Hi guys, I was inspired by VAnimrods post on JB weld bedding his rifle that I wanted to try it. Take a look at the pictures and process. I don't think this has been posted on the new hawkeye synthetic stocks yet. BSA.
Here's the victim, Ruger hawkeye all weather 308:

As you can see it is hollow under the chamber area, so this had to be fixed!!

I found this to be a good solution, (1"x3/4" block of green plastic):


Now I've got a starting place for a good foundation under the chamber to support the barrel when I freefloat it.
Time to put the JB in.


I put some leftover release agent from my last bedding job + some one shot on the action where the bedding compound is. I've got blue tape on the stock too. Now I set the action in the stock and let it dry over night.
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/001-4.jpg[/img]
This morning I seperate the action from the stock. Here's some tools for the job.
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/005-4.jpg[/img]
I like to set the rifle in my lap while sitting down in a chair with the action screw side up. I put a towell on the barrel and give a firm whack with the plastic coated hammer. It comes out very easy (what a relief!!).
Now you can see, I've got the foundation I wanted and it should be pretty strong with all that JB in there. Now I rough up the JB and get ready to apply the last coat.
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/007-1.jpg[/img]
Looking pretty good so far. It's curing now and I'll pull it apart in about 12 hours from when I set the action in (7:00 p.m).
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/008.jpg[/img]
When everything is cured (24 hours) I'll start freefloating the barrel. I'll post pictures of the finished product for those of you who are interested in giving the JB weld bedding job a try. So far, I am very happy with the results. BSA.

Thanks for the pics. So why are you applying two coats instead of just one layer of JB Weld?

Also why not free float at the same time?

No criticism intended. Just fixing to tear into my rifles this winter so consider this 'research'.

Not sure of the motivation for the original poster, but as it sets, epoxy shrinks in proportion to the amount used. Some epoxies shrink more than others of course, but regardless the rule of the thumb is that the more that is used, the more it shrinks.

Therefore by applying the "bulk" of the epoxy first, and letting it cure, you let the vast majority of a shrinkage occur...The second "skim coat" will then show virtually no shrinkage..

Bedding epoxies are designed to be low shrinkage anyway, but I'm not sure about J-B Weld, so this two stage approach would seem a good idea.

Great explanation Pete E, that was part of the approach idea. I left out the fact that I also JB welded the green plastic in before adding the first batch of JB weld. See picture below:

This second picture shows the foundation formed by the first application of JB weld.The release agent worked like a champ. Should of posted this picture with the rest when I started this thread. Sorry.

One of the reasons for doing different stages is because JB is pretty runny and I wanted to establish a good foundation and make sure my block was tall enough (which it was). My second application is curing right now and will soon be hard enough to seperate the action from the stock. After everything has cured for 24 hours it will be ridgid enough that I will feel comfortable relieving it a little around the forend tip and down the barrel channel. This stock is hollow underneath the barrel, otherwise I would of freefloated it while bedding (normal operation for me when bedding a wood stock). Hope this helps. BSA.

What would we ever do without JB Weld......good stuff!

Check this out guys. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I freefloated the barrel too. By the time I shoot it next weekend it should be totally cured and stronger than the hubs of hell. Here are some more pictures so you guys can see what my intentions were from the start. Hope you like it. By the way, the One shot worked better than I had imagined: I don't think I'll use it for sizing lube, but save it for future bedding jobs. BSA.





What do you guys think? BSA.

I assume you're using the One Shot as your release agent?

Yep rubmaster. It worked very well.

As you can see, the barrel had no support under the chamber. It was supported at the forend tip and at the flimsy recoil lug area. Now with the proper support it is relieved at the forend tip and allowed to freefloat. Accuracy should be greatly improved by using this method. What do you guys think?

Wish all mine came out that well.

Looks good, should improve accuracy and consistency. One thing I have done is to add graphite powder to the last skim coat to make it match the stock better. I am not sure how much this weakens the epoxy. That and a little black dye from an accra glass kit usually is a good match.

On yours very little will show and a lick or two with a black sharpie will hide it even if not fine gunsmithing.

Tejano, thanks for the compliment. This was the first time with JB weld. I saw it on another post and thought it would bond well with the plastic ruger stock. I didn't have any dye and tried to keep it simple and cheap (ha ha). I thought about the sharpie trick too, but when I put it all together you can't see the JB weld anyways. Here are some pictures to show what it looks like on the outside along the chamber. Take care, BSA.

Nicely done, I have used JB for bedding but as you mention it is pretty runny so I tend to use Devcon 10110 for that stuff. I still use JB for bedding scope beds to actions and it has been great.

I highly recommend doing the staged bedding with JB, it shrinks more than some of the other projects.

Did you test accuacy before and after? I admit Im guilty to pretty much floating and bedding stuff without even shooting it before I start working on it.

