Remove trigger, or just tape off for bedding?

[Yotewhacker]

I want to skim bed my Mcmillan stock, and wondered if taping off the accutrigger assembly is good enough, or should I just try to remove it to be on the safe side. I did a search to see if I could find some instruction for trigger removal, but came up empty.

[trappst]

take the whole trigger group off......it just makes things easier.

The cross pin that holds the trigger group, sear and sear spring is all you need to take out. Keep a finger on the sear spring though....they like to fly off into infinity. After removing the cross pin, everything else comes right off.

[tammons]

Remove it. Only takes a minute.

[dcloco]

Leave it on....tape off if you need to.

I like the trigger on so that it can be centered in the opening in the action and/or lets me know if I need to remove material in that area of the stock so everything is centered in the stock.

[dcloco]

LOL!....as the saying goes......MANY ways to skin a cat. :)

[GaCop]

I too leave the trigger in place when I bed the action. Tape and wax works well to keep the bedding compound from lockin things up.

[Blue Avenger]

are you very neat and cautious or sloppy. ;)

[Yotewhacker]

Well I just finished the bedding job, which is my first attempt ever....kinda scary. :o I did opt for the trigger removal, and filled in any holes and recesses with play doe. Thanks for all the advice, the trigger was easy to remove just as you guys posted.

I got good squeeze out everywhere except around the recoil lug location. If it turns out that I did not use enough epoxy in the lug recess, can I have a do over just for the lug? ??? There was very little room to spare in the lug recess, but I did dremel in a couple of grooves so the material would be thicker, before gooping up the area that the lug contacts. Also taped the bottom of lug so it will be floated.

I cut the heads off some 2.5" 1/4x28 bolts, so I could pre-thread them in the receiver, once in the stock use fender washers and wing nuts to tighten against bottom metal that was greased and taped off. Wish that I had taken step by step pics. :(
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t66/ccm280/IMG_0334.jpg

[dcloco]

Congrats! Let's see some pics when the action is removed.

YES! You can dremel out some material to roughen it up, even drill a couple 1/8" holes in the area that needs more bedding, and add bedding later. Is it beneficial to ooze a little bit of bedding compound out the sides...means you mixed and applied the "just right" amount. :)

90% of stocks, regardless of who makes them, are not perfectly straight. Need something to center up the action in the screw holes, while keeping the trigger centered and the barrel centered. Mocking up and checking all of this before mixing bedding compound is the final check.

Wait unitl you have to reassemble that trigger assembly before you say thanks. It can be a pain sometimes. Of note, I use a small C clamp with LIGHT pressure to help things out. C clamp is the third hand that you will need. :)

[Yotewhacker]

Like I thought, a little light in the lug area, but everywhere else is very nice. Needs a little trimming here and there, but I think it will be good enough for who it is for. ;D

I learned why gunsmiths charge as much as they do, I would not have made any money at all this evening.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t66/ccm280/IMG_0337.jpg

[dcloco]

Looks good. If you decide to add more, remove the light/uneven on the right side of the upper magwell, scuff the area with your dremel drum, and apply new there as well.

You do want some to ooze out the sides on top and some out the bottom in the magwell area so that you have good coverage throughout.

Good job though. Honest!!!

Has anybody told you how to seperate a stuck receiver/barrel and stock yet? Freezer will be your new friend. I have only stuck one. My batting average is very good....but you will eventually stick one.

[BillPa]

Has anybody told you how to seperate a stuck receiver/barrel and stock yet? Freezer will be your new friend. I have only stuck one. My batting average is very good....but you will eventually stick one.


Yep, my first 40 or so years ago was a unintentional "Glue Job". Fortunately having a Uncle that was also a gunsmith bailed me out with one of these, the "Ye Auld Action Ripper Outer", another old gunsmith trick.

Its a number 2 C clamp and a wooden block opened just enough the clear the bridge side to side with about a 1/2" clearance above the bridge. Install it, put some tension on the clamp then toss the rifle in a freezer for a few hours. 90% of time when the goop lets go the tension on the clamp will pop it loose.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2ajosi9.jpg

It also makes taking regular jobs apart. Instead of rocking and pounding put a little hand pressure on the rear of the action, snug the clamp and give the barrel a little upward bump to initially pop it free. As you continue tightening the clamp it will pull the recoil lug straight up and make getting them apart a snap.

Bill

[gotcha]

Yotewhacker, Nice job!! Yes, mixing & placing the right amount of mud is difficult to do the 1st time around. So don't be too hard on yourself ;) I enjoyed the pics and liked your wing nut idea. Locos idea on the C-clamp is sage advice. Unless you really enjoy crawling around on your hands & knees w/ a flashlight ;D. As to rebedding, I'd put it together and shoot it. The first bedding I ever did came out looking just about like yours. Not knowing any better I just shot it and found that accuracy was fine. (for varminting) And still shoots well today. Just my .02 cts. And, yes billpa the Aulde action ripper outer is QUITE a gadgit.

[Yotewhacker]

Looks good. If you decide to add more, remove the light/uneven on the right side of the upper magwell, scuff the area with your dremel drum, and apply new there as well.

You do want some to ooze out the sides on top and some out the bottom in the magwell area so that you have good coverage throughout.

Good job though. Honest!!!

Has anybody told you how to seperate a stuck receiver/barrel and stock yet? Freezer will be your new friend. I have only stuck one. My batting average is very good....but you will eventually stick one.


Thank you for the compliment.
Actually that area is better than it looks in the pic, and did ooze out there between the action and stock. Before I did the job I ran a dremel bit which exposed the white under layer, and that is showing through the thinner layer of black epoxy. I think that I pulled the action out sooner than I should of. The left over epoxy was hard in the cup 5 hours later, so I separated the action, and found the epoxy in the stock still pretty rubbery. All in all a good learning experience, and I did not ruin an expensive stock.

After waiting a few days, I will put it all back together, head to the range and see if they all go through the same hole now. ;)

[Yotewhacker]

Well I was just joking in the previous post when I mentioned bullets going through the same hole. I put everything back together, and headed off to the 200 yard range to try and do a ladder test with some reloads. It turned out to be a joke, because even with a spread of almost 5 grains of powder, the bullets all clustered close to moa. so I shot a group with the same reloads that had done under .5" moa at 100 yards before bedding the stock. After shooting the first bullet at a small diamond 200 yards out, I could not pick up through my scope where the next three had impacted. To my surprise all 4 had gone through pretty much the same hole, which I have never even done at 100 yards before. I don't expect this to be a regular ocurrance, but with the bedding job the 28" heavy LW barrel really shined...there was no wind and the planets were lined up just right. I don't even know how to measure a group like this. :o

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t66/ccm280/Firearms/IMG_0345.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t66/ccm280/Firearms/IMG_0350.jpg

[Harriershot]

WOW!
You have a great shootin gun in my favorite cal. You and that Lothar Walther barrel are gettin ur done!

Charlie

[bbradford71]

I measure that as follows: Impressive

[shovelheadave]

I measure that as follows: Impressive


X2

[rogn]

Thats a wallet group for sure. Good shooting. To measure, measure the greatest diameter you can then subtract the bullet diameter in thousandths. Thatll give you your center to center measure.

[Yotewhacker]

Thats a wallet group for sure. Good shooting. To measure, measure the greatest diameter you can then subtract the bullet diameter in thousandths. Thatll give you your center to center measure.


Thank you sir.
Okay, it comes out to .070", and since it was 200 yards then the group would be .035" moa? To bad it will likely be all down hill from here. :)