Interesting Bedding Technique

B

Boyd Allen

Active member
I ran across this article, and I thought that I would share it.

http://www.shootingtimes.com/gunsmithing/simple_action_bedding_secret_020911/index.html

The one thing that I might be tempted to do is to figure out a way so that the pads would be easier to remove. Suggestions? (I was thinking that casting the pads over some sort of tape, in the barrel channel, might do the trick.)

I think that for stocks that are designed to be shot from a rest, that paying less attention to evenness the gaps on either side of the barrel, and more to the alignment of the barreled action with the CL of the bag tracking surfaces is an important consideration from an accuracy point of view. Having a way to maintain a particular alignment, while bedding the action, is a common issue. I often read of wrapping tape around the barrel, to fit the channel, and center the barrel in it, but I am not convinced that this will always produce the desired alignment for certain applications where someone is trying to make best of an imperfect stock.

In any case, it would seem that using this technique would allow one to pretty much float the entire action in a thick layer of bedding compound, while maintaining a stress free situation, and whatever alignment is desired.
 
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Makes zero sense to me. A few wraps of tape around the barrel to keep it centered and supported in the barrel channel has worked well enough for most smiths to perform thousands of bedding jobs.
 
I doubt the bedded pads would make the finished job any better than tape or 'o' rings. I suggest a good coat of paste wax in the barrel channel first, would make the pads easier to remove.
 
Boyd, that's pretty similar to how I do bedding jobs. Rather than the pads of epoxy, I wrap tape around the barrel about 2" ahead of the reciever and about 1" behind the end of the fore arm. With a very light clamping force on the barrel, the action just lies in the compund with zero external stress. Another thing that's nice about tape is that it allows you to adjust the height of the action. Or the degree of rearward tilt, if you're so inclined. Pun intended. ;)

Another thing that makes things easier are these little Delrin flanged sleeves. They are .250 i.d. and .312 o.d.

I make the pillars with a .312 i.d., the sleeves are glued into the pillars from below with a 5 minute epoxy and the headless action guide screws guide the action in place. When the bedding is done, the sleeves are easily removed by running a .312 bit down the pillar from the top. The results are a nice gap around the action screws and the screws are perfectly centered in the pillars.

ss.jpg


These are great for rebedding jobs, as the actions tend to migrate rearward w/o some means of centering them to the holes in the pillars.

Just bedded my Rem. 700 .17 Rem. this way. With a magnetic base dial indicator on the barrel and the probe on the fore arm, the needle barely quivers (less than .001) when the screws are loosened, yet the barrelled action just falls out of the stock when the screws are removed.

17-2.jpg
 
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Al Nyhus said:
Another thing that makes things easier are these little Delrin flanged sleeves. They are .250 i.d. and .312 o.d.

I make the pillars with a .312 i.d., the sleeves are glued into the pillars from below with a 5 minute epoxy and the headless action guide screws guide the action in place. When the bedding is done, the sleeves are easily removed by running a .312 bit down the pillar from the top. The results are a nice gap around the action screws and the screws are perfectly centered in the pillars.

ss.jpg
Click to expand...

Where do you get the delrin sleeves?

I've been making brass alignment studs that have an oversize shank, like this:

PillarsAlignmentstudsandnuts-2-C-RS.jpg


The home made pillars are made with a size N hole, the oversize shank is a slip fit in them. The sleeves look like a better approach. I'd like to try them anyway.

The Springfield I'm working on has 25 tpi action screw threads, neither of my lathes will cut 25 tpi threads. It's always something ...

Thanks
Fitch
 
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Fellas,
I wasn't really talking about hunting rifles. For them having the barrel centered in the barrel channel is the way to go, and for that wrapping tape on the barrel is the quickest and works well. What I was referring to is when you are bedding a stock, that came out of a mold (and may not be straight) to make a competition Benchrest rifle. There has been a lot written about the importance of having a barreled action lined up with the CL of the bag tracking surfaces, and that some Bondo work may be needed to get those surfaces so that they are parallel sided and on the same line. In this situation, simply using the barrel channel to determine the alignment of the barreled action may not put you where you need to be. It is for this situation that I was suggesting that the technique in the article might be useful, not your typical factory, or hunting rifle. Looking at my original post, I should have been more clear as to the specific application. Thanks for the interest.
 
Over sized "action locating studs"...............These fit tightly to my pillars that I turn and are 1/16" larger in diameter than the action bolts.

DSC_0014-vi.jpg


The hole in the end is for easy turning once everything is set up. Put a drift through the hole, remove the pins

DSC_0010-vi.jpg


and then use this tool to pop the action out of the bedding.


DSC_0015-vi.jpg


DSC_0019-vi.jpg


DSC_0020-vi.jpg
 
frwillia: I found these Delrin sleeves at my local Ace Hardware store.

Boyd: You're right....having the c.l. of the barrelled action parallel with the lateral tracking surfaces of the fore end is darn important. This isn't too hard to determine. What's more difficult is making sure the butt of the stock is in the same ball park as the fore end. Lots of 'front end' issues are at the 'back end'.

Good shootin'. -Al
 
I am mulling over the best way to plot the front and rear bag surfaces, and overlay the barreled action CL....without using a mill.
 
I think all the sleeves and spacers for centering the screws are really cool but I've always just used masking tape, easy to adjust for a slip fit in any brand of pillar.

and clay to plug holes....

comments?

al
 
If you make your own pillars you can drill a 1/4" hole in the pillar and bed the rifle, then drill the 1/4" hole with a clearance size drill - maybe 17/64" or an H or I. Pretty easy.
 
al,

if you are talking about screw holes & the like, I used high density styrafoam trimmed packing to fit & screwed in and billets of the stuff to fill magazine cutouts, trigger wells & any large voids in an action. It trims easily with a brand new box knife break blade used bare. Most importantly, it can be picked out of screw holes without leaving stuff behind & if carefully fitted can be cut out of a magazine well with a Dremel freehand.

John
 
alinwa said:
I think all the sleeves and spacers for centering the screws are really cool but I've always just used masking tape, easy to adjust for a slip fit in any brand of pillar.

and clay to plug holes....

comments?

al
Click to expand...

I'll confess I use tape too!
 
Boyd,

I have run this around in my head more than I care to admit. The thing I keep coming back to is a fixture for BR style stocks that the tracking surfaces fit in ( or are centered in), that supports a mandrel machined to fit the action. You could glue the action with absolutely no stress and have perfect alignment with the tracking surfaces.
I never build the fixture because it is so easy to just use tape in the barrel channel.
 
I know this isn't the answer for stocks that are pretty, but...

Why not bed the barreled action and let cure, then turn over and hold in the mill by the barrel shank, and then mill the important stock surfaces square?
 
Good Evening John,
Many Benchrest stocks have structural shells. If they were more or less of homogeneous construction, what you are suggesting would be a terrific idea, and for stocks that are, I think that it is.
Boyd
 
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