Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Bedding with J-B Weld?

Laid up with a head cold, raining, no Acraglas, or Devcon, none nearby. TONS of J-B Weld.

Can you bed with this stuff? Should I? Anyone done it?

Thanks.

Rifles that are built for SR Benchrest are bedded, and have the action glued in with J-B...

VA,

I've bedded several 22 RF Rifles with JB, but no centerfires.
If you keep the JB below the stock line out of sight, it's ok. But, it dries to a dark gray color, and looks crappy is above the stock line.
I've had no trouble with any of the rifles I used it on, and some I've shot a lot.
My rationale is, JB is an epoxy. When it hardens, does it have less strength than Acraglass, or Devcon which I've used for bedding? I don't know the answer, but I would not hesitate to use it for a centerfire.
The mixed consistency of JB makes for an easy bedding job. I keep everything needed at the side of the stock for installation as soon as I put the JB in it's future home.

Not exactly the idea.....

Point is, it does hold up for bedding. I've bedded rails and scope rings with J-B's.

The early reply was to AJ.

Don, thanks. It's a 7.62x39 mini-mauser, so there's really not that much recoil force to deal with. Tape, and a razor-knife, help with the "goo factor".

That abomination that you posted where Bubba used JB Weld to glue his scope mount on got you thinking?

If it were me I would wait until Brown delivered some Acraglass.

I've seen people swear by J-B in its various forms, as well as Devcon. Epoxy is epoxy. I used Acraglas for a long time, still have some, and then went to Marine-Tex. That's always available at marine supply places, it hardens faster and is much easier to use for me than is Acraglas. From my use of J-B on a number of things I'd say it's quite similar to Marine-Tex.

Post pictures.



Cause I know you're going to do it.


paste wax, paste wax, paste wax.

And don't scratch anything important with JB Weld on your fingers.

Never had an issue while using Crown Mold Release...

royal?

Pics coming....

She's in the gun vise setting right now. Just got done.

I'll pull the screws again at 1800, and then do the 6-hour remove.

If anything, I think I might have gone a little light on the amount of J-B.

Johnson's Paste wax everywhere I thought could possibly be contacted, and Hornady One-Shot over that, and outside that area, and on the screws.

Ran the screws up and in to set. Waited a few, then pulled them back out to clean the J-B off the threads, then back up and in again, with a fresh shot of One-Shot in the screws again before they went in.

We'll see....

I'm betting on ya.

flawless results is what I say....

Not like these other guys....

That's for after ya figure out you just glued the action to the stock...

ah yes

Funny.... very fuggin' funny.....

You should have gotten one of many swampmans advice

The "patient" (an Interarms Mini Mk X in 7.62x39):





One of the biggest reasons for the "surgery":





That kind of barrel contact is NASTY and needed to be fixed.

The "surgical implements":



Barrel channel relieve:



Recoil block and rear of the tang:

[img]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b165/VAnimrod/Stuff/HPIM1671.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b165/VAnimrod/Stuff/HPIM1672.jpg[/img]

Post-op:

[img]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b165/VAnimrod/Stuff/HPIM1673.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b165/VAnimrod/Stuff/HPIM1674.jpg[/img]

I'm thinkin this is gonna work out just fine.

Me too--partly because I have used JB Weld for bedding and it works about as well as any other epoxy-with-filler.

dude, bolts on the wrong fuggin side.

Mirror image all my prior instructions...

Dave;

The tape trick, btw, works like gang-busters.

Thanks, and we'll see in a few hours what it looks like.

Is the tape going around the barrel designed to keep the barrel a little higher in the channel?

A little higher, and centered.

The "tape trick" is damn near a MUST-DO for any bedding job as far as I'm concerned ... it only helps, and never hurts, to make sure that the barrel is centered in the channel, and is set at a proper height should it need any lift before bedding.

Even if doing a full-length-neutral-bedding job on the barrel, you can always just tape the barrel at the very end of the bbl channel of the stock for laying down "phase 1" of the barrel bedding ... and then it's up to you to leave that space there, or fill it in later with more bedding material.

again, there are NO drawbacks to the 'tape trick' ... just make sure you put the correct thickness of tape around the barrel so that the action sits properly in the stock when bedding... too much tape will result in an upward angle of the bbl'd action in the stock - but it's very easy to avoid that when setting it up.

Yep.

Same experience here.

Needed more J-B weld.....

I went skimpy on the schit, but otherwise, it looks fine.

Scraping and reapplication in process....

I feel like a kid at krissmuss waiting for this thing to be unwrapped

raffin'........

Actually, 6 hours is not QUITE enough time for J-B to set up to "working" hardness. Firm, in place, but still too soft for "working". 8ish, is likely mo' betta.

Went skimpy on the first run. Easy fix; just scar it up with the razor knife, make it "messy" (technical term), and regoop ('nother technical term). Much better "goo-age" ('nother 'nother technical term) on the reapply.

So, we wait some more.

A.m. unwrapping, at this point.

BTW - Johnson's Paste Wax and a topcoat of One Shot works JUST fine for a release agent.

Cool, I'll check back, same bat channel in the mornin.

I'm banking on the morning reveal being "strike two" ... (grin)

Wanna place a bet? Considering what the first look showed, J-B don't act no different than any other steel reinforced epoxy; just slower setting and less expensive. I skimped on the goo on the first shot, otherwise, she'd be sterling.

I have bedded several rimfire and centerfire rifle with JB Weld and Johnson's Paste Wax as the release agent. Blue tape used exactly the same as posted here. Works perfect. Never a problem.

What's not to like for $5.00 and enough for 2 to 4 rifles?

Those little Interarms shoot silly when floated, least in .224.

I smell a 22 or 6PPC fast twist tube on that sucker.....

