Bedding question

[romad97]

To date I have only bedded 2 rifles. One I pillar bedded along with a glass bed and the other just a glass bed. I am fairly confident in my abilities to do this. I have a current build that I am doing and my stock was aquired from someone who opened it up a little bit. Its not a huge opening but, it is a little more gap on the sides than I prefer. My initial thought was to just put a few layers of tape on the barrel and bed the channel of the stock. My question on this though is if standard epoxy based bedding such as the stuff purchased from stocky's stocks, which is what I have on hand, would 1. be too heavy? and 2. would it hold up to the rigors of being a walk around gun without flaking or chipping over time? Also, would it be better to bed the action and barrel all at the same time or would it be better to do 1 first and then the other?

[olddav]

Are you talking about the barrel channel that's been open up a little too much?

[romad97]

Are you talking about the barrel channel that's been open up a little too much?

Yes, the barrel channel was opened up to fit a light varmint and I am putting a sporter barrel in it. I know this won't effect accuracy at all, it may even help it but, I do not like how much gap there is in the barrel channel.

[olddav]

Seems like I remember someone else had this same problem but I don't recall what he did. One problem with exposed epoxy is UV light tends to break down all plastics over time. I have no idea if it will be too heavy with epoxy as a filler, guess it depends on how much you need, ( but I bet you already knew that).

[packmule]

I filled the forend of my 111 synthetic stock with glass and I also glassed in a mercury recoil reducer in the hollow butt. It stiffened the forend and I think it would be plenty durable as long as you made sure the glass didn't separate from the stock. My gun came out really heavy but well balanced. Not sure if doing just the forend would make your gun front heavy.

[gotcha]

Just my .02 but bedding a thin sporter barrel will cause harmonics to change as the barrel heats up and expands. I guess it would be all right if you can kill on the 1st shot. Don't expect POI to be consistent after a few shots.

[romad97]

Just my .02 but bedding a thin sporter barrel will cause harmonics to change as the barrel heats up and expands. I guess it would be all right if you can kill on the 1st shot. Don't expect POI to be consistent after a few shots.

I wasn't planning on bedding the barrel to the stock. I was going to run 3 or 4 pieces of tape along the barrel to ensure there was ample space between the barrel and the barrel chanel. My desired effect is to reduce the amount of gap that the stock currently has in it. The original owner of the stock opened it up a tad more than i would like. I was just wondering what the best material for this job would be. I wan't to close the barrel chanel up a bit without adding a lot of weight.

[olddav]

How about glueing a couple of wedges (wood) on to the sides of the channel and then reshape the channel with a deep well socket and sand paper. Wood is less dense than epoxy but will require more work.

[GaCop]

I wasn't planning on bedding the barrel to the stock. I was going to run 3 or 4 pieces of tape along the barrel to ensure there was ample space between the barrel and the barrel chanel. My desired effect is to reduce the amount of gap that the stock currently has in it. The original owner of the stock opened it up a tad more than i would like. I was just wondering what the best material for this job would be. I wan't to close the barrel chanel up a bit without adding a lot of weight. You can do exactly that. Just make sure the barrel is floated back to the recoil lug. I would bed the action and barrel channel all at the same time.

[romad97]

You can do exactly that. Just make sure the barrel is floated back to the recoil lug. I would bed the action and barrel channel all at the same time.

This is what I also think my best course of action is. Lastly, I plan on having this rifle stock dipped. Should I bed it before or after I dip it? Not sure if the dipping film is really enough to effect the bedding job, I assume not but, this is my first dipping project.

[olddav]

I would bed the action first and tape off the bedded area but an argument could be made to dip it first. I assume that you would remove the dip from the area to be bedded before applying the bedding material.

[OLEJOE]

I have a stock with the sAme dilemma. I've thought of using spray expandable foam to bed the barrel after taping for clearance. Painting it afterwards will seal the foam and make it harder. Haven't tried it yet. Just thinking and wondering if it will work.