Pillar/Glass bedding question

[m12lrs]

My understanding is to remove the trigger and bolt release.

What do you do to keep the bedding material out of this area of the stock when you bed the action? I know to fill all the recesses in the action with putty. Would you do the same on the stock with the area where the trigger and bolt release goes?

Waiting on my stock. Probably be another month anyway.

[gbflyer]

I use Scotch tape on the action and modeling clay in the stock. Use a couple of thicknesses of the tape under the tang. I'm no pro, not sure if that's the best way. Seems to work OK for me, or maybe it's because I don't know any better. :-)

[m12lrs]

Along the lines of what I have been thinking.

Hadn't thought about the tang. Thought the release agent would take care of that.

[gbflyer]

The folks in the know say that free floating the tang is the way to go on the Savage. The tape gives a little clearance. I use it everywhere on the action except the bedding area's under the action screws. In theory, all that's touching is the pillars when it's done with no unsightly gaps everywhere else. I usually screw it up at least twice before its done.

Again, that's what I do. I'd really like to see how the pros do it.

[Texas10]

I'm no gunsmith, but I have done 4 stocks in the last 6 months, and I've worked with epoxy in the aircraft trade all my life. Having made my disclaimer, this is what I do. I wax the action good with neutral KiWI wax, and put a couple of layers of blue masking tape under the tang and barrel out near the middle of the forearm. Kids modeling clay (plasticene) works to fill notches and other places you don't want epoxy to fill in, or lock your action into the stock.

A couple of other tips; Don't use too much epoxy, use just enough. You won't have to do all the cavity filling and then grinding out epoxy afterwards. I tape off the trigger/release, plus use a little clay. Tape front and edges of recoil lug. Wax everything you don't want permanently attached.

Weigh your epoxy with a gram scale and get the mix ratio exact. Makes a huge difference in cure time and end results. I typically mix a 10 or 20 gram batch. The Devcon 10110 is 9 to 1 by weight, see how simple that is :cool:. Keep the project warm during cure.

Don't use action screws to hold down action while curing. I use elastic (blood draw) bands i get from the doctor to tie down the action into the stock. They grip to themselves and won't loosen during cure, and you can stretch them a mile.

Use headless 1/4-28 bolts wrapped with a couple of layer of tape to take up clearances and screwed into the action to center action into pillars. If installing pillars at the same time, which is the best idea because everything gets positioned all at once, wax the action screws and use them to hold pillars onto the action, then bed your action and pillars in one step. Use tape to take up clearances.

What stock are you buying?

[LongRange]

I'm no gunsmith, but I have done 4 stocks in the last 6 months, and I've worked with epoxy in the aircraft trade all my life. Having made my disclaimer, this is what I do. I wax the action good with neutral KiWI wax, and put a couple of layers of blue masking tape under the tang and barrel out near the middle of the forearm. Kids modeling clay (plasticene) works to fill notches and other places you don't want epoxy to fill in, or lock your action into the stock.

A couple of other tips; Don't use too much epoxy, use just enough. You won't have to do all the cavity filling and then grinding out epoxy afterwards. I tape off the trigger/release, plus use a little clay. Tape front and edges of recoil lug. Wax everything you don't want permanently attached.

Weigh your epoxy with a gram scale and get the mix ratio exact. Makes a huge difference in cure time and end results. I typically mix a 10 or 20 gram batch. The Devcon 10110 is 9 to 1 by weight, see how simple that is :cool:. Keep the project warm during cure.

Don't use action screws to hold down action while curing. I use elastic (blood draw) bands i get from the doctor to tie down the action into the stock. They grip to themselves and won't loosen during cure, and you can stretch them a mile.

Use headless 1/4-28 bolts wrapped with a couple of layer of tape to take up clearances and screwed into the action to center action into pillars. If installing pillars at the same time, which is the best idea because everything gets positioned all at once, wax the action screws and use them to hold pillars onto the action, then bed your action and pillars in one step. Use tape to take up clearances.

What stock are you buying?

listen to this guy he knows what he is talking about...this is the EXACT same way i bed!!


the only thing i can add is to make sure you clean up as you go...once your bedding is done and you have the rifle hanging check every 15 minutes or so and clean any bedding material off and once the epoxy starts to cure pull the tape you used to protect the stock off...if the epoxy gets in a seam or you didnt clean the edges well its a MFer to get off later.

[m12lrs]

I'm no gunsmith, but I have done 4 stocks in the last 6 months, and I've worked with epoxy in the aircraft trade all my life. Having made my disclaimer, this is what I do. I wax the action good with neutral KiWI wax, and put a couple of layers of blue masking tape under the tang and barrel out near the middle of the forearm. Kids modeling clay (plasticene) works to fill notches and other places you don't want epoxy to fill in, or lock your action into the stock.

