Pillar Bedding and Glass Bedding a Savage 111 w/ Boyds Lam Stock: Questions

[Zenfoldor]

Hey guys/gals. Long time readers first time poster. I have a Wal-Mart Savage with Accutrigger in 30.06, and its a tack driver with a sporter barrel(why bed it then? I'm looking for a fun project). I've actually bedded it in the tupperware stock it came in, twice(my only 2 bedding experiences) and the 2nd time I thought I did a pretty good job(for a DIY hobbyist). That said, I believe its time to move to a better stock. I'm pretty good with woodcraft, and ordered a Boyd's Laminate stock because it looked pretty, was cheap, and if what I know of plywood holds true to gunstocks, will probably be very strong.

I've been following this guide:

Stress-Free Pillar Bedding

I've found it to be a very detailed and excellent guide but there are some questions I have, because this guide recommends doing things a little differently than I've done before.

1. The guide recommends devcon. I've used acraglass gel. Acraglass is mentioned in the article, saying something like "I would never use it for bedding" but it doesn't say why. I have 40 bucks worth of the stuff and don't look forward to buying 50 bucks worth of devcon unnecessarily. Is there really anything wrong with using Acraglas for this? Boyds sells it with their stocks so I figured that was the standard(also what I used before and am practiced with). Any thoughts?

2. This savage is a pain to bed because you gotta float the tang. How would you do this? I was thinking that I bed the rifle and tape the barrel but also tape the tang, have the two tape points be the only points touching, then once finished, remove tape, have clearance on the tang and the barrel. As there any potential issue with this?

3. I'm pillar bedding for the first time, and of course, this savage is non-uniform. It requires a small dimple in the rear pillar to accommodate the trigger sear section. I don't have a lathe, workable aluminum stock, or machinist experience. I ordered a kit for this, actually, off ebay with the pillars pre-made. My expectation, however, is that the pillars will be too short for the larger boyds stock. Is this a deal breaker or could I also bed the trigger guard to the pillar and build up using epoxy?

4. I'm leaning towards following the guide and bedding the action and the pillars at the same time. I figure this will improve the cohesiveness of the job and save time, and I don't see a downside to it, but I'm no gunsmith. Is there a downside and/or upside to doing these two operations at one time?

Sorry about the long read, I appreciate your time. I'll post pics of this if I don't totally botch it.

 

[jsthntn247]

Arcaglass will work fine if you already have it. Your #2 is spot on how you should bed it. Do the pillars just as shown in the video, however I like this video better for showing everything clearly. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDxr4R21yAg]Remmington 700 bedding video. - YouTube[/ame]. Do it as this fella did (even though he's doing a Remmy) and you will be fine.

 

[statsk]

This past august I finished a stevens 200 build in 7mm rem mag. It has a boyds featherweight thumbhole stock that I pillar bedded and glass bedded. I also followed Richard's instructions, but savages are not model 700s. I was told to notch the rear pillar, but I wanted two full pillars, so I notched the sear instead and it worked great! I also made my own pillars from plumbing nipples and I used my lee zip trim to get it to size. To float the rear tang I put two layers of electrical tape under it, so the wood was relieved and the only two areas touching the stock were on the barrel near the forearm tip and the tang. Its much easier to bed if you remove the trigger. I didn't have putty to fill all the openings so I used packing tape. Worked great.

I can post some pics if you like.

 

[statsk]

Some other things, I bedded the action and the pillars at the same time. Use lots of bedding material so it squishes out, use kiwi shoe polish as release agent, just a thin layer but it needs to be everywhere. I taped my action screws, to make sure they didn't touch the pillars. I only relieved the bottom of the recoil lug, do not relieve the sides, you want that sucker to be tight so the actions screws don't have to deal with the torque generated by firing the rifle.

 

[Dr. Vette]

I've bedded a few Savages. I've also had those pillars you purchased from eBay. I actually found them too long to use, and that one had to be shortened. In addition, the notch for the sear has to be enlarged.

2. I tape the barrel to center it side-to-side as well as up-and-down. Pay attention to keep the ejection port of the action level. I then place 3 layers of tape under the tang. I make sure that the only places the barrelled action touches are these 2 locations. You'll also have the action screws "touching" if you tape them up and center them in the holes, but that's different.

I use Play-Doh as my filler of choice, with blue masking tape used where needed. I just did another Savage a week ago, so it's fresh in my mind.

 

[statsk]

Dr. Vette's method is a good one. When you read about our different methods remember that they are different ways of getting the same result. Packing tape, or play-doh, 2 layers of tape or 3, notching the sear or notching the pillar these are all good ways of doing the same thing. Pick one and go with it. There is no one right way to do it. I like hearing how other savage shooters bed their actions.

