Do you bed your rail?

[CaptnC]

In my mind, putting it on and it STAYING on are two different things....and maybe put some elevation under the back for an moa increase. Read somewhere that .001 is about 1moa @100yds

I hear you Gregg, I have quite a lot of confidence in JB Weld I repaired a hole in the side of a 150hp Mercury OptiMax that lasted two years of running charter offshore on the upper Texas gulf coast. The other engine busted the block the following year, so I had a hole in each block that your thumb would fit in the final year I ran those engines. Neither engine failed but I did pull them off because the hours were getting pretty high so I replaced them even though they were running strong still.

I've thought about the same thing...20MOA for newest build are on back order so I just hung a 0MOA on it. The receiver still needs to be trued so I just screwed it on and didn't bed it. But after I get the receiver done I plan the jack the back up and bed it with AccuGlass. I use it all the time to bed actions and that stuff is tough!

 

[Gregg C]

I hear you Gregg, I have quite a lot of confidence in JB Weld I repaired a hole in the side of a 150hp Mercury OptiMax that lasted two years of running charter offshore on the upper Texas gulf coast. The other engine busted the block the following year, so I had a hole in each block that your thumb would fit in the final year I ran those engines. Neither engine failed but I did pull them off because the hours were getting pretty high so I replaced them even though they were running strong still.

I've thought about the same thing...20MOA for newest build are on back order so I just hung a 0MOA on it. The receiver still needs to be trued so I just screwed it on and didn't bed it. But after I get the receiver done I plan the jack the back up and bed it with AccuGlass. I use it all the time to bed actions and that stuff is tough!

Acraglass IS tough....I played heck getting it out of the stock on my Savage this weekend ! I didn't put pillars in originally, even tho I knew it needed them. So here it is, 4yrs later, I am re-bedding my bedding job ! Well, it's done now. As I was putting it back together tonite, I noticed the scope rail moving. CRAP, the screws are loose AGAIN ! Hence, my thinking on epoxy bedding the mount. Remembered your post. Thanks, lemme know.....

 

[Gregg C]

I glue them on with jb. I dont want them moving, and jb lets go with a little heat if you ever need to remove it. I also install 8-40 screws and press in 1/8" pins into the rail and ream pin holes in the action so it stays put. Big magnums with aggressive brakes and heavy scopes can shear a rail right off.

Do you put the rail on, and then pin them ? Drill thru the rail into the action ? Could a guy do this on a cheap bench top drill press ?

 

[CaptnC]

I don't but you certainly could. A percision placement of the hole is not required. It's normally done on heavy recoil calibers. The RUM family and the big bullet cartridges.

You just have to pay attention to where your drilling.

 

[J E Custom]

Bedding a scope base serves many purposes and if done right, can improve overall performance. I personally don't like to glue the base down because I often take them on and off and don't want to damage the finish on many fine actions. It can be done without damage if a person knows how, but lots of people don't and end up doing damage by roughing up the bond surface or after they remove the base trying to get the bonding agent off.

I also don't believe in drilling a hole for pinning a cheep base, Go ahead and spend the money on a quality base with a recoil feature and larger screws, It will save money in the long run. There are many advantages to buying quality bases, and trueness is one of them. This does not guaranty that the receiver will perfectly match the base but it helps. This is why I bed scope bases, not to make up for poor quality bases.

With a recoil feature and larger screws the only thing needed is to bed for a stress free fit. (No bending of the base and preloading the action).
Many years ago I would occasionally shim the bases to gain MOA. But found that this practice cause stresses on the action and scope that could change the POI at long distance as the action heated up or with extreme temp changes, so I stopped this practice and started buying base with the desired MOA or scopes with more MOA adjustments.

I bond the base it's self by not placing any release agent on it, but use wax on the action so it can be removed from the action with out any trouble (Damage). By doing the base this way, It can be removed and replaced without losing any Fit and avoiding stress. With a proper bedding and the quality features mentioned, (Larger screws, recoil features and bedding I find that many years of trouble free service.

I prefer doing bases this way because if I have to remove the bases to re-barrel or even sell the action it looks perfect and if the bases are re installed, they fit perfect.

Loctite, (Especially the wrong kind) doesn't need to be used if the proper torque is applied during the installation so I recommend avoiding it.

This is just the way I prefer installing and bedding a scope base, Many have their preferred method that works for them and this is just another way to install scope bases (Not the only way).

J E CUSTOM

 

[Gregg C]

...20MOA
I ordered a Night Force 20MOA steel rail for my savage last nite. If you are needing one for a Savage, I got it on Ebay

 

[Gregg C]

So I bought one of those hi dollar Night Force extreme duty 20moa steel rails. It had a bow in it, from shipping, maybe, and I dry fit it to see how it would act with screws in it. One on each end seemed to straighten it out ok. Mixed up a batch of Devcon(decided to make it a permanent part of the action((hope that don't bite me in the arse later)), and stuck it on. Yup. I did. Backwards. Thank goodness for 45min pot life. I noticed it about 20mins after sticking it on. Yanked it off, flopped it around, and I had to put all 4 screws in it to get it flattened out again. Kept working the screws, and ultimately, they were all pretty much torqued, or so I thought. Got the scope back on today , had to remove the optic from the rings and start over. All done, ring screws torqued again, the second torqueing on them litty bitty screws. Now, should I take those out and thread lock them? Pulling 25in/lbs on them makes me nervous. If I do them again, that will be full torque for the third time. Suggestions invited.

 

[CaptnC]

Rings screws...nope!

After JB Weld'ing my base to my Savage receiver I just torque the base screws. That suckered still shouldn't come loose.