A bedding question

[squirrelduster]

Everyone does it a little different but when you are bedding the recoil lug some people use a layer of electrical tape on the front of the recoil lug and on the outside edge.
I have been thinking, that is usually moderately dangerous, but if you have a muzzle brake on your rifle the recoil will actually be in both directions. First a push to the rear at ignition and then a push to the front when the gasses affect the brake. Wouldn't you want to bed the recoil lug as tight as possible to hold everything tight?
What are your opinions?

 

[baldhunter]

Now that's a good question.I just got a Remington 700 CDL.I always bed the recoil lug on all my rifles.Before I bedded the lug on this rifle,with the screws out,the action would move back and forth and roll.This leaves the two action screws doing all the work in keeping everything in place.So why is the mortise for the lug cut so large?I never understood the deal about the tape on the lug either.I always bed my lugs tight and use a release agent so I can get the stock off.Now when I install the stock,everything fits nice and tight and relieves the action screws from doing all the work under the rifle recoil.

 

[J E Custom]

Everyone does it a little different but when you are bedding the recoil lug some people use a layer of electrical tape on the front of the recoil lug and on the outside edge.
I have been thinking, that is usually moderately dangerous, but if you have a muzzle brake on your rifle the recoil will actually be in both directions. First a push to the rear at ignition and then a push to the front when the gasses affect the brake. Wouldn't you want to bed the recoil lug as tight as possible to hold everything tight?
What are your opinions?

I bed all actions on all sides except the bottom of the recoil lug.

I don't want any movement of the action or loading of the action screws,but as the rifle
warms up I don't want the recoil lug to push up on on the receiver.

Just the way I do it.

J E CUSTOM

 

[NesikaChad]

Tape the lug on the sides, the front, and the bottom. Use the bad *** stuff 3M sells that's half a mm thick. Tape the back of the tang also.

You want this not from a accuracy standpoint, but so that you can get the thing out of the stock without destroying it. The action is moving in the stock anyway during recoil so it doesn't matter. To think otherwise is blue sky-especially with a repeater. Nothing sucks more than watching a tight fitting recoil lug gall the snot out of the bedding during assembly/disassembly.

Follow along with me for just a sec. Place your hands as if your in prayer-palm to palm. Now bend your fingers towards your palms keeping the fingertips in contact with one another. Notice how your palms separate?

Your stock is doing the same thing in recoil and this is why the smart guys float the tang of the receiver. It's why big boomer cartridges and dangerous game calibers are cross pinned.

Cheers,

Chad

 

[LRSickle]

I just saw this thread so I might be a little late with the question.
Chad, what do you mean by "float the tang"? I bed the tang along with the recoil lug and action. I see in the pictures of some of the rifles you've bedded that the tang is nicely bedded. What am I missing?

 

[NesikaChad]

If you look closely in the photos you'll see a very slight gap between the back edge of the tang and the tapers that transition to the outside diameter. These flats on the rear surfaces will act as a 2ndary recoil lug.

Fine if you remove the front lug, poison if you try to do both. This applies more for actions with a Remington style tang that is very narrow and sharp in the rear.

I never used to do this until I had a stock chip out in the rear. Since "floating" that back edge I've never had another flake out on me.

Now, just to be clear. A Remmy action that has the rear inlet blown out and where the tang is essentially above the stock by a red one doesn't really apply to any of this. That's not how I bed them though. Mine are always slightly in the stock and then draw filed flush so that it's a seamless transition from tang to stock. This is where you can get into trouble if you don't "float" it slightly.

Hope this helped.

C

 

[LRSickle]

I see. It prevents the back of the tang, which is resessed below the wood surface, from recoiling back and popping a chip out of the stock. Gotcha. Thanks.