which epoxy ?

**Russ77** · 08-09-2015, 11:15 PM

Concidering doing this to my rifle. Seems like a project I can handle. Did any of you guys put the rods in before the epoxy. If so what did you use? Not sure how I am going to do it yet or what in going to use

rfd12fv · 08-10-2015, 05:25 AM

see the video links i posted - you put the pvc tubes in first, then the rockite. make sure to close off the inside tube ends so the goop doesn't fill 'em up. hold the tubes in place with tape so they don't float up or get out of alignment. use one or two tubes .... OR, don't bother using any tubes and fill 'er up with rockite. yer call, it's all good.

**Russ77** · 08-10-2015, 07:43 PM

Great video. I want to shout a bipod on my rifle so I will need a sturdy stock

**Russ77** · 08-11-2015, 04:45 AM

What is the difference ( if there is one) between putting epoxy in a stock and glass bedding a stock? I have read and heard about glass bedding but I'm not sure what it is or what it does?

rfd12fv · 08-11-2015, 05:39 AM

two diff'rent things ...

you glass bed the action for consistency.

you glass bed or rockite the stock for stiffness, and perhaps to add mass weight.

**DrThunder88** · 08-11-2015, 07:55 AM

Specifically, when glass bedding a rifle, the epoxy is slathered between the action and the stock. As rfd12fv says this creates the most perfect inletting possible, which goes toward consistent reassembly. In turn, this allows for consistent harmonics or something. Bedding can be done in pretty much any stock.

Putting epoxy in the stock is typically just a matter of filling the voids in an injection-molded stock. Whether it has much if any primary effect on accuracy, I don't know. Secondary effects from keeping the forearm from touching the barrel or balancing the rifle could be beneficial though.

rfd12fv · 08-11-2015, 08:01 AM

what the good doc sez.

bedding is all about consistency of the mating of the action and stock.

plastic stocks with lotsa nooks 'n' crannies get stiffened by adding anything that will both adhere and harden. this is not about adding weight, but about strengthening/stiffening the fore arm, and to some degree the stock itself, particularly in the wrist area. since learning about rockite (literally, it's a special form of cement) i'd never waste the money on epoxy for stock stiffening as rockite is cheaper, better and adds much needed weight. ymmv.

**foxx** · 08-11-2015, 09:26 AM

Well, yes and no to all of the above, in some respects, its a matter of semantics.

Technically speaking, "glass bedding" refers to using FIBERGLASS to bed the action and/or barrel channel. Years ago when gunsmiths first started to free-float barrels of wood stocks, they would add fiberglass to the opened-up barrel channels so as to prevent the wood from swelling and touching the barrels. I believe they would make the "gap" between barrel and stock minimal and it was almost considered an art form to make it ever so slim of a gap. Today, almost no one bothers with that, but, rather, opens the barrel channel and seals the wood with wood sealant or epoxy, but the effort is rarely made to actually bed the channels with fiberglass.

Epoxy is used to bed the stock to the action so there is a perfect match of the two surfaces. Also, the epoxy is used to prevent the stock from swelling and contracting, changing the mating surface of the two.

When people say "Glass bedding" today, they are using an old term that came from the practice of using fiberglass, now epoxies are used because it is many times easier and more durable.

A better term would simply be "bedding" an action, which means you are making a perfect match of the surfaces between the action and the stock. It is assumed you use epoxy for this. THe epoxy acts as a stong, inflexible and solid surface that does not swell or contract under different environmental conditions. Without it, you tend to get pressure points and binding that stresses the action and changes with the weather. Along with that, most people will also "pillar" their action screws. "pillaring" is a different concept, but most often done at the same time. "Pillaring" means you add hollowed-out pillars of metal to the action screw holes so the action screws are prevented from crushing the stock material under torque. The inside diameter of the pillars should be greater than the outside dimensions of the action screws, and the screws should be centered inside the pillars so they do not strike the insides of the pillars under recoil, but rather, are like a free-floated barrel in its channel.

Filling hollow stocks with cement or lead or epoxy, etc, is just that that... it depends upon what you are trying to achieve. If you stiffen a flimsy stock, good. If you need/want to add weight, good. Do /use whatever material you like or have available or whatever. Sounds to me like this cement stuff may be a good quick fix to making a hollow-feeling, flimsy plastic stock better.

**DrThunder88** · 08-11-2015, 10:21 AM

Interesting! I never knew about the fiberglass aspect of it. I thought it might have referred to that chopped glass floc that Brownells includes in their AcraGlas kits.

**foxx** · 08-11-2015, 10:32 AM

It might, Doc. But I know they used to lay strands/layers of fiberglass into the material as they bedded the barrel channel. They'd put down a thin layer of epoxy or something, then add fiberglass, then add another layer of epoxy, then add more fiberglass, etc. It was a slow process. I think today's better epoxies that incorporate steal and/or fiberglass into the mix simply means its not necessary to layer it anymore.

"Glass bedding" sounds better. More impressive, to me, because it harkens-back to the old days, suggesting more effort and skill went into the project.

But, in my mind, in reality, it's over glamourizing what we do today.