If the mods deem it worthy, maybe this can turn into a sticky.
I've hit on this subject on a number of forums. I bounce around trolling these sites when the slow part of the day comes here in Baghdad. I don't manage it very well and as a result a lot of the questions from folks become a bit redundant.
Rather than make you all hunt and search, I'll just lump all the crap together in one busket.
How's that?
Here goes: From "The Firearms Forum"
The Firearms Forum.Com - View Single Post - Epoxy Bedding
Dev Con HVAC is a product I've had good success with.
Some tips to making this less painful.
Heat up the resin/hardener first. Use a 100 watt light bulb for this. Just place the two tubes under a bulb until they are hot enough that it becomes uncomfortable to hold them in your hand. (remove the plastic screw on caps first, the tubes are sealed so its ok)
Get a glass plate. Will only cost a few bucks. Make it a big one. Like two feet by two feet. You'll be happy you did cause you want the room.
Buy wide puddy knives. 4". Get a couple of them.
Gallon of denatured alky or acetone too. (for clean up, NEVER NEVER attempt to dilute epoxy, it screws it up!)
Mix the resin by folding it onto itself. NEVER stir!
Folding helps keep the air out. Stirring just adds to it.
Bedding jobs fail for one primary reason. people don't mix the resins long enough.
Give yourself a solid 3 minutes (set an egg timer) of mixing that stuff.
Your hand should be sore and feeling like it might have blisters.
Don't be a ***** either. Vigorously mix it. Epoxies cure by a chemical reaction. They don't dry from evaporation.
If you don't get the stuff mixed, you'll have hard and soft spots.
I've been building guns professionally for about 8 years now. I can honestly say that never once has a customer brought back a rifle for a warranty bedding job because it only lasted a year. In fact, I life time warranty against failure.
Devcon HVAC has a pretty high Shore Hardness, shear strength, compression strength, and is low in shrinkage and sensitivity to chemicals. One package is enough for two guns if you keep you inlet work on the stock conservative.
All depends on how much you hog out of the stock. There are arguments that go both ways regarding this. More bedding material aids in dampening. Less bedding ='s less shrinkage. I've done em both ways and haven't seen a bit of difference.
Xcept for one little experiment I tried on a Palma gun that I'm not ready to share yet even though the reality is I doubt its the bedding that made the gun that exceptional. The owner is a Palma maniac and suffers chronic obsessive syndrome at the reloading bench. This particular rifle holds under a 3rd of a minute of elevation at the 1000. It's crazy to watch the guy shoot it. That's with irons too btw. (now if he could just stay on the wind. . .) Here's the gun. Charles Clark's (2003 US Palma Team) Palma Rifle:
Once mixed, don't pile it up in the middle of the plate. Spread it into a thin film over the glass. You only have so much open clamp time before the stuff starts to go off (cure) on you. Spreading it out maximizes the time because you deny the stuff the ability to make much heat. The heat you add prior to mixing is to help aid in getting the "esters" in the resin bonded with the hardener. You'll find it cools back to ambient temp pretty quick. Don't get fooled into thinking that the stiffening up is the chem reaction. It's the stuff cooling off. Like I said, you have a solid hour of time as long as it's a room of normal ambient temp.
Do ALL of your prep work and test fitting work FIRST. Make sure your action sits on waterline, make sure the pillar holes in the stock are the same C to C location as the screw holes in the action (exactly why I insist on doing my own inlet work- no exceptions) If it's a feature or a hole, it better have clay packed into it. Don't even waste the time speculating that you don't have to clay something up. Just do it. The best clay is the Clean Clay brand stuff that Brownells sells. About 8 bucks a pack but worth every penny.
Tape. not all masking tape is created equal. Go to a body shop supply and get the green 3M ****. If it's something that will contact the resin itself, I use that 10mil thick wide electrical tape stuff that 3M also makes. Awesome for recoil lugs. Nice slick surface finishes this way.
Following this regiment can yield these kind of results if you take your time and pay attention to the little stuff.
It's ALL about prep work. The bedding process itself is pretty easy actually and goes pretty quickly.
Removal:
I spent a solid weekend machining a jack set up for yanking actions out of stocks. I won't kid you, it's bad ***. It lifts the action out with no rocking motion.
But before you ever get that far, you have to ensure there are no mechanical locks. Be very careful when "picking" at things around show line. that's where stuff loves to chip out and that's the difference between a pro job and amateur night.
Once you get the action out and you start knocking down the edges, don't be so quick to get in there and clean the dust out. It'll scratch the bedding cause there's abrasive media mixed in with it. Just let it pile up. It won't hurt anything as long as you don't fuss with it.
Use hot soapy water when your DONE and just do it once.
Good luck!
Another post:
The Firearms Forum.Com - View Single Post - Epoxy Bedding
I used acraglass for a long time. Never had any real issues with it. I used the creamy stuff. Again, where people get into trouble is they don't mix it enough prior to application.
I had serious callouses on my hands from mixing that chit!
I like Dev Con because its runny. Very runny compared to A/G. This lets it wick into the fibers better and allows it to flow into the corners. This is where air tends to get trapped the most it seems.