Release Agent for Glass Bedding Cerakote???

[ICMDEER]

I've been doing quite a bit of Cerakote work lately. Long winter in Wyoming. Some of the rifles I have Cerakoted also needed to be glass bedded. In the past, I have always done that glass bedding as the last thing. I'm now thinking that's out of order. Maybe I should glass bed before I Cerakote.

I've used neutral shoe polish as a release agent lately and it generally works well. I switched away from Acraglass gel because it seemed to go bad or arrive in bad enough shape I had trouble getting it well mixed. So now using Devcon.

Anyway, that neutral polish is really hard to get out of or off the Cerakote. I ended up trying all sorts of stuff. In the end, I used my wife's heat gun from her craft room to literally "melt" that neutral polish off the action, recoil lug and barrel. It took a lot of time and was a a scary process.

If anyone has suggestions on what might be a better release agent for the Cerakote, they will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[adk hunter]

One Shot case lube. Sprays on evenly, gets all the nooks and crannies and wipes off nicely with acetone or an aerosol gun cleaning spray.

 

[hicountry1]

Johnson past wax

Remoil takes it off. Spray in on, wipe it off, done.

 

[Lee7588]

I would bed before doing the cerokiting. I do a lot with epoxies not gun work, I use a product called stoner release agent. It is an aerosol and works great. I've also used Brownells release and applied it with a rag

 

[JAYgs8163]

I'm not a Smith but wouldn't the Cerakote add to the dimension ever so slightly and change the overall dimension of the action? Bedding would then be off dimensionally. My Smith is adamant about bedding after Cerakote. He uses a spray on releasing agent. I would bed after for best fit!

ACRA-RELEASE™

ACRA-RELEASE™ https://www.brownells.com/tools-cleaning/gun-tools/stock-bedding/acra-release/

www.brownells.com

 

[ICMDEER]

Thanks gentlemen, I knew there would be some good ideas. And yes on the Cerakote. It is supposed to run about 3-4 one-thousandths thick. That's why I have always bedded after using Cerakote. I thought that small thickness could make a difference.

 

[ntsqd]

OTOH, and I'm just putting this out there for consideration and discussion - and not suggesting anything either way, by coating after the bedding you're offsetting any shrinkage in the bedding compound resulting in a tighter stock to action fit.

 

[Dean2]

Devcon does not shrink enough to offset .004 thickness of the Cerakote. As far as removing Carnuba based wax, which is all I use for release agent on every thing, a tooth brush and Hoppes #9 will get it off easily. Hoppes on a piece of paper towel is also great for removing Devcon while it is still wet, few other things take it off cleanly without damage to wood, synthetic stocks, bluing, Cerakote etc..

 

[ntsqd]

So you get a .00375" (or whatever) interference fit between the stock and the action. Some here have said in the past that they want the action tight in the bedding. Can't think of a better way to achieve that than this.
Myself, I don't know that I want it that tight, but it would be interesting to see how bedding a rifle that way affects it's performance.

As to the OP's question on release agents, I'm firmly in the paste wax camp. Although it is not something that I do frequently, it is the only release agent that I've ever used and in ~40 years of doing this sort of thing I've never had it fail to work.

 

[Old Rooster]

I have used Brownells spray release agent and it works well but gets into places you don't intend so I always spray it outside and bring it inside for application of Devcon bedding.
Devcon does make their own release agent but it's expensive but then again I bought a plastic container back in the 90's for 55.00 and still have some in the container.https://www.amazon.com/Release-Agent-liquid-release-epoxies/dp/B000HZKRQK
Johnson's floor wax is my all time favorite and it lasts a long time.Bought a can in the 80's and still got the can with plenty left in it.
Never used it on cerakote so I'm following this to see how it goes.

 

[Lee7588]

The thickness of the cerakote is going to be rather thin and depending on how thick you put a release agent on maybe thicker than the cerakote

 

[scpaul]

I started having problems with release agents. I was using JBWeld for the bedding material. I tried standard old 30 weight or heavier motor oil. Not 10/w30 straight 30 weight or heavier. Since I started using it I haven't had a problem since. The fit is tight but comes apart pretty easily. It's tight when I put it back together so I usually seat the action by hand before I mess with the action screws. Hope it works as good for you as it does me.
scpaul

 

[sailorjim]

I've been doing quite a bit of Cerakote work lately. Long winter in Wyoming. Some of the rifles I have Cerakoted also needed to be glass bedded. In the past, I have always done that glass bedding as the last thing. I'm now thinking that's out of order. Maybe I should glass bed before I Cerakote.

I've used neutral shoe polish as a release agent lately and it generally works well. I switched away from Acraglass gel because it seemed to go bad or arrive in bad enough shape I had trouble getting it well mixed. So now using Devcon.

Anyway, that neutral polish is really hard to get out of or off the Cerakote. I ended up trying all sorts of stuff. In the end, I used my wife's heat gun from her craft room to literally "melt" that neutral polish off the action, recoil lug and barrel. It took a lot of time and was a a scary process.

If anyone has suggestions on what might be a better release agent for the Cerakote, they will be appreciated. Thanks.

I've used paste wax when bedding Cerakote without any problems. Effective, cheap and easy to clean up.

 

[scpaul]

I've never used it with cerracoat but unless Cerratcoat has a heavy texture, I don't see why not. Once it's cured, oil won't break cerracoat down, will it? Just for my curiosity, how thick is cerracoat?