Don't worry if the pillar by the trigger guard is short. I purposefully made mine short and used a bit of epoxy on the guard to make it a perfect fit.

Another thing I did to centre the action in the stock while bedding. I relieved all the wood, made my two taped touching points and then I made my own stock maker screw. First bedded the trigger guard with the stock maker screw in place. A day later I bedded pillars and action in one step, the stock maker screw was not tightened, only used to centre the stock.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Interesting. I now see that the original poster started this thread in June with his one and only post on LRH, and has never returned since he hit the "Post" button.

However, hopefully this bedding information will be of use to someone else.

 

[Birdhunter1]

I've done 2 Savage centerfires and a Marlin Rimfire bolt action that has to be done much the same way.
My favorite pillar material is 1/4" brass pipe nipples, they are easy to machine to length in a case trimmer, they are easy to cut with a dremel tool and they can be bought very close in length to what I need. Typically I will run a 1/2 NC die down the outside of the pipe nipple to give the bedding material something more to grab to. I will bed them in place both front and back then cut a notch out of the rear pillar with a dremel and cutoff wheel.

First off float your barrel and use semi-hardening putty and place pads in the barrel channel and torque the action into the stock. These pads will now be used to index the height of the action throughout the duration of the bedding process (remove once pillars are bedded in place.).
To start the whole process on the Savage I will bed the trigger guard first, then once bedding has hardened I will cut my pipe to fit from the action as flush as possible with where the trigger guard will sit. By doing this I can (A) use the trigger guard as an index front-rear to set the action in and (B) keep it squared/plumb/non canted with the stock and (C) before bedding the rear pillar in place prep the hole for the front one, tighten that pillar onto the action and drop it in thus bedding both pillars at the same time. (this will require 1 1/2-28 screw about 4" long with the head cut off so that it will slide through the trigger guard. Use surgical tubing/wire ties/pressure clamps to secure rear of action down.

After that is cured dress up spillage then use a dremel to cut out the remaining wood and bed the action. This can actually be done at the same time as the pillars but doens't have to be done at the same time.

I like Brownell's Steelbed myself, but acraglass is a god bedding epoxy.

If my thoughts aren't clearer than mud look up 'John Burns accurizing the factory rifle'

 

[coachA]

I am very new to working of rifle. I am planning on buy the material to puller bed and glass bed the action of my Savage 116 7mm. I know this rifle I a shooter, because it has shot a 3/8 of an inch group before but not consistently. I am wanting to bed it to help with the consistency issue. Now as for the help I need, I would appreciate it if someone can give me a list of supplies that I need to do both puller bed and the glass bedding for this rifle. I know there have been several people talk about this and that but I have a habit of o we looking things or forgetting. I understand that their has been several people use pipe nipples but I don't feel comfortable using pipe for the first attempt. I know with any job there are some other materials or tools that can be purchased to help with the job but I would rather not get started working on the stock and realize there is a tool or technique that would make the process easier or more efficient. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Birdhunter1]

A dremel tool and a fine blade razor knife (Exacto knife) and Johnson's floor paste wax are three of the handiest items needed to do a bedding job.
Pillars can also be poured, literally the epoxy can be the pillar.

 

[coachA]

I am actually looking to use aluminum to piller bed the stock. I have looked at the puller bedding materials at midway usa and brownels, but I am not sure which one I should get for my Savage 116. There are some other that say they are for the rem 700 but none that say anything about a savage.

 

[Birdhunter1]

The front pillar is easy as there is nothing to work around. The rear pillar you have to notch out the pillar to work around the forward portion of the trigger group. I use brass because I don't have a lathe but I can trim it to length with a flat face with my case trimmer and notch it out easily with a dremel and cutoff tool.

 

[TheHabMan]

I know this is an old thread, however I have a question.

How do you all bed the rear of the action and stop bedding compound from getting into that notched rear pillar?

Harry

 

[7magcreedmoor]

On my first one, I used the steel sleeves from the factory plastic stock as the pillars. I made clay dams everywhere I didn't want bedding compound to flow, but found that my loosening and tightening of the screws (to make sure they didn't adhere) had actually turned the rear sleeve so the notch faced the front by the time the epoxy had set. I used my dremel to cut the back to reform the notch. It worked out fine in the end, and the rifle shoots very well. I am about to do another one and have aluminum pillars from MidwayUSA. I will install whole, and cut the notch as the final fitting. If you've never bedded a savage before, remember to keep the tang fully free floating- no contact behind that rear screw at all. Check for clearance all around the trigger parts inside the stock cavity as well.