First time bedding

[mosh338]

Hi

I just finished my first bedding job on my Remington 300 Win Mag with Boyds thumbhole stock. I wanted your comments on the following issues:

I got a small chip around taper area just before the recoil lug which I smoothed down on both sides.

I also found small flints (less than a 1mm square) of wood appear around the front action screw which could have been due to insufficient relief or over-tightening of the action screws- The surface still looks really smooth and flat so I doubt there will be any pressure points

The action screw holes had filled up with epoxy so I opened them just enough for the action screw to fit. How mush play do I need to leave?

I have attached some pics of the job and would like to get your general opinion

Thanks for the help

 

[MagnumManiac]

The action screws need to have plenty of room and should not touch the sides of the holes in the stock, if it were me, I would pillar bed it as well, it gives a much stiffer bedding platform. Brownell's sells pre-made aluminium pillars with instructions.
How much material did you remove to make room for the epoxy? The chips may be from there not being enough depth in the epoxy.
How tight is your recoil lug? Tight fitting lugs have a tendency to chip the bedding material as you disassemble the rifle.
Is there room behind the tang in the stock? The tang needs clearance at the rear in the stock, the bedding compound should be under but not behind the tang on anything bigger than a 270.
Your pics were a bit blurry, so the detail wasn't great.
It looks OK, but how does it shoot?

Cheers.
gun)

 

[mosh338]

The action screw holes have very little tolerance so ill have to drill them out a bit. The tang area actually came out perfectly and sits flush with the stock under the action. The recoil lug is quite tight as I used only only layer of duct tape when I bed the rifle. However I the chip happened when I removed the stock after bedding. I have manged to smooth over the area around the rifle taper. The Remington has two rings just before the lug which created two sharp edges after bedding. I decided to smooth these over as well with the Dremel and sandpaper.

Unfortunately im stuck at work so ill have to wait till the weekend to shoot it. Just wanted to make sure that ive done everything correctly before I go to the range. As a matter of interest how long do you need to wait before shooting it? Ive read that the epoxy needs a week before its completely hardened is this correct

 

[jsthntn247]

With the action screws tight, grip the barrel right where it comes out of the stock at the end of the barrel channel. Loosen the front action screw and see if you can feel movement of the stock and barrel away from each other. If you can the bedding was not done properly.

 

[mountainman56]

You are on the right track for sure. I would seriously consider pillar bedding as mentioned before. Here is a link to one of the best instructive articles I have seen.

Stress-Free Pillar Bedding

Good luck with your project! gun)

 

[FearNoWind]

The barrel is, I assume, free floated. (*) In which case all that bedding in front of the lug is unnecessary. The surface of the bedding appears to be rather rough - what did you use as a release agent?
Spend a few more bucks and get a set of pillars from Brownell's. Following the instruction very carefully. It'll be worth the time, effort and expense.
When you remove and replace the barrelled action from the stock to work on it, be sure and take your time and pull it up as straight at you can.
(*) if you can't slide at least one thickness of 20# bond paper (forget about dollar bills - I prefer two thickneses of bond paper) along the barrel channel in the stock from front of the action to the end of the fore stock your barrel channel needs some more work.

 

[mosh338]

The barrel is free floating all the way back to the bedding in front of the lug. Do you suggest that I relieve the bedding in this area to get the barrel to float all the way back to the lug. The surface is actually really smooth. I used the miles and gilbert kit (resin and release agent) to do the job. I have read quite a few posts about devcon but unfortunately its not available in South Africa.

Will I have to redo the bedding job when installing the pillars or can I install the pillars with the current bedding job?

Thanks for the comments will post a few more pics when I finally mange to get to range

 

[FearNoWind]

The barrel is free floating all the way back to the bedding in front of the lug. Do you suggest that I relieve the bedding in this area to get the barrel to float all the way back to the lug?

Will I have to redo the bedding job when installing the pillars or can I install the pillars with the current bedding job?

I would use a sharp blade and put a shallow groove in the bedding just in front of the lug depression and then chip away the bedding forward of that position. The shallow groove should prevent you from chipping off the bedding material that's holding the lug snug. "Lug Snug" - a bit of unintentional rhyme.
You should have no trouble installing the pillars with the bedding in place. The pillars may, in fact, have to be bedded (some do require using a bedding compound) themselves but if that's the case with the kit you select it's simply a matter of preparing the pillar openings to the proper size. Pretty straight forward.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3-nmO-SGA8"]Gunsmithing - How to Pillar Bed a Bolt Action Rifle Presented by Larry Potterfield of MidwayUSA - YouTube[/ame]

Just make sure your holes are drilled straight and take your time.

 

[mosh338]

Thanks for the help.

Ill try and shoot it just with the bedding before starting the pillars. Ive ordered a set from Brownells which should take a few weeks to get her. Looking forward to see what improvement ill get just with the bedding job.

Thanks again

 

[Hired Gun]

It will need completely redone when you do the pillars. Laminated stocks can work very well just bedded like you have. I prefer nothing touch the barrel. The lug should fit tight on the rear side but can be loose on the front and sides. That is optional. You can do the lug fully tight if you want but it makes it hard to disassemble. A little clearance on the bottom of the lug is needed so if any debris fall in there it doesn't stress the action. The test is you should be able to loosen either screw one at a time and it should not move a dial indicator at the end of the fore end. The little bit of wood showing through is no big deal and is expected when not using pillars. Something has to locate the action height. The screws are only used to clock and locate the action and should not have any torque when skim bedding. Once cured and cleaned up then tighten to 45 inch pounds.

 

[mosh338]

Thanks

I did torque the bolts slightly while bedding. Will this affect the job? I used a layer of duct tape at the bottom of the lug which will give the required clearance.

 

[Hired Gun]

It only takes 3 inch pounds to bend a Remington 700 action. I believe a skim bed over your current bedding is in order. One zip tie over the rear bridge and one directly over the barrel support that is holding the barrel centered at the end of the forearm. The screws are only in there to locate the action. Not hold it.