My Post Christmas Project

[yew plucker]

I received a Savage Axis in .308 as a Christmas gift. It had the typical pencil barrel and tupperware stock. I had already purchased a Shaw .308 Varmint barrel from Gun Shack. I ordered the stock from Boyd's about two weeks ago. This morning a friend helped me change the barrel and headspace it. I bolted it into the stock. The fit was pretty good. The barrel channel needs to opened up a bit still. I will eventually bed it also. For now this is where the project stands.

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Ok! I finally got it to work!

[yew plucker]

I just took some sandpaper and a one inch dowell and opened up the barrel channel a bit. Everything goes in nice and a dollar bill will slip easily down the behind the barrel. My next step of course will be to bed it. I will post more pictures on that job when it begins.

[yew plucker]

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I used 1/4 x 28 bolts as guides. I taped the front one to fit the hole in the stock. The rear one was already a pretty close fit.

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Then I mixed the epoxy. I began applying it to the stock.
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[yew plucker]

More pics of epoxy application...

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[yew plucker]

A few more...
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And I carefully lower the action into the stock...
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Gently settle it in...
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Lastly, I taped it all up. I hope it holds together for the next sixteen hours or so... I'll post pictures of the result tomorrow.

[yew plucker]

Here some images of my first attempt at a bedding job. I will know tomorrow if I did well or ill. These first two images show where I have relieved wood from the stock. My Dremel kit has a football shaped bit which worked perfectly for most of the job. I relieved the area fore and aft of the recoil lug. The lug itself was glued into the stock, so I worked it from there. I then relieved some wood along the sides of the receiver area above the magazine box recess. It was difficult to get the cut uniform. I did the best I could with what I had. I also relieved a bit of wood in the area of the rear action screw. The trigger housing has an aluminum tang through which the screw passes. I relieved some there so that the trigger housing tang would bed directly on the steel epoxy. Also, when I relieved the areas around the screw holes, I left a bit of a lip at the top of the hole.
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I used Play Doh to fill the spaces I didn't want bedding compound to fill. Like I said, tomorrow will tell If I did this right. I put a BUNCH of release agent, Kiwi neutral, on the receiver. I really gunked it on. I also filled the gaps in the recoil lug recess behind the barrel nut. Like I said, the recoil lug was already glued in.
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[Johnnyrara]

Nice detailed pictures. Looking forward to seeing the results.

[DrThunder88]

You're a braver man than I. I would have waited to see the results before posting pics!

Just kidding! It looks like you took all necessary precautions, and I bet it comes out nicely.

[yew plucker]

File this one under, "Well Hell!"

First look,
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And after I trimmed the overflow a bit...

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Ok, lessons learned,

1. Use enough epoxy!
2. that ****ed Play Doh goes everywhere!
3. If you mess up, you can always use your dremel, carve it out and start over.

I spoze I'll have to exercise lesson number three. This sucks. It is, however, the way I seem to learn my lessons... ALWAYS the hard way! If I leave it alone, will it work? Probably. Who will know? I will! I do not have a "mission accomplished" feeling about this right now.

[DrThunder88]

As long as it works—and I suspect yours will work just fine—that's what's important. I don't bed along the sides of the magwell, just around the action screws.

[yew plucker]

OK, I ground it out and tried again. I used JB Weld this time. That stuff is thicker and seems to fill the spaces and stick a bit better. I have already set it. We will see how round two goes in a few hours. I'll post picks when I pop it out.

[Russmerle]

OK, I ground it out and tried again. I used JB Weld this time. That stuff is thicker and seems to fill the spaces and stick a bit better. I have already set it. We will see how round two goes in a few hours. I'll post picks when I pop it out.

Well crap... I want to see the results of the JB weld now, I'm so impatient. I hope it works out for you this time. Good luck!

[devildogandboy]

hey, can you fix your previous pics, they don't show! it's like watching an interesting movie and the film breaks, where's the pics?LOL JB Weld is what i have been using, it's not real runny.

Bruce

[yew plucker]

Here are a couple of pics of the JB Weld layup.

