Bedding Magazine "gap" question\idea

[Davemuzz]

I am going to bed a M 12 single shot short action to a Savage factory laminated stock. Since the action is a single shot and requires no magazine, I was thinking of "filling up" (for lack of a better descriptive term) the stock magazine cut out.

Now, my thinking is to use a hard wood (I have many choices and access to the equipment to make it "glove fit"). Now, I can simply wood glue it in....which isn't my first choice....or epoxy it in....which is my first choice....along with some well placed holes drilled into the stock and the filler piece so the epoxy holds over the next 100 years...or when I die...which ever comes first. 

Now, I was also thinking of installing a cross bolt thru the middle of the entire setup once I was done. This would not only be for "practical reasons" but hey...it would look cool to!!!

Then, once this was done, I would bed the entire length of the action with Devcon.

Any advise on my thought process? Please "shoot holes" or provide additional advise to this novice.

Thanks.

Dave

[Rangr44]

You can add less weight in that low/no stress area by filling with hard foam and coating the top 1/4" with Micro-Bed or other bedding compound - just be sure to temporarily add a layer of wax-covered tape to the bottom of the action, to provide a little clearance after the bedding cures & the tape's removed.

[Nobade]

I usually either fill the mag recess with tooling foam or a piece of 2X4. Just wet out the filler and the walls of the mag well really good before you put it in, and make the filler small enough to get a good glue line around it. Oh, and use Pro Bed epoxy. You'll be glad you did.