A couple of other tips; Don't use too much epoxy, use just enough. You won't have to do all the cavity filling and then grinding out epoxy afterwards. I tape off the trigger/release, plus use a little clay. Tape front and edges of recoil lug. Wax everything you don't want permanently attached.

Weigh your epoxy with a gram scale and get the mix ratio exact. Makes a huge difference in cure time and end results. I typically mix a 10 or 20 gram batch. The Devcon 10110 is 9 to 1 by weight, see how simple that is :cool:. Keep the project warm during cure.

Don't use action screws to hold down action while curing. I use elastic (blood draw) bands i get from the doctor to tie down the action into the stock. They grip to themselves and won't loosen during cure, and you can stretch them a mile.

Use headless 1/4-28 bolts wrapped with a couple of layer of tape to take up clearances and screwed into the action to center action into pillars. If installing pillars at the same time, which is the best idea because everything gets positioned all at once, wax the action screws and use them to hold pillars onto the action, then bed your action and pillars in one step. Use tape to take up clearances.

What stock are you buying?

Richard's microfit benchrest

[Texas10]

Got one of those myself, Thumbhole Target Style. You can expect to do a whole lot of sanding, once you've fitted it to you, something I'm still doing. Grind and sand here, saw there until it feels natural in fit. Shoot it, sand again. Takes a while.

Mine was for a blind mag, and it was routed out WAAAAAAY oversize. I had to shim it back to size with plywood (aircraft birch plywood) so the magazine would fit tight before bedding it. Very heavy and solid stock.

As for finishes, might want to stay away from True oil or other Tung oil finishes. The glued laminate does not react well to the oil soaking in. Tends to split the laminate where it feather edges down to the next laminate layer. It's barely noticeable, but its there.

A "sit on top" finish is preferable, as opposed to a penetrating oil finish.

As LongRange wisely noted, mask carefully and clean up before it sets up. I keep the left over batch and monitor it for curing. This way you KNOW your batch hardened……or NOT. When it is hard enough an awl will barely leave a dent in the mix, you can pop the barrel out and start carving the slop over with a burr grinder. Makes it go SO much faster than waiting for complete cure.

Working in 80 degree temps, the whole process takes about 5 to 6 hours, start to finish.

[Mozella]

I'll add this for those (like me) who prefer to pillar bed at the same time. Cut and fit the pillars to the exact length. I make mine out of brass pipe nipples using a hack saw, a file, some sand paper, and a small drill press since I don't have a lathe.

Make a set of false action screws out of cap screws. For those who aren't familiar with them, they're simply screws that take an Allen wrench. You might have to hunt to find the correct thread pitch, or even order on the Internet if you don't have a good local hardware store.

The head diameter should be smaller than the OD of the pillars. This is the key to success. If the head is too small, use a small washer with an OD less than the OD of the pillar. Then build up the shank of the false action screws with masking tape so it just fits the ID of the pillar. Insert the taped screw into the pillar and trim off the excess tape to expose the threads which will screw into the action, bot leave the shank/threads covered where they are inside the pillar. Wax the screws and screw the pillars onto the action. Make sure not to get any wax on the outside of the pillars.

Now you're ready to goober everything up with epoxy and drop the action and pillars into the stock. I prefer to spread epoxy on both the action and the stock. Some suggest removing the action while the epoxy is still green so you can trim the excess epoxy with a knife. I think this is poor practice. I suggest doing a careful job masking and filling voids with Plasticine modeling clay and perhaps some foam if you need to fill a magazine box. Then do a thorough job of cleaning up any epoxy which squeezes out and let it cure rock hard. The next day trim as necessary with a Dremel tool, but the trimming will be minimized with careful prep and a good clean up technique.

[TonyBen]

Here's how I did mine a few years ago...

I taped up the action and applied clay where I didn't want epoxy to go...
http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2047.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2047.jpg.html)

http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2048.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2048.jpg.html)

Notice tape on the front, bottom and sides of the recoil lug, but not on the back.
http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2049.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2049.jpg.html)

Routed out my stock...
http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2050.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2050.jpg.html)

http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2051.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2051.jpg.html)

http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2046.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2046.jpg.html)

I used Valspar 225 release agent (aerosol) and bedded it with JB weld...
http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2052.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2052.jpg.html)

http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2053.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2053.jpg.html)

I mistakenly bedded the tang area. I didn't know any better at the time. DO NOT BED THIS AREA!!! As stated before, use tape to seal off the tang area to ensure that the area is free-floated.

http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2055.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2055.jpg.html)

http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2058.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2058.jpg.html)

I cut the heads off screws and used them as guides. I also greased up the screws so the epoxy wouldn't stick to them.
http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2059.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2059.jpg.html)

I bedded brass pillars before I bedded the action. I made the pillars from plumbing pipe from home depot.
http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2063.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2063.jpg.html)

Remove clay and tape; clean and trim...
http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb423/tonyben3/DSCN2064.jpg (http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/tonyben3/media/DSCN2064.jpg.html)

Hope this helps.

Tony.