Bedding and floating a Interarms Mark x ?
- Thread starter Clay.243
- Start date
jackie schmidt
New member
A good bedding job will help any Rifle.
This is basically a Mauser Action. I would go with what we all used 40+ years ago, good old Brownells Acraglass.
https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...bedding-adhesives/acraglas-gel--prod1038.aspx
The standard practice in doing these types of actions was to bed the flat part of the action's bottom and the chamber portion of the barrel and free floating the remainder. Attention should be paid to the recoil lug, making sure that the bottom of the lug is NOT bedded but relieved.
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I'm with Jackie, definitely worth it. In fact I'll take it a step further..... Mausers are weak, flexible actions over their length, the action rails. What this means is NOT "weak actions",,,,, but when you take all the original reinforcements off the battle-rifle system it was designed as, putting it in an unsupported "sporter" stock, it puts too much stress on the action rails, it's a accuracy thing only, NOT a safety issue.
So, to somewhat counteract this, may I suggest you bed not only the recoil lug area but let thee mud flow up into the barrel channel to support the barrel shank. You want the front action screw to be centered in this bedding block, so's it sucks down nicely centered in the supporting bedding.
The rear tang gets a touch of bedding just to control vibration.
There is only ONE proper release agent and that is wax. Go down to the general store and getcherself a can of Kiwi Neutral Shoe Polish if you want to use the most popular (among accuracy gunsmiths) release agent. You rub it on, let it dry to a haze (15-30min) and then SCRUB IT ALL BACK OFF with paper towel. The tighter you wipe it, the higher the shine, the better the result.
Bed 'er in under it's own weight using bedding studs, NO screw pressure nor tape nor surgical tubing....just make sure your try-fit centers up nicely, wrap a ring of tape out at the front to support on the forend tip. leave it for 24hrs room temp.
When you go to take it out, if it seems locked in, DON'T PANIC!!! Jump on this board and quietly peep 'heeelp' and someone will help you.
First of all, once you're comfortable with epoxies you'll find it's harder to GET a good bond than to make it release. I just epoxied a picatinny rail onto an action tonite and didn't even bother to look at the screws........just picked 'em up and screwed 'em in. They'll come back out when I need 'em to...and if they don't, a little heat will melt the epoxy easily.
So, to somewhat counteract this, may I suggest you bed not only the recoil lug area but let thee mud flow up into the barrel channel to support the barrel shank. You want the front action screw to be centered in this bedding block, so's it sucks down nicely centered in the supporting bedding.
The rear tang gets a touch of bedding just to control vibration.
There is only ONE proper release agent and that is wax. Go down to the general store and getcherself a can of Kiwi Neutral Shoe Polish if you want to use the most popular (among accuracy gunsmiths) release agent. You rub it on, let it dry to a haze (15-30min) and then SCRUB IT ALL BACK OFF with paper towel. The tighter you wipe it, the higher the shine, the better the result.
Bed 'er in under it's own weight using bedding studs, NO screw pressure nor tape nor surgical tubing....just make sure your try-fit centers up nicely, wrap a ring of tape out at the front to support on the forend tip. leave it for 24hrs room temp.
When you go to take it out, if it seems locked in, DON'T PANIC!!! Jump on this board and quietly peep 'heeelp' and someone will help you.
First of all, once you're comfortable with epoxies you'll find it's harder to GET a good bond than to make it release. I just epoxied a picatinny rail onto an action tonite and didn't even bother to look at the screws........just picked 'em up and screwed 'em in. They'll come back out when I need 'em to...and if they don't, a little heat will melt the epoxy easily.
Thanks for the input. I'm working up my nerve to give it a go. Which step should I do first, the bedding or floating. My thought was leave the barrel ride in the front of the stock for bedding. Then come back after bedding and float the barrel. Also should I bed the bushing in rear of the action?
jackie schmidt
New member
That bushing is to keep from compressing the wood too severely. If done properly. It will act like a pillar. There is such a small area supporting that rear screw that it's easy to flex even a beaded action if you tighten too much.
It's not a bad idea to bed the trigger guarde as well.
The main thing is to get a good bed under the front portion of the action, so that front screw can do it's job.
Well finally made the leap. Just makes a person real nervous epoxying metal to wood and hoping it comes back apart. But I had to trust what others had done many times before me. I did have to do it a second time. The space between the wood and chamber was much larger than I thought. I went back after the first try and applied more epoxy. I do like the Devcon 10110A. I did have masking tape on the bottom of the lug. I would assume that is so when you tightening the action you pull down in to the bedding and not the bottom of the lug only.
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Fergus Bailey
New member
Please let us know how it shoots after the bedding job.
Careful application of a heat gun on the metal will usually get it loose if it sticks without doing any real damage.
Some sheet metal to protect the stock from the heat gun blast allows you to heat up the action and barrel.
Judicious use of a dead blow hammer and some 2x wood blocks can also help if you run into trouble.
Some sheet metal to protect the stock from the heat gun blast allows you to heat up the action and barrel.
Judicious use of a dead blow hammer and some 2x wood blocks can also help if you run into trouble.