Kelbly Atlas project

A

Al Nyhus

"It'll never work!"
A little bit of a change from the recently completed 'Mini Mouser' project.

Started with this pile of parts. Kelbly Atlas R/R single shot coned bolt, Kreiger .224 barrel twisted 1:12 chambered in 22BR by 'Humble' Henry Rivers, Kelbly Varminter stock, Shilen 2-6 oz trigger, Talley LW rings:

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Waiting....

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Nice project.
With the 12 twist, I assume you are going to be shooting lighter 22 cal bullets as fast as that 22 BR case will push them, which can be pretty impressive.

Nice project.
 
Thanks, Jackie. I'm always hesitant to post these things under the 'Gunsmithing' section as I'm most assuredly neither a talented machinist or true 'smith. But it seems like the area for projects and project guns.

Randy's made up some special short jacketed 47's based on his 52's that I've shot out of my Sako 22PPC with really good results. We're both interested to see how they perform in the 22BR. And the 12 twist leaves the door open for a more traditional bullet weight. I've been shooting the Nosler 40 gr. BTips out of my other 22BR in Winter temps at 4,050-4,080 with a healthy load of Benchmark and it's scary accurate.

Bedding came out pretty well. For pillars, I did something different this time. They are .625 o.d., then did a .562 counter bore followed by a .500 o.d., piloted 82 degree reamer and used a stainless 82 degree Allen head cap screw for increased contact area. Lapped them lightly after....they come up to 'tight' instantly. :)

Will get it on the mill today and finish the trigger area cleanup and do the final cuts for the trigger guard and trigger mortise opening. Not the greatest pics...just grabbed some with the phone as I was packing stuff up this morning.

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What bedding product did you use and it turned out real nice? Might also ask what releasing product did you also use.
 
Louis, Pro Bed is what I use for bedding. The release agent is a wax that's supplied with the Pro Bed.

Over the years, I've tried all sorts of bedding products. Pro Bed has always delivered the goods.
 
Thanks Al I was actually curious if that was in fact what you were using I had purchased some a few years back and also found it to be the best that I had tried to date.
 
Al Nyhus said:
Louis, Pro Bed is what I use for bedding. The release agent is a wax that's supplied with the Pro Bed.

Over the years, I've tried all sorts of bedding products. Pro Bed has always delivered the goods.
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That bedding looks outstanding.

I have always used JB Weld or Deacon.

Next bedding job I do, I will use the ProBed.
 
jackie schmidt said:
Next bedding job I do, I will use the ProBed.
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Jackie, ProBed specifies a 16 hour wait before pulling the receiver out. Believe me, wait the 16 hours ;). I give it 24 full hours at room temp, pull the barrelled action out, do a quick cleanup of the edges and bolt it back in for another 8 hours.

I've found it helpful to warm it up with a hair dryer to get it a bit runnier than the as-mixed consistency. I normally load it into a 30 ml cath tip syringe but just glopping it in with a popsicle stick also works. On round actions, putting a big ridge lengthwise helps the bedding to displace up the sides a bit better than a consistent thickness. On flat bottoms, 20ml thick pipe tape on the sides of the action keeps a bolt-in from binding. It's easy to 'high spot' a flat bottom...especially a glue in.

Good shootin'. -Al
 
With the stock getting a dip, it was a good time to bed the Talley LW's to the receiver for 100% contact:

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And how do you actually go about bedding the rings themselves. And have you ever tried using one wrap of SaranWrap as a realeasing agent for such a project. It has actually worked well for me in the past but not for a full bedding process all though it might if you can keep all of the wrinkles out.
 
Pro Bed

Al, like Jackie, I've used other products, mostly marine tex.. What makes PB superior in your opinion ?

Thats going to be a nice looking rig! So you have mill but no lathe ?
 
Not to hijack the thread but has anyone tried, or even heard of, Metlweld? I ran across it for a different application and it looks like it might make a good bedding compound.
 
Pat B. said:
Al, like Jackie, I've used other products, mostly marine tex. What makes PB superior in your opinion ?

Thats going to be a nice looking rig! So you have mill but no lathe ?
Click to expand...

I like the stability of ProBed as well as how it cuts during clean up. I'm sure there are others just as good, like Marine Tex.

I have a small lathe in my gun room at home that's perfect for pillars and small gadgets, plus access to a larger lathe and a mill in the race car shop I help out in.

Good shootin'. -Al
 
parshal said:
Not to hijack the thread but has anyone tried, or even heard of, Metlweld? I ran across it for a different application and it looks like it might make a good bedding compound.
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Do you a link to it? Nothing came up with Google or Bing searches, at least with that spelling.. -Al
 
Yep, that's the stuff I was referring to. Most of the information I find on it seems it's mostly used in the aviation industry.

I did find this Q/A, though, which suggests it wouldn't be suitable for bedding.

Q: How much heat will Metlweld epoxy adhesive take?

A: MetlWeld has a maximum service temperature of 125F. At this temperature, the cured epoxy will start to soften but will remain highly crosslinked.
 
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When evaluating any material for use as a bedding product, the shrinkage during curing is the first thing to consider. In general, the slower the cure time the less the shrinkage. Not always ;), but it's a good place to start.

Good shootin'. -Al
 
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