DIY pillar bedding?

[mtelkhntr78]

I recently bought a new Remington 700 LSS in 257 Wby. My plans so far are adjusting the X-mark trigger and of course developing and handload(s) for it.
But like everyone here I want to make it as accurate as possible. So I am pondering Pillar bedding it. I had a couple of questions.

1. Is this something I can do? I see Brownells has a couple of kits for doing this and I was wondering if there are any folks that had sucess or horror stories of doing a pillar bedding on your own for the first time?

2. Should the pressure tab on the fore-end of the stock stay or go? I have read alot about them helping with whippy barrels. But also read alot about removing them and making the barrel free-floating. Thoughts?

I havent shot the gun yet but I am thinking I want to get all the details of accuracy squared away before I start my load development. Everything I have read about bedding it seems pretty straight forward but there are always "Surprises" that pop upon first time projects like this. I am not afraid to try it I just dont want to ding this gun up while I adjust to the learning curve.

[NesikaChad]

There are lots of guys who have done a bedding job at home.

Some did a great job.

Some did ok.

Then there are the guys who later showed up at the GS shop with an action glued to a stock.

It's all about the prep work and the procedure.

Bedding is not easy, nor is it difficult. There are a series of steps that should be observed and followed to the letter. Deviate from that and all bets are off. So be honest with yourself. if you have some experience/knowledge with resins and a good mechanical aptitude, you will probably be ok. If you don't, then perhaps its a good idea to leave enough alone until you can afford to have someone else do it.

If it's worth doing twice, then its worth doing right the first time. If there's doubt, take it to someone who knows (and by knows I mean KNOWS) what they are doing.

Good luck

Chad

[dirtball]

mtelkhntr78

Do a search for "pillar bedding" , there were several good posts about this last year.
I have had good success using Richard Franklin's method, link below.

Dave

Stress-Free Pillar Bedding

[J E Custom]

Originally Posted by NesikaChad

There are lots of guys who have done a bedding job at home.

Some did a great job.

Some did ok.

Then there are the guys who later showed up at the GS shop with an action glued to a stock.

It's all about the prep work and the procedure.

Bedding is not easy, nor is it difficult. There are a series of steps that should be observed and followed to the letter. Deviate from that and all bets are off. So be honest with yourself. if you have some experience/knowledge with resins and a good mechanical aptitude, you will probably be ok. If you don't, then perhaps its a good idea to leave enough alone until you can afford to have someone else do it.

If it's worth doing twice, then its worth doing right the first time. If there's doubt, take it to someone who knows (and by knows I mean KNOWS) what they are doing.

Good luck

Chad

+1
Also don't expect it to look as good as Chads bedding the first time.

I have bedded many rifles and This is the best bedding job I have ever seen !!!!!!

Do I hear an "a-men"

Beautiful work Chad.

J E CUSTOM

[johnnyk]

Amen...............JohnnyK.

[mtelkhntr78]

Well the kit is on the way from "Score High" Gunsmithing. I am also renting the jig for drilling the stock from them as well. I talked with one of the GS and he gave me some pretty good confidence in doing it myself. They have some great customer service so far and I am pretty hopefull of a nice finished product.
Chad that is a beautiful bedding. I am not fool enough to think I will acomplish that kind of finish. Basically I will call it a sucess if I dont A. Glue the barrel to the stock B. Ruin the finish C. Screw up the drilling the holes

I will keep you posted on how it goes if anyone is interested.

[NesikaChad]

10 Commandments to bedding:

1. Epoxy waits for no one.
2. It will go places you never intended so don't be shy with the tape and clay
3. Release agents can screw you so:
a. shake the can like you have Parkinson disease
b. apply the wax carefully to ensure it has really stuck to the surfaces you don't want to glue.
4. Make sure you have no mechanical locks anywhere. This means the action has to be either on centerline or slightly above to avoid the stock mechanically locking the action in place. Make damn sure you pack the full length of the action with clay. "Klean clay" from brownells is by far the best stuff to use. Don't cheap out on the stuff sold at a craft shop.

5. Warm your resins first and mix them till your hands hurt. The chemical reaction depends on the esters and resins having complete contact with one another. Epoxy cures, it does not dry. When you warm it up, it'll also flow better and this avoids problems with porosity and trapped air.

6. Rehearse your process so you don't get out of sequence.

7. Trial fit everything before you ever mix the resin

8. Double/triple check all taped/clay'd/released surfaces

9. Be aware that you are dealing with a time sensitive item. Epoxy has a fairly specific time span (pot life, or open clamp time) to work within. Understand that heating it will reduce this time, sometimes significantly depending on the brand/type of resin system.

10. Use good work habits. Cleaning cured epoxy off of tools and gun stocks is ranks right up there with invasive dentistry.

Good luck.

Chad