Bedding gone BAD

[ryandetailer]

Well, I've been working on a Rem 700 LTR .308 and have finally got everything humming along. I could consistently shoot .75 moa and had no problem hitting a 4" plate at 300 yards. Well I had this silly notion that I should bed my little tactical stick so as to squeeze all the joy out of it. Everything was going as planned except the release agent that I had did not seem to work out like I remember it so I topped the whole prep job with some PAM to double up on the release agent (somewhere in the wide web I heard of such silly things). I slapped it all together after taping the spots I didn't want the acraglass to get and waited for the accuracy gods to work their magic.
In the morning I went to break the action out of the stock to clean it up….and I tugged and tugged…..and huffed and huffed….and pounded and pounded…I even tried cooling the action to try and shrink the steel. I have successfully attached my stock to my action. My stock looks horrible and I am no longer able to separate the two objects.
I learned a good lesson: 1…just 'cause it's on the internet don't mean it's good; 2 … if it aint broke don't fix it; 3…reread the instructions first.
So down to the nitty gritty, does anyone have a good idea how I can get my stock off without destroying it. The stock is a HS with the aluminum beds I'd like to keep that around.
With a little less pride
ryan

 

[Joel Russo]

Ryan,

You have a good sense of humor, that always helps...
PAM belongs in the baking aisle at the grocery store, not on the stock working bench. Sounds like you have tried a few methods of getting it apart. The HS stocks are pretty durable and can take some man handling. Maybe a little more tugging, huffing and pounding...
I have made a few specially designed tools for removing barreled actions from stocks when I bed them. It sure makes the job easier when I'm working with a high dollar piece of exotic wood.
If you can't get it apart, I would be happy to try my hand at it. All I ask is that you pick up the shipping.

 

[ejg]

I was always wondering why.... why.... different rules apply to gunsmithing??? Aerospace moulding , boat moulding and many more use professional release agents especially for epoxy. but!!! on the net we read this all does not apply to gunsmithing, we get told to use butter or shoe polish or hell knows maybe even spit..

I have used shoe polish in the passt and one can get away with it but there are much safer options.
A two part system works very reliable. Release wax that is trimmed to work together with PVA (I think polyvinyl alcohol). Wax and then paint layer of PVA over which creates a film that will disolve later with water.

If you have not heat cured yet, you might have a chance if you heat up to 80 deg C and hopefully the epoxy might get a bit softer, then try to remove.

edi

 

[Joel Russo]

I was always wondering why.... why.... different rules apply to gunsmithing??? Aerospace moulding , boat moulding and many more use professional release agents especially for epoxy. but!!! on the net we read this all does not apply to gunsmithing, we get told to use butter or shoe polish or hell knows maybe even spit..
edi

Probably because the guy that only beds one or two rifles a year does not want to pay for the "good stuff".

I thought about recommending the heat, but that can go bad as well.

 

[J E Custom]

Well, I've been working on a Rem 700 LTR .308 and have finally got everything humming along. I could consistently shoot .75 moa and had no problem hitting a 4" plate at 300 yards. Well I had this silly notion that I should bed my little tactical stick so as to squeeze all the joy out of it. Everything was going as planned except the release agent that I had did not seem to work out like I remember it so I topped the whole prep job with some PAM to double up on the release agent (somewhere in the wide web I heard of such silly things). I slapped it all together after taping the spots I didn't want the acraglass to get and waited for the accuracy gods to work their magic.
In the morning I went to break the action out of the stock to clean it up….and I tugged and tugged…..and huffed and huffed….and pounded and pounded…I even tried cooling the action to try and shrink the steel. I have successfully attached my stock to my action. My stock looks horrible and I am no longer able to separate the two objects.
I learned a good lesson: 1…just 'cause it's on the internet don't mean it's good; 2 … if it aint broke don't fix it; 3…reread the instructions first.
So down to the nitty gritty, does anyone have a good idea how I can get my stock off without destroying it. The stock is a HS with the aluminum beds I'd like to keep that around.
With a little less pride
ryan

Having removed a few that were intended to be "glued in" the only way I found to safely
remove the stock was to = Place it in a freezer over night, the next day take it out and quickly
lay it in your lap, barrel down. Hold the for-end of the stock and with a RUBBER hammer, strike the
barrel sharply just in front of the stock, The action and barrel have a different coefficient of
expansion than the stock and it builds up stress at the fusion line and the shock wave caused
buy the RUBBER hammer helps it break free.

If the scope is installed be sure and remove it before placing it in the freezer.

I hope this will help.

Buy the way I use paste wax for the release agent because it doesn't peel off when you
place the action in the bedding and have to adjust the position of the action .

J E CUSTOM

 

[ryandetailer]

thanks guys for your help. I have not tried the freezer yet. I leave for a vacation for a little while so I'm not going to get to play with it. It shoots great, just went today, it's still keeps .75 or better.

I thought about getting a two jaw puller and pull it apart. It's not going to get any more screwed up...well without cutting it up

joel, thanks for the offer. If I don't get it fixed I'll have to have you play with it a little.

thanks again
ryan

 

[NesikaChad]

No, no, no.

Tried and true method:

Get a piece of aluminum bar stock and have it machined to your bolt's diameter (minus a few thousanths so it goes in easy.)

Shove it up the arse of the receiver until it contacts the breech.

Get a hot air gun or a propane torch and begin heating the aluminum shaft. (you make it about 6-10 inches longer than the receiver so that some of it hangs in space over the cheek rest of the stock)

Keep heating it until your shop smells like a Vietnamese nail salon. When you start to get a headache from the fumes your there. It's just a matter of peeling the action from the stock at that point.

This will cook the resin without destroying the stock or the finish on the receiver/barrel

A solid copper bar works the best as it transfers heat the most efficiently. copper is a bit more expensive and kind of gummy to machine so aluminum is a good alternative.

Experience never comes cheap. . .

Good luck.

C.


PS: make sure the guard screws are out first. . .