Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing HELP...can't remove action from stock

I have a Weatherby wood stocked rifle and can't separate the stock from the action. I had a gunsmith pillar bed the action, and float and glass the barrel channel a month or so ago. He also adjusted the trigger. I've put about 50 rounds through the rifle, and accuracy has been fine.

Today I decided to pull the barreled action from the stock and take a look at the work. I can't get the action to budge! I've tried using a punch, of sorts, through the front pillar and taking a light whack with a hammer. Nothing gives.

My assumption is he didn't use release agent.

The smith is unavailable until the end of the week.

Any thoughts or suggestions in the meantime?

And, thoughts or suggestions if it proves correct that he didn't use release agent and the stock and barreled action are mated for life?

One of the reasons I bought the rifle is the wood stock, which on this rifle, I found to be especially attractive. The rifle is a ClassicMark which was only sold for a year in 1993, I believe.

When I have had some issues removing the barreled action after a bedding job a rather sharp blow with a rubber mallet on the underside of the barrel just forward of the forend has always worked for me. YMMV. That said, if I were in your shoes I would have the guy that did the work remove it for me.

Heat. If the top has enough surface area to conduct the heat from an iron, that'd be what I'd try. I was able to get an intentional glue-in out by leaving an iron on the flat-top Davidson bases for about 15 minutes, then giving the barrel some tuning fork type whacks.

Not sure what sorta recoil lug area a Weatherby has, but that seems to be the usual trouble spot for a Remington- not allowing any space in front of the lug.

Might need some touch-up when you rebed.

Lab dad is right on a couple different statements. You should have the smith that did the work show you how to seperate the action from the stock. Sometimes they can be very tight and hard to remove. ALL of my bedding jobs are that way, that's how I get the accuracy out of my rifles......To expound on what labdad said in regards to seperating the action from the stock:


I generally put a towell on the barrel (see picture) for extra protection and then use a non marring mallet to tap on the barrel (see picture). It may require a few good whacks as you pull upwards close to the forend tip. Keep the rifle balanced on your legs as you sit there and tap the barrel and pull up in a controlled manner. It should start to slip out of the stock. However, since someone else bedded the rifle, you need to take it to them. If the action is glued into the wood, he owes you big time. DON'T mess it up by taking a hammer and punch to it like you admitted to doing in your original post. Hope that helps....

He shouldn't have to deal with that chit if a smith bedded the rifle. He needs to take it back and watch the smith seperate it properly...

Not that there's a definitive way to do this, but be very careful of simply whacking or pulling up on the barrel from the forend. I have one wood stock with tell-tale crack running about 1/4" below the loading port, and bought another with evidence of a similar history. On the Remington that i cracked without heat, I used heat later and got it out without further damage. FWIW

I don't see where I said "pull up on the barrel"....I've never had a problem seperating an action by using this method. Just did 2 tonight as a matter of fact and one was a pre 64 fwt stock. Carry on though...

Never said you did

I'd be at his front door when he opened the day he gets back in town.

Agree with the others, don't do anything, take it back and have the smith remove it in front of you. Any damage you do now is yours to deal with, any damage the smith does is their fault and they owe you. If nothing is wrong with it, keep shooting until he gets back.

If it shoots dont take it apart. We use to glue the action into stocks with bench rest rifles. I never take a gun apart after I have it tuned anyway!

While I would always take the gun to the smith that did the work( I would want a custom to bring my work back to me), I am curious about the heat applied to remove a stuck action. I always just froze them in the freezer. That seems to shrink the metal at a faster rate than the wood and they pop right out. No damage to the bedding job. Does heating the rifle just loosen it because of the size change( it should get bigger I think) or is it affecting the strength of the bedding compound? After removing with heat do you have to bed the rifle again?

Heating cured epoxy softens it, makes it more rubbery which helps particularly if you have a mechanical lock. If you don't heat it above 230F epoxies should recover their full strength when cool (general guideline, depends on the particular formulation). Epoxy does not melt, it will decompose if you get it hot enough.

Thanks, Good information.

I think it would be a good idea to take a cured sample of the epoxy you use and hit it with a heat gun. Bend it and poke it as it gets hotter for a good idea on how the particular epoxy you use changes properties. Then you have a good idea of how heat affects it rather than a general impression.

I've found that if the barrel is free-floated you can put some cardboard between the barrel and stock fore end to put constant pressure on the barrel and action. Put a dense piece of leather and a block of hardwood on the side of the stock alongside the action and tap lightly with a 2 pound hammer once or twice. Then check the pressure of your carboard or layers of paper to see if it moved at all. Add a little more pressure with the paper by moving it closer to the action. Give it another go. Wouldn't hurt to do something else for 10 minutes while the pressure is on. I walked a Mauser action out using this method back when I used paste wax as a release agent that had 2 dry spots that stuck fast. Constant pressure is the key. Light to medium taps. Sounds like lots of close tolerances there. Make sure you took all he screws out. Don't know Weatherby's. But, some actions have 3 action screws.

A similar approach I've used on a Weatherby I near welded in was to place the rifle upside down on a padded (towel) bench with boards or planks on either side of the receiver. The boards bump against the receiver on both sides slightly suspending the metal above the bench but contact both side rails of ones stock. I then go in through the mag box well with a suitably sized block of wood and about a 2 lb hammer.

Hammer time

My benchrest guns have glued in actions. If I have to remove one to refinish a stock or something, I heat the barrel in front of the action with a heat gun until it plops out. It has worked every time. Epoxy starts to melt at 140 degrees so a heat gun will release it long before any damage to the gun. By now, you've had the time to get it back to the Smith but for the sake of the argument. That has worked for me.

Make sure that the guard screw holes are not too tight.

Use inletting screws to push the action out in a straight line.

Tap each one with a proper hammer with the stock upside down in a padded vise ie HS vise blocks.


Be very care full about hitting the barrel only as you can crack a stock like that.

I have put the bolt in to pull up at the same time as I hit the barrel on a slightly padded surface but I much prefer the inletting screws .

Glenn