Bedding questions

Hey everyone, I have a couple of bedding questions. I've read the tech article on the main page but I'm still confused on a couple of things. Please bare with me, this is a project I want to do and I'm just in the research portion right now.

Gun: 200 Stevens in .270, factory stock

1.) The magazine. The Stevens has the internal magazine and I'm not sure about this area. I'm assuming I take the magazine out?

2.) The action/barrel. I apply the release agent to the bottom of the un-scoped action and the underside of the barrel, correct?

3.) Put modeling clay in the grooves of the barrel nut. After I put the action in and let it harden, does the bedding not stick to the clay? Is this the only area that I put the clay? How do I keep the bedding material out of the slot where the trigger goes through the stock? Action screw holes

4.) Can I bed the whole length of the stock to stiffen it up or does this do nothing?

Obviously I'm still a little fuzzy on these areas so I hope I can get some answers. If anyone could provide me with some pictures then that would be very helpful as well. I tend to do better with these kind of things with pictures anyways. If I have any other questions I'll be sure to ask. Hopefully I won't be dogged for asking so many questions! Haha thanks in advance, I appreciate it.

All good questions.

First. There is no bedding agents placed in the area of the magazine so don't worry about it. Just put the glass agent in the stock in front of the magazine pocket on the lug shelf forward to about 2 inches of the barrel channel. The other place to put some glass agent is on the flat area in the rear around the rear lug screw. The release agent, liberal amounts of vasoline, grease, wax, etc..., on all metal parts that will or may come in contact with the glassing agent. Use blue edging tape to on your lug. This will provide the thickness of tape clearance for future disassembly. Also use it to line the edge of your stock to prevent the glassing agent to spill out onto the stock. Make sure you use bees wax on your lug screws to prevent agent from contaminating it when initially putting the gun together.

Second. Yes, all parts that you do not want the epoxy to stick to permanently.

Third. No. You want some agent to fall into the lug screw holes. Ideally it makes a pillar type connection perfectly aligning your screws. Wrap your screws with blue masking tape on the unthreaded portion of the screws and put a liberal amount of bees wax on all of the threads.

Fourth. This would be considered full length bedding and doesn't always work. I have tried it more than once unsuccessfully and used a dremel tool to remove it. The theory of full length bedding is sound but the problem is that the barrel still wants to resinate and the added bedding just disturbs the natural order of things.

there are quite a few good bedding how to posts that i read to help me do this

here you go

[img width=600 height=215]http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1252/5118397711_916a421d57_b.jpg[/img]

[img width=600 height=281]http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1190/5119000338_27e266269a_b.jpg[/img]

[img width=600 height=201]http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1159/5118398075_79e39d3208_b.jpg[/img]

[img width=600 height=235]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/5118999924_6d76e04b09_b.jpg[/img]

here is the link to the three i read. its on another site, hope thats ok. myself, i used scotch tape around the nut. yup, it didnt stick to the epoxy. i put scotch tape over a few holes too and trimmed it close to those holes. spots i did not want to get putty in or out of. i used JB Weld. yup, JBWeld. total cost, under $10 i bet

7mmRM thanks...
http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubb...1313984&page=1

WNRoscoe thanks...
http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubb...1167022&page=1

scimitar thanks...
http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubb...1063815&page=1

>Hey everyone, I have a couple of bedding questions. I've read the tech article on the main page but I'm still confused on a couple of things. Please bare with me, this is a project I want to do and I'm just in the research portion right now.

>Gun: 200 Stevens in .270, factory stock

I remove everything from the action. You can leave the scope on but its easier if you remove it especially the first time.

It makes it easier if you have a cleaning station that will cradle the rifle horizontally.

You need 2 bolts or studs 1/4 x 28 (I think) same thread as the action screw. I got mine from ace. Get like 2" or 3" bolts.
Wrap them with tape so that they will barely go into the holes in the stock and that will allow the bolts to center on the holes.

>1.) The magazine. The Stevens has the internal magazine and I'm not sure about this area. I'm assuming I take the magazine out?

Remove it.

>2.) The action/barrel. I apply the release agent to the bottom of the un-scoped action and the underside of the barrel, correct?

Release agent the snot out of the bottom of the action including the screws, but before you do, put clay in the appropriate holes and recesses and tape the edges and front of the recoil lug with a couple of pieces of thick tape and trim. I use pam as a release agent and I spray it everywhere and inside the action, because the way I do it some of the epoxy ends up inside the action when I insert the bolts.
There are probably better release agents.

>3.) Put modeling clay in the grooves of the barrel nut.

Yep and all the holes and grooves in the bottom of the action. At least I do.

Take a dremel and recess the areas that will get bedding, IE the recoil lug area, and the two action areas.
Rough them up so the epoxy will have a good area to bond.
Clean the stock very well and make sure those areas are oil free.

After some advise from SSS the best way to bed the back action area for a centerfire rifle with the tab, is to cut the tab off
so the top of the L rests on that area maybe 1/4" or 3/8"and dremel out the area for the cut down tab after the bedding is cured.

