bedding with

[AkRvrrat]

fellas, I am doing one of the last 2 stages to finalize my .338-06 and that would be bedding. I dam the foward part of the rear tang area with modeling clay to do the tang area for reinforcement of recoil. I dam behind the recoil lug to bed the lug and the first couple of inches of the barrel. I am also suspecting the integrity of the existing Featherweight Classic forend that was a .270 and is now a #3 contour PacNor .338-06 barrel- which is quite larger than what the stock originally had, to be weaker.
     I am hoping to use, to not only bed fully the barrel to prevent the now narrow forestock from warping & recoil lug but the rear tang area as well with Devcon Alu. Paste-a 2 part mix. Or may use Marine-Tex. I understand these two are not only stronger than Accraglass but also shrink proof and just about solvent resistant. This product should give me the long lasting strength in the barrel channel.
     One other thought I have is the rear receiver bolt hole, can that be dammed as well on the bottom and then filled as well with this Devcon. Of course I WILL use my Carnuba wax on all metal areas and then some to prevent locking up as the release agent. Guess I am trying to state iscoat the rear receiver hole and the bolt with Carnuba and still have the stock hole filled with the Devcon and a bit of clay on the bottom? Is this possible? It would almost be like having a pillar ran thru but with the epoxy.
     Any ideas? Am I on the right track? Somewhere down the road after Moose season I will get a new stock but presently believe what I am THINKING may work out. Suggestions? I'm kind of caught between the epoxy or the paste.

http://yarchive.net/gun/rifle/bedding.html

regards,

[corelokt308win]

If it where I doing this I would not bed the barrel, but would run a length of electricians tape under the barrel the length of the forarm, excepting the first inch of the barrel.  I would also run some grooves along the inside of barrel channel prior to bedding it so as to have the extra epoxy in there as a stiffening agent.
As for the epoxy in the rear action screw hole.  Why not actually pillar bed it?  If you do decide to put epoxy in it, I'd do it as a seperate step.  Frozen actions epoxy locked into the wood can't be fun.

[gunnut69]

The pillar technique first. What you are suggesting is called a poured pillar, and has been done for years. It is my personal preferance. I seldom be the rear tang, prefering to poor a pillar around the rear action screw. Full length bedding the barrel can indeed work. Most of the mauser sporters including the mannlicher versions had the barrels full length bedded, not with epoxy of course. I have used the process several times and have had excellant results. I still have an Enfield converted to 300 WionMag that was so treated. It doesn't move from year to year and hasn't for nearly 30 years.. It was bedded full length of the barrel but without any pressure. The barrel channel was routed out a bit(grooved) to add rigidity. Sounds like an interesting project..

[AkRvrrat]

gunnut, good pointers and thanks. I believe I have enough to run on. Now to put it all into play. Should not be difficult at all. I will attempt to post a pic somewhere down the road as I would like to try that. There is an opening between the rear tang and the stock I would like to fill to even the appearance and that is where I came to why not bed the rear tang. Thanks.

regards,

[Cknerr]

even the link is good. BTW, no insult intended... lighter fluid which can be hard to find, it is also called Naphtha and easy to find at any hardware store.

One point I did not see in all the write ups. If you have to go back and add a second layer of bedding compound, don't forget the thin layer of release agent coating the top of your freshly cured bedding. It doesn't come off easy either. I occasionally forget and once again rediscover the fun of the 2nd layer not sticking very well.

If the epoxy does stick to your metal, (in BR it is intentional), borrow the boss ladies iron when she is not looking, turn it to just under steam temp and set it on top of the rifle. Scope blocks already installed actually work great at a convenient rest. Enough heat is conducted through + what comes off the bottom of the iron will turn the epoxy to taffy in about 1/2 hour to 1 hour. Remove the iron to a safe place (see, it is still clean and not hurt dear), and with some muscle SLOWLY pull it out of the stock. Nothing will move fast, but it will slowly pull out. This even works amazing well with wood stocks.

..and the idea of pillar bedding? Go for it. It will really help. If I could suggest, torquing to 65 is very excessive, I use 45 and have a torque wretch to make sure I do not over do it. The bedding and the pillars take out all the flexing , so with everything bottomed out and no where to go, why over stress the bolts?

Good Luck,
Chris

[AkRvrrat]

good pointers - thanks.

regards,
Tim

[MI VHNTR]

I use JB Weld for bedding. It's a 2 part mix that can be drilled/tapped once it's cured. It's usually fully cured in 24 hours. One part of the JB Weld contains some sort of metal in it. It's EXTREMELY stong once cured and I haven't had a solvent bother it yet. They also make a 4 minute JB Weld for quick repairs too. (Works great for skim bedding)  It's worth a look as a bedding material. MI VHNTR

[AkRvrrat]

MI,

I keep a few different styles of the JB around - it is a good bandaid when in a fix. I have questioned the long run integrity of JB Weld in the past in regards to stocks. I have just done this Win. model 70, full length bedded, recoil lug and the rear tang and done a poor mans rear pillar with Marine-Tex. Am amazed how relaitvely simple although prep is the time consuming factor. That old Rem. Model 30 just done the recoil lug and about 2" of the barrel and the front lug screw.

I have earlier this spring tried out the Accraglas and that stuff sets up pretty quick-unexpected. Was able to bed the recoil lug on a JC Higgins 50 30-338 on the second attempt. Now to try my sons Ruger MK II full stocker, rear tang area is cracked from recoil.

I am about over the jitters on bedding-whew! Dremel tool is priceless.

thanks

[gunnut69]

Why did the stock crack? If the stock cracked from the rear tang contacting the wood you should fix the problem first. The Ruger angled front screw can be a bear.. and if the action has moved to the rear enough to cause a crack at the rear of the action there's most likely contact between the mag box and the stock too. Sounds like the rifle may have some bedding issues,., Always fix the bedding before the crack..