Glass Bedding An Axis XP into A Boyd At-One

Hey, all.

First time poster here. Read through the rules and a few other bedding posts and feel pretty confidently about technique and materials, but am just looking for a bit of confirmation and advice.

I'm bedding into a Boyd At-One, and the rifle has been performing pretty well out to 1000 yards, but I'm lacking consistency and I can visibly see my receiver seating isn't the greatest, as I have barrel contact at the forend. I've noticed by experiment that a good seating will fix my free-float issue.

Now, what I'm needing advice on his how to handle a stock embedded recoil lug. I saw an earlier post where a gentleman had one and I'm not sure how it was prepared, but he ended up with a space there, and having to redo it, but never got back to post after that. I've taken a dremmel and roughed up the surfaces where my receiver will mate, all the up to behind the lug. I'm assuming since just beyond it is gonna be my barrel nut and then barrel so I shouldn't bed past the lug, right? On top of that, I don't wanna end up with some weird ass space there.

Any advice on how to prepare the area around the lug would be appreciated. I've got a shit ton of modeling clay to fill holes, and have removed my trigger group--I don't have a tang on my receiver--and am gonna clay that up, but yeah. Any insight in the lug and tang area would be appreciated. Pictures relevant. ( The painter's tape on the barrel will be replaced by electrical tape to ensure centering. And should I also bed around my bolt handle notch? )

First, you mention fore end barrel contact. I'd get rid of that. Bedding the action will not get rid of it. Get some sand paper and masking tape. Tape the barrel to protect it and cut a strip of sandpaper. Insert action in stock held by bolts loose enough so you can get the sandpaper between the barrel and fore end. Then pull the sandpaper (like a shoe shine rag) until the action can seat in the stock. I like having 1/16" or more free space around a barrel.

The Axis is kind of a pain to glass at the rear of the receiver. The separate block back there is a bit more difficult to get release agent on. I left my trigger group on and did not use bedding behind that separate block (the block is where the rear action screw meets the receiver). Yes, use plenty of clay.

When I bedded mine (Boyd's Pro Varmint) I did not apply any release agent to the recoil lug. End result is it is permanently part of the stock now.

Last, I'd suggest pillars be done as well as a metal trigger guard and magazine retainer.

Before You do anything, consider this. I have several of these Boyd’s and Stockys Lamanents. I have pillared and bedded all of them. IMO, none are complete without both. To find out where the barreled action should sit in the stock, we need to tape the barrel equal to the diameter of the stock channel at the front of the forearm. Also tape the action screws equal to the diameter of the two screw holes. Install the barreled action, and this indicates where it wants to sit in the stock. If You do this, You May discover Your Barrel is not touching the stock any longer. If it doesn’t sit well in the stock, some Dremmel work may be needed. A drill press is very handy for installing pillars. After this, posted procedures for installing pillars and bedding can be followed. Best of Luck.

I ended up just diving in and doing it. Came out pretty damn well imo! As I suspected, my lack of float was indeed to to poor receiver seating. One I got her all cleaned up and removed the tape around the barrel, there's no longer any contact, and I have very satisfying clearance around the entire barrel! I'll keep that sandpaper trick in mind for the future. Appreciate the input!

Great news friend! Incredibly gratifying doing these jobs one’s self. Just makes ya feel good. :tea:

Congratulations!