J-B weld for bedding compound?

[Kennibear]

JE Custom
Thanks for the +1.
Something to consider; the shrinkage after cure is different for each epoxy. Post cure heating causes some epoxies to shrink quite a bit. I suspect that Brownell's picked a combination of epoxy/filler to minimize that. A barrel can get pretty darn hot, especially with the hot rock calibers long range shooting gravitates towards. I tape a thermocouple to my barrel during testing and pump air from a fan through the chamber end to bring the temp down. I try to shoot at a constant barrel temp. But it is easy to reach 250 degrees which will cause most hard epoxies to shrink and it will soften the 5 minute variety (which are not really epoxy actually) right away. Under recoil the softening would let the action hammer the bedding- bad ju ju!
I am concerned about the trend to aluminum bedding blocks and people's attempts to bed an action into them. My experience (in boats etc.) with epoxy bonded aluminum is that the aluminum must be cleaned and etched (phosphoric acid) before bonding for the epoxy to bond adequately. And by before I mean two, maybe three minutes before! It may require an interim bonding layer of an aluminum specific bonding epoxy painted on the bedding block and the bedding compound applied on top before the aluminum bonding has reached gel stage.
I'm seeing it as a two person job with somebody doing the final etch as the other mixes the bonding and then the bedding. How fun!

Never mind me, just the ramblings of an old guy...

KB

 

[muleystalker]

I use the Acrura Glass Steel Bedding compound to bed the recoil lug and actions, I like it better than the strait Acura Glass compound.

 

[Hired Gun]

Has anyone tried Splash Zone for bed blocks? That is what the pro engine builders use to build up aluminum heads and intake manifolds and it stays in place in some brutal conditions of heat cycles and different solvents contained in fuel and alcohol.

 

[joshua99ta]

I have used J-B weld in 2 h-s stocks to do skim beds and one BDL stock. They have held up for 2-3 years for me.

A good friend of mine, gun builder and late member of LRH turned me on to it one day. We were talking about bedding stocks, I mentioned ordering some arcaglass or devcon and he quickly came back with "man run down to the hardware store and pick up some jb weld, I've used it on more stocks than you would think, including competition rifles." I've seen some of his rifles shoot 1/4MOA and less.