forget to wax to the threaded hole in the lug. After it's cured, I finish it off by running a .266 drill bit to open the screw holes.

I have drinking straws in a variety of sizes, cut one to fit through the hole in the stock. This helps prevent bedding material from filling and exiting the stock hole as the action is inserted. I also put a dab of floor wax in the screw hole of the receiver.Rick.

I'm not brave enough to use the actual screw.

Get an extra screw and cut the head off or buy a specialty screw.

I only use the screw for alignment in the stock as I don't tighten down anything. I use tape on the outside of the action to hold everything in place.

Tape off the shank of the screw and apply release agent the length of the screw. If you have any exposed threads, be sure to tape them off also.

After you pop it out, just drill the hole out some in the stock.

I do it similar to Malm & Sitka but I use a stockmakers srew, put it into the action before setting the action into the bedding, & make sure it has release agent on it.

MM

Plenty of release agent. Don't forget the screw head or else this!!

On actions with the screw going into the bottom of the lug, I use a short alum. pillar. Depending on the depth of the stock, it can either be bedded to the original escutcheon or bottom metal, or the original escutcheon replaced by the pillar. If the escutcheon is replaced, the pillar is cut at the same angle as the bevel on the action screw for maximum contact.

Either way, I leave about .030 clearance between the top of the pillar and the bottom of the lug for bedding compound, then bed the lug with plenty of clearance at the sides and front.

I would forgo the use of the action screws altogether. After reading some stories about using an alternative to the action screws, I started using black electrical tape.

Here is how I do the job. Fill the screw holes with beeswax and then coat with a release agent. After applying the glass, I seat the action in the stock firmly, and then wrap around the action/stock with the tape. Since the tape is quite elastic, it will hold the two together until the glass has set. Works for me and it is more consistent than using the action screws.

In other words, I have not had to redo the bedding since using this method.

I don't use action screws to hold the reciever in place while the bedding compund dries. I keep the reciever in the bedding in a 'neutral' position...free from any stress...as the bedding compound sets up.

I use these headless guide pins and Delrin bushing setup. The o.d. of the bushing is .312 and the i.d. is .250. This allows the action screws to be both properly centered in the pillar and provide .031 clearance around the entire action screw once the job is done.

Maybe this pic conveys the idea better than my text.....

Bed it like a Mauser, A Mauser also attaches at the bottom of the recoil lug..bed it tight, no tape...

On a Win. M-70 it is best to tape the front, sides and bottom of the recoil lug so that only contact is made on the rear of the lug..

I also recommend guide screws in any bedding job..Never tighten a bedding job with screws as screws can/may create a bind in the action.

Thanks for the tips everyone, I got myself all set up and ready to go this weekend but we had an open house Sat and Sun so garage time was limited. I got myself some guide screws and cut the heads off. I like that bushing set up that Al has, I might have to look into something like that.

We'll see how it goes, if I screw it up too bad I'll just have to convince my wife I need a McMillan.

Which is something I'll never understand.. After tape's removed, you have slop at the recoil lug.. How's THAT going to help stability/accuracy?? When I bed a rifle such as a Ruger-77, I just made myself a threaded plug that I install in the forward hole, then wax the snot out of the entire area, plant the bedding and install the action.. I use a 25# bag of shot for weight to settle the action...

After curing, tap out the action, remove the plug and drill out the stock hole to a slightly oversize dimension (usually .015-.-25+)..

Like all have mentioned above - make SURE you use plenty of release agent..

Are you saying this for all actions or just this style where the screw goes into the lug. I'm planning on doing two M700s as well and was going to tape the lug. Would you suggest not taping it?