Thanks for the compliment varmintsinc. I shot the rifle before bedding and have not shot it after. When I get home from work it is almost dark!! I'll try it out this friday. I'm thinking it will shoot better now and be a little more consistant. Although it was shooting an average of 1 1/2" groups, it wasn't good enough for me. I've got 3 30-06's that I've bedded and they are all 3/4 moa consistant shooters. I've always heard the 308 is more inherently accurate than the o6, so I'm hoping to be impressed by the range session this friday. BSA.

Here are some pictures of friday's range session. Out of 3 (45.5 R-P and FC cases and 46gr. R-P case) loadings with varget and cheap hornady 150 gr. interlocks, this is a good starting point for load development. Seems like 46 gr. of Varget in the R-P case is alright (not great accuracy, but a start). Hope some of you guys with hawkeye allweathers can use some of this info. The rifle is definately shooting more consistantly than before (a definate plus for any rifle). Check out the pics:


Raining lightly at the time with light wind.


After 4 clicks down with scope.

4 clicks to the left. Don't think the rifle likes the Federal cases as well as the R-P (Group opens up to 1.30" after 6 3 shot groups fired). I'm hoping to find the magic load for this rifle. I'll keep messing with the varget powder until I run out, then I might try the R-15 or IMR4895 or even the 4064. BSA.

Ignorance asking a question here. How'd you keep goop out of the front action bolt hole; both stock and action? Release agent on both holes and the bolt? Thanks

Yep. Release agent into the hole and on the screw. Squish down into the goo, Q-tip out the hole to the best degree possible, run the screw in and then back out, clean the screw and hole again, and retreat with OneShot, then screw her back down.

Have a B&C Medalist that looks to need recoil lug bedding in the aluminum block and have heard "skim bedding" on the surface of the block is good to do with them. May have to muster the courage and do it myself.

Shootem, that's an excellent question. Like VAnimrod said, plus you want to be extra carefull in that area and only put bedding material on the sides and a little (skim coat) on the backside of the recoil lug area. If you look at the pictures of when I applied the last of the JB I went pretty easy in that area. VAnimrod ran into that problem and he had to get dave and someone else to help him out of a tight spot. I use double release agent on the bolt and the hole of the recoil lug. Keep a close eye on the hole after you install the action. I was very lucky and didn't have too much of a problem with it getting into the hole. I did have to do like VA said and use a Q-tip and get it out before putting the action screw (angled bolt) in. After carefully removing the small amount of JB from around the hole, I swabbed it out with some of the blue release agent from a brownells accraglass kit I had left over. I like plenty of that stuff on the angled action screw, so when I go to take it apart it breaks free pretty easy. Hope that helps a little. BSA.

RL15 did very well in mine.

Thanks MagMarc, I had my heart set on getting some until I saw it was about 4-5 dollars more per pound than the Varget. I think I am going to try some anyways. More velocity and some say just as accurate (hopefully better than the varget in my rifle).

Varget shot patterns in mine. RL15 is doing great in my M70 308 also.

Just got finished setting up my MKII 30/06 in a Hawkeye stock and attempted a bedding job. Hopefully I didn't weld anything together.

Hopefully you used some good release agent Just so you guys know, the JB is holding up very well on the ol hawkeye.

I used One Shot for release agent. I have bedded a couple Savages but they don't have the font angled screw. I went out this morning and everything came apart easily. I had a couple of spots that didn't take real well so I went back over it with a light coat of bedding. I am using Devcon Plastic Weld.

First of all, looks good.

Some thoughts:

No need to use the front screw when bedding, matter of fact I never do. Don't want the action to twist at all in the stock or have any kind of "stress" on it. It takes very little torque to apply unwanted stress.

Plug the the front trigger guard hole with with modeling clay, you can get it at WalMart.

When you set the barreled action into the stock take the trigger guard and the rear screw, place it into the stock while it is still in your vise and make sure it is positioned properly. Run the screw into the action, you can then remove it if you like. This will prevent any problems with fitting two piece bottom metal. I do it on one piece also. A biotch to have to redo one. Ask me how I know.

To ensure the bedding compound is level with the stock all you have to do is "shave" it off. Wait until the bedding compound starts to set up. You can test readiness by placing your index finger onto the left over amount (not on the stock), if it is sticky, wait another 30 minutes. Next time you test the compound will be "stiffer" but pliable. At this point take a "chopstick" or some such and and make a flat edge at the tip, kind of like you were whittling the end off. It should be sharp and square. Dip the end of it in some gun oil, place the stick at the edge of the bedding and "shave" it off going from the rearmost portion of the exposed bedding, sliding the stick against the metal. It will come off in a small ribbon. Nice and smooth and you don't have to worry about doing it later. BTW, if there is any left on the wood or plastic, "re-wet" with oil and shave if off the stock.

If there is any bedding "residue" left on the barreled action don't panic, you can leave it there and pick it off with the stick once it hardens or use a fingernail (that the reason for the One Shot as well-spray it all over, including your armpits). I've utilized this method for at least 15 years, don't need to use tape on anything.

Full length bedded the 9.3x62 with Acraglas. Bedding is level with stock, no need for a file. Saves a huge amount of time. One last thing, if you have over runs into the magazine mortise you can also shave that off. More time saved and no files needed.