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[triglet]

Sticking around for the finish. Good luck

[Johnnyrara]

Quite interested in this thread. I have a Boyd's thumbhole stock that I want to bed, so am looking forward to seeing the results.

[GaCop]

Looking forward to seeing your finished product!

[yew plucker]

Ok, here they are...

The front receiver ring bedding area turned out just fine. I am very happy with it.
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The rear receiver ring area turned out ok also. Both sides of the receiver have something to bed against and the tang of the trigger housing sits nicely on a bed of steel epoxy.
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The sides of the receiver have something to bed on also. As I was trying to clean up the overflow, some of the epoxy chipped away in a couple of places (Grrrr!). I'm not happy about that, but I think I am now at a point of, "If it ain't Broke, don't fix it (anymore)".

Left side
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Right side.
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Trigger area, again.
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As you can see also, I had to do some light sanding. Where the clay fills holes, things didn't necessarily smash out in a uniform manner.

On another note, because I laid the compound on thicker this time, the front action screw wasn't making contact with the threads in the receiver. At first I thought the plastic ferule, which holds the magazine in the front and also houses the front action screw, wasn't sitting deeply enough so I took my dremel and cleaned up the screw hole in the stock. No contact again. Then, using the dremel and a small stone bit, I carefully deepened the screw hole in the ferule itself. Bingo! Now the plastic ferule sits more firmly in the stock and the magazine fits and functions like it is supposed to. Next step will be to buy a base and some glass and head to the range. I'm still aggi-vated about the bedding compound chipping on the sides and I'll probably revisit that at a later date. For now I'm calling it done.

Whadda ya think?

[devildogandboy]

you get credit for having a go at it! i think the Axis is probably tougher to do that the other models. next time wrap the barrel nut with more wrapping so you don't get those impressions, if you ever move the position of the nut the grooves and ridges may not match up. a smooth barrel nut would make it easier too.
hey! your learning.

Bruce

[yew plucker]

Yeah, I thought about the impressions from the barrel nut. For now it mates perfectly. When I change the barrel again, if I ever do, I'll just grind them down so that that area is smooth and uniform.

[DrThunder88]

Good job! The ridges are one of the reasons I don't bed around the nut at all, but as you mentioned, getting rid of them is just a Dremel bit away. Even the little vacancies along the sides aren't of much concern; it's mostly aesthetic. Just fill them in with some more of the same epoxy on a toothpick.

[yew plucker]

Thanks for the kind words.

[yew plucker]

OK, did the trigger job too. I went to ACE Hardware and bought a couple of springs. I also bought a 10-24 screw. I tested a couple of springs to see which one would give the best results. After trying two, I cut the lighter one where I thought might work. I left myself plenty of spring to play with in case I cut too much off. Next, I played with (what would become) the over travel screw. I turned it in until I could get the trigger to break clean with minimal over travel. The screw was longer than the job required, so I had to cut it to length. The trick was measuring it accurately so as to get the head of the screw to seat at the proper over travel adjustment. At first I made the final cut about a 16th too long, just to be safe. I figuered I would use a file for the last bit. That was taking forever, and I am impatient at times. I recut the screw and wouldn't you know it, I cut it too short, but just by a hair. Then I took my small triangular file and trimmed the underside of the head of the screw. Bingo! I got the over travel screw adjusted just about where I wanted it. Then I went looking for some blue loctite. Wouldn't you know it, there was none to be found. But you know what I did find? Shoe Goo! I put some shoe goo on the threads and turned the screw into where the head seated against the backside of the trigger. It dries as a silicone rubber which will hold good enough to keep the screw from backing out, but not an unbreakable bond if I want to remove it. The trigger breaks fairly clean at three pounds and has a very little over travel. It ain't perfect, but its pretty darn good. This is supposed to be a budget build. I think all in all we're doing OK here.

Here are a couple more pictures.

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Oh, and I had to use my dremel again to make some room for the over travel screw inside the stock. Looks like I cut a bit of the tip of the rear trigger guard screw off. Oh well.

[yew plucker]

I'm working on a load for my 10 project. I used the same type Shaw barrel and same headspace, so when I get that load dialed in, I'll shoot some in the axis and post pice here.