Nope. I'm diggin' the idea of 7.62 Russian. Though, if she SUCKs (which, it don't, BTW), a 6PPC was the idea.

Dig all three; gauges, vise, and wrench. Just like a Sako, in that regard.

You need borrow vise and wrench, look me up.....


Doesn't look like you need a chisel (grins).

Hey, I bet jb would work pretty good for a synthetic stock. Have any of you guys tried it on a ruger hawkeye all weather stock? I'm is suspense VAnimrod. Looks like you shouldn't have any problems though. Thanks for posting this. BSA.

I used JB Weld to bed my .25-06. She shoots top-notch now!

A couple of things I've found:

- Working hardness is acheived in about 8 hours
- Kiwi neutral shoe polish works great as a release agent
- Full cure after 24 hours means a good, hard steel-reinforced epoxy bed
- Much less viscous than Devcon and easier to use. I use both, and either one works great
- Did the bedding job about 1.5 years ago, and the epoxy is holding up fantastic

Can't wait to see the finished product!

JB weld's info
Properties (psi)
Tensile Strength: 3960
Adhesion: 1800
Flex Strength: 7320
Tensile Lap Shear: 1040
Shrinkage: 0.0%
Resistant to: 500� F


Devcon 10110 info
Compound has an adhesive tensile shear strength of 2,800 psi and a Hardness 85 Shore D


So, JB claims ZERO shrinkage, which is impossible, but for the layman close enough. The devcon has a higher shear, and not seen is Devcon steel is also harder than JB.Devcon has a slightly better shrinkage number, but I don't have the info to post.


Is JB probably plenty good, I'd say yes, and chemically it is good for all gun solvents sans MEK, which both will be softened by.

BTW, epoxy is not all the same, many are terrible for gun applications, usually either too soft or too hard, and shrinkage is Brownells advertising method of suggesting their bedding compound is the best....and there are many poor epoxies for bedding a rifle.



I think Va'S gun will never know the difference.

Allen

I haven't a clue wtf he just said.....

Oh ye of little faith....









(Hey, pre-coffee pics, so deal...)

your such a good boy !

looks great, well done.

Congrats dude.

Way to lead the charge into budget bedding.

raffin'....

Da chit works.

Gotta couple/three more that need doing soon, too. The Mannlicher CZ550 is going to be interesting, to say the least.

let's see some pics of the bbl'd action in there, and how well the bbl is lined up (centered) in the forearm now ... should look purty, eh?

A bit OT, but what's with the price of epoxy in recent times? Seems like it is skyrocketing. A basic Acraglas kit is pushing toward $30, and a Glasbed kit is $32.

Seems to me that it's been going up much more than general inflation, and has been for some time.

Paul

I use Devcon steel putty these days but used J-B Weld a few times. It worked well and those bedding jobs are still holding up nicely. The guy who taught me about bedding will only use J-B Weld and he successfully beds lots of rifles for lots of folks.

Pics of the finished rifle later.

Va,

I use JB on all my rifles...but only on the tang.

Reason : I use Marine Tex for the lug area...that would be step one

Step two, next day I pop out the rifle and do the tang area after the front is cured. Because it is the tang, I only need a small amount of epoxy, and JB in the little tubes makes it a breeze to mix up a small amount.

Soooooo.....basically my bedding jobs are two part : lug area first, I build up the tang contact area with tape, so I leave some room for epoxy. Round two has me pull the rifle out of the stock, clean up the front end, prep the tang area for epoxy. I apply the epoxy to the tang area, replace the rifle in the stock and torque the front action screw, and only have a dummy screw in the tang hole. I believe that this method beds the tang area better while the front screw is torqued to the amount of tension that the rifle will be sitting in the stock. Obviously I use a torque wrench on my rifles.

Never had a rifle shift zero if I pull it apart and put it back together using a torque wrench.

Works for me anway.......YMMV.

Tony

Tony;

Good idea. I'll try that with the next one (J-B front/rear, though) and see if it makes any difference.

How many pounds are you torquing?

dude ... PICS OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT ALL BOLTED UP!!!

Gimme a few hours, amigo. I'm 200 miles from the house.....

That Blue tape will spppooooook the deers

I use brighter blue electrical tape for that. Sticks better in schitty weather.

stop texting and driving at the same time bro ... (grin)

You assume that's what I'm doing......

BTW - how far from the house/office are you right now?

Dang, almost hoping it would stick just to jazz up the thread on the Campfire page.

Couldn't think of a reason why JB Weld wouldn't work but JB Weld has been so abused it just screams BUBBA! to me. Nothing wrong with the product, just some of the things people try to do with it.

Well, I did 'bout [bleep] it up.

The bedding looks great.

J-B Weld up the front action screw hole into the action, though, didn't look so swift.

Thanks to Northern Dave and Sitka Deer for talking me down, and through the fix.

J-B Weld make marine version which is a bit more resistant to chemicals ect, so might be even better suited for bedding...

VA, You inspired me to try this stuff on my Ruger hawkeye all weather. I asked earlier if it has been done before but no one replied. I am liking the JB weld as a bedding compound, but find it a little runny compared to the other actual bedding compounds. Take a look at my thread if you are interested. The nice thing about JB weld is it is cheap like others have mentioned. It is also very strong and well suited for bedding. BSA.

If I do not have acccess to a hair dryer type heat gun I prefer JBW to devcon steel. Without heat I cannot get the barreled action to settle into the devcon steel without a bunch of pressure. They just sink into the JB. Devcon may be harder, but IMO the JBW is plenty hard enough.

i am floored by the sheer sheen of va's gun rest pockets!!!! you could build a second gun with the crap that rides in mine... his shine. i am worried..........

woofer