Glass Bedding and Rifle Disassembly

[isayeret]

Hello, I have a question about disassembling a rifle that's been bedded.  This rifle is a 1903 Springfield that was sporterized back in the late fifties or early sixties.  I want to refinish the stock with Tru Oil, but I want to remove the action to make the stripping and refinishing easier.  This is the first glass bedded rifle I have ever fooled with, and I want to know if I risk messing up the bedding by removing the action since the bedding is so old.  The rifle is a tack driver now, and I'm concerned I'll lose accuracy if I remove it.  It is bedded all the way down the forend and I don't see a seam between the bedding and the barrel.

[John Traveler1]

It does not hurt to remove a barreled action from a fibreglas bedded stock... assuming that release compound was used in the first place to prevent the action from being permanently "glued" into the wood!  Some bedding jobs are permanently assembled, and it's a real BEAR to take them apart without destroying the wood!

A gunsmith will normally remove the bedded barreled action at least once to clean up and finish the stock, or to trim the bedding compound when the job is done.  All it should take is a few careful raps with a plastic-tipped hammer or a wooden mallet to loosen it once the action screws are removed.

When you reassemble, make sure there are no bits of debris, dirt, loose bedding clumps, etc that prevent reassembly.  It will fit as tightly as it was before you disassembled it, and accuracy will not be changed.

[isayeret]

Thanks for the info!