Here's a pic after the shave. No tape used. There is a very small seam between the wood and metal. Some of it is a little shiny.

I have a couple of questions concerning the Ruger 77 bedding process.

1) Do you weigh down the receiver when setting it into the stock without the front screw? Do you tape it together? Or just leave it set there on its own?

2) Do you line up the rear trigger guard simply so that the action is in the correct fore/aft position while drying?

Today was not the best weather, steady 10-12mph winds with gusts around 25 so I tried to shoot between gusts. I loaded up some rounds with Ingwe's magic dust in 3x fired brass and headed over the hill. I set the target up at 25yds as I had just mounted my old range standby, VariX-II 4-12x40. The barrel was cleaned to the bone prior to shooting. 2 rounds had me in good postion on the paper so I took the target out to 100yds. I got comfortable on the bags and fired 3 rounds with no cool down between rounds, I really wasn't expecting much. Prior to bedding this gun was just over MOA with 1 load, Federal Blue Box 180's, everything else was 2"-3" reliably.

Action screws were torqued front @ 65in/lbs, rear @ 50in/lbs, middle just barely in the action.

Imagine my surprise with my 1st 3 shot group postbedding!




Thanks for taking the time to make this thread, without it I would not have bedded this rifle and it would have sat in the safe unused.

I'll wind up bedding every rifle I own! So far I have done two, both 30/06's, and the difference in unreal in how they group.

Looks like the best news of the day . Very glad to see the positive results. Looks like it all came together very well for you. Now don't touch the bedding or barrel channel again and enjoy it. I love it when guys post pics of great shooting Ruger M77's. Great work there bearcat.

Yeah, I plan on leaving the channel and action screws alone. I don't have a need to disassemble/reassemble on a regular basis.

I hope it's consistent and I can leave it be.

1a. Set the barreled action in the stock, make sure it is level at the rear tang, receiver and forend. It would probably be a good idea (which I do) to add electrical tape right at the end of the forend tip to balance the stock fore and aft. The tape is approximately .005 in thickness, double that it's .010, 4x is .020. In the case of the 9.3x62 I checked before adding Acraglas and is was level as needed. The idea is to set is straight and completely stress free. When you tighten screws down you won't get any twisting from side to side or fore and aft. I can't tell you how many times I've used this method, then taken a rifle apart to clean, reassemble and have it shoot to the same place (within an 1" or so). I bedded Oulufinn's 7mm Rem Mag in a older McMillan and it shot great. The he bought a McS,wirley, I bedded the rifle using the same procedure. When we went to the range and shot it, his first question was how could it be that I screwed the bedding up so much. I peered downrange and his first shot was 2" high and at 11:30. It had been sighted in 2" high @ 12 o'clock, so I was off by about 3/8th's of an inch. Don't believe me send him a PM and see what he says.

2a. Basically, yes. The guard should be in the rearmost position. If it is far enough forward, you can jam the floorplate against it's recess and make it near impossible to remove. So before complete assembly just use the front and rear screw and make sure it latches correctly, then add the middle screw. It should be seated just enough so the floorplate will close properly. I use red loctite on the middle screw so it doesn't back out.

It all may sound complicated but it's really not. What you might want to consider is bedding it in stages. In other words add bedding only in the recoil lug mortise and about 1/2" behind the lug. Let it set up. If something is amiss after it hardens you can remove that small amount rather than grinding out 1/2 lb of Acraglas and wood. If it is straight and true, you can add bedding around the original work, then you can use the front screw. Just don't overtighten it, just snug for now, you don't have enough support under the action or barrel to do otherwise. To make sure the "new" Acraglas is even with the previous, warm it with a blow dryer, it will become softer and a wee bit "runnier" and fill voids and be level with the receiver, barrel channel, etc. Don't use that method very often but it can come in handy if your not sure about the process.

BTW, do yourself a favor and use Hornady One shot resizing juice in the red can. It is far better than anything I've ever used, easy to spray on, you won't stick anything and if for some reason some bedding is left on the metal, you can pick it right off with a wooden stick or even a fingernail. Another way to remove stuck Acraglas is to put a small amount of Citistrip on the affected area with a Q-tip. Let it work for 15 minutes or so and clean off.

Even, straight, stress free. Then you can have meaningful load development rather than chasing your tail trying to figure out flyers, etc. If you want to talk on the phone shoot me a PM, be happy to help.

Carlos

Here's another for you. This target was shot at 200 yards with my .280 Hawkeye AW that I bedded and floated...

Great shooting Jordan. One of these days I'm going to get a .280. They just have that allure to them. Thanks for posting the pic.

I agree on both points, great shooting and for some reason I really want a .280.

Thanks Carlos. I may PM you in the future sometime, as I plan to bed a couple of rifles this summer.

Likewise to you, sir

The .280 is great. I hear it works pretty good on critters...

Or, just fill the hole with clay and spray release agent over it. If doing bottom metal also, I'd rather do that in a separate step.