>After I put the action in and let it harden, does the bedding not stick to the clay?

Nope

>Is this the only area that I put the clay? How do I keep the bedding material out of the slot where the trigger goes through the stock?

Clay in all the recesses and holes you dont want epoxy in.

>Action screw holes

That is where the bolts go (not the original action bolts). Spray the snot out of them with release agent.
After you get the bedding material in the stock, carefully set the action into the stock and immediately
put the bolts wrapped in tape in. That lines everything up, makes sure the action bolts will
be centered when the recoil lug is in full contact. Tape it immediately, without letting the action move around in the stock.

Two things you are trying to do...
1. make sure the action is evenly supported on the bottom.
2. make sure the action bolts are centered on the holes when the recoil lug is in full contact, to keep the action bolts from taking any recoil.

Then.....
Wrap the rig in front of the front action screw hole with electrical tape tight.
Same with the back action hole.
I wrap mine quite a few times and stretch it tight. Really tight.
That gives the pressure to hold everything together while the epoxy cures.

I have used JB weld, but did not like the results too much. Too runny.
Marinetex works good but there are other good bedding compounds like devcon of some sort etc.

>4.) Can I bed the whole length of the stock to stiffen it up or does this do nothing?

Free float the barrel and the tang.

>Obviously I'm still a little fuzzy on these areas so I hope I can get some answers. If anyone could provide me with some pictures then that would be very helpful as well. I tend to do better with these kind of things with pictures anyways. If I have any other questions I'll be sure to ask. Hopefully I won't be dogged for asking so many questions! Haha thanks in advance, I appreciate it.

Dont have any pictures, but here on this site and on the web, if you do a google search " how to bed a rifle" you should get a lot of hits.

Its not that hard, just tedious, and you have to make sure you do it right and get enough release agent on to eliminate the possibility of a mechanical lock.

At least that is how I do it.
Best to do a bit more research before you dive into it.

Ok, so I rough up the places where I want the bedding to be and remove the magazine. Spray the bottom of the action with release agent and tape the bottom of the barrel. Put the modeling clay in the grooves of the barrel nut, where the trigger sits in the action, and the slot in the stock where the trigger goes through, correct? Also, would it be ok to put the bolts (without heads) into the action and then just put the action into the stock? Starting to make more sense now that you guys have given me some pointers. Thanks a bunch!

>Ok, so I rough up the places where I want the bedding to be and remove the magazine.

You dont tape the bottom of the barrel.
You tape the front, bottom and sides of the recoil lug.
Oh and the cocking bolt should be out of the action.

>Spray the bottom of the action with release agent and tape the bottom of the barrel. Put the modeling clay in the grooves of the barrel nut, where the trigger sits in the action, and the slot in the stock where the trigger goes through, correct?

modeling clay first then spray the bottom of the action, bolts etc.

Think all the openings and crevices you do not want the epoxy to go into, and that is where the clay goes.

>Also, would it be ok to put the bolts (without heads) into the action and then just put the action into the stock?

I do not do it that way, because you are sliding the recoil lug straight down into the epoxy, where I would rather come in from the top.
That said I am no expert at bedding. If you go straight in and the epoxy is thin enough it should fill in.
Also with tape on studs I dont think you could get them both lined up while trying to get through through wet epoxy.
Never tried it though.

Just do a few dry runs with no epoxy to make sure you have it set up right.

If you want to space it out a little, then you could use a spacer between the front of the stock and barrel, and tang to get a bit more space for the epoxy.

I have bedded seven rifles with excellent results, here a few of my tips.
Use the 1/4 28 headless bolts with the tape wrapped around them, it will give you best alignment. Slot the heads of the bolts so you can use a screw driver to remove them, I then put the real action bolts in
(coated with kiwi shoe polish) and torque them to 20 inch pounds to get even pull down into the bedding.
Use only Devcon 10110 steel epoxy putty with kiwi neutral shoe polish as your release. When you use any agent like a pam that leaves a film behind on the metal surfaces it does not allow for a dimensially true bedding job. Use kiwi!
I only tape the bottom (three layers) of the lug. When I put the rifle all back together there is absolutely no room for vibration or movement, it goes and stays together one way.
I do a lot of wood removal everywhere and then drill small footer holes for the bedding to grab into, a paper thin layer of bedding just does not cut it for me.
Search the other threads for more info and good luck.

Charlie

I will have to try kiwi.
Pam is a real mess.

I used Kiwi agent with Devcon steel, worked really well. Make sure whatever you use is not too runny, or let it dry a little before smearing it in. I had some dripping into the action screw holes in the stock that had to be cleaned.
Basically you want to have tape or putty everywhere you dont want bedding compound, and you want direct contact with the action where you want it bedded, that would be the rear action screw area and the front screw and lug area, as said by other before me, float the tang.
I would post pics if I could figure out how!!

If you have a photobucket account, upload them there. Copy the [IMG] code for the picture and just paste it into the reply box and post. That's how I do it. Thanks for the pointers everyone. I'm feeling confident that I could do this if I were to do it today.