Bedding

[perma]

Don't torque them. If you're not bedding the bottom metal at the same time then don't even use the action screws. Buy some bolts that are the right size, cut the heads off and screw those into the action to use as alignment studs.

Torquing the screws will induce stress into the action and defeat the purpose of bedding. The last few I did, I didn't even use tape or surgical tube. Just pushed the action into place and let gravity take over.

Okay, that makes sense to me. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I'll probably bed the barrel and the bottom plate and finger tighten with an allen key. Not sure that i'll use pillars but i'll research more. I have the M50 Stockeys carbon fiber for a vanguard. Love the tape around the barrel idea to center it.

For the sake of discussion, do you recommend using pillars?

 

[p_ham]

Okay, that makes sense to me. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I'll probably bed the barrel and the bottom plate and finger tighten with an allen key. Not sure that i'll use pillars but i'll research more. I have the M50 Stockeys carbon fiber for a vanguard. Love the tape around the barrel idea to center it.

For the sake of discussion, do you recommend using pillars?

IMO, pillars are only there to resist compression. In a walnut or birch stock or an inlet design that doesn't offer a lot of support, yes. A laminate, fiberglass, or CF stock? Probably unnecessary.

A lot of guys too have this idea that their action needs 65in/lb to be accurate. The truth is that most actions only need 35-45in/lbs, with 50 starting to push towards excessive.

For the Vanguard/Howa design I'd recommend 45in/lb up front and 35in/lb on the rear screw. Tighten them down in stages, bouncing between the 2. Final torque should be front screw first.

That said, I've been reading a lot from the benchrest world, and the consensus there is that pillars should be short enough to have a good layer of epoxy over both ends. That allows all of the bedding to shrink at the same rate without ending up with the pillars as the only contact point of the action, since metal doesn't shrink over time.

 

[perma]

IMO, pillars are only there to resist compression. In a walnut or birch stock or an inlet design that doesn't offer a lot of support, yes. A laminate, fiberglass, or CF stock? Probably unnecessary.

A lot of guys too have this idea that their action needs 65in/lb to be accurate. The truth is that most actions only need 35-45in/lbs, with 50 starting to push towards excessive.

For the Vanguard/Howa design I'd recommend 45in/lb up front and 35in/lb on the rear screw. Tighten them down in stages, bouncing between the 2. Final torque should be front screw first.

That said, I've been reading a lot from the benchrest world, and the consensus there is that pillars should be short enough to have a good layer of epoxy over both ends. That allows all of the bedding to shrink at the same rate without ending up with the pillars as the only contact point of the action, since metal doesn't shrink over time.

Got it, thank you. I ask because I recently learned that while taking apart my rifle, i found my action screws loose, didnt need a wrench to take them off. I did torque them down initially to 45 in/lbs per Stockey's specs but still came loose, only once though. Probably my error somehow but I wasnt sure if pillars would help keep the bolts tight, didnt seem like they would. I think ill just stick to epoxy and keep pillars out of it, and get better at checking them more often.

 

[Irrelevant]

So maybe this is a dumb question but I'm thinking about bedding my old tikka stock. Tikka's have the floating recoil lug that I don't think was seating into my barrel correctly which was causing all kinds of inaccuracies. I've since rectified most of it by going to a nicer B&C stock. But part of me wants to see if I can't make the original even better. So my question is, how do I make sure that the recoil lug perfectly seats into the barrel correctly when I make the casting, tape it?

 

[p_ham]

So maybe this is a dumb question but I'm thinking about bedding my old tikka stock. Tikka's have the floating recoil lug that I don't think was seating into my barrel correctly which was causing all kinds of inaccuracies. I've since rectified most of it by going to a nicer B&C stock. But part of me wants to see if I can't make the original even better. So my question is, how do I make sure that the recoil lug perfectly seats into the barrel correctly when I make the casting, tape it?

Superglue it to the action, make sure it's pushed forward against the shoulder. Only use a couple drops of glue.

 

[millerkiller77]

So maybe this is a dumb question but I'm thinking about bedding my old tikka stock. Tikka's have the floating recoil lug that I don't think was seating into my barrel correctly which was causing all kinds of inaccuracies. I've since rectified most of it by going to a nicer B&C stock. But part of me wants to see if I can't make the original even better. So my question is, how do I make sure that the recoil lug perfectly seats into the barrel correctly when I make the casting, tape it?

There are oversized recoil lugs that damn near require a press to install in the barrel channel and once in, they don't budge.

 

[Irrelevant]

There are oversized recoil lugs that damn near require a press to install in the barrel channel and once in, they don't budge.

In that case, install it dry, tight bolts which should press it into place, then loosen, pull out the action, which should have the lug still attached, then proceed with the bedding portion.

 

[4ohSick]

Reviving an old thread, as I’m going to be embarking on bedding my Stocky’s cf stock for my REM 700 tonight or tomorrow. This is probably a dumb question, but is what’s the upside of bedding bottom metal, other than improving fit/finish? Would it be possible for un-bedded bottom metal to induce stress, or do the pillars prefect against that? Finally, if I’m bedding bottom metal, the mag box still stays out until final assembly right?

 

[p_ham]

Reviving an old thread, as I’m going to be embarking on bedding my Stocky’s cf stock for my REM 700 tonight or tomorrow. This is probably a dumb question, but is what’s the upside of bedding bottom metal, other than improving fit/finish? Would it be possible for un-bedded bottom metal to induce stress, or do the pillars prefect against that? Finally, if I’m bedding bottom metal, the mag box still stays out until final assembly right?

I treat bottom metal case by case. If I'm installing pillars then I bed, or if it looks like the BM is flexing while tightening the action screws then I'll bed. I think it's easier to do the action first and BM second.

Pick yourself up some 1/4-28 bolts and cut the heads off to use for alignment studs. Push the barreled action into place by hand and then just let gravity take over. You won't induce any stress that way.

 

[4ohSick]

I treat bottom metal case by case. If I'm installing pillars then I bed, or if it looks like the BM is flexing while tightening the action screws then I'll bed. I think it's easier to do the action first and BM second.

Pick yourself up some 1/4-28 bolts and cut the heads off to use for alignment studs. Push the barreled action into place by hand and then just let gravity take over. You won't induce any stress that way.

Thanks for the quick reply, Paul! What do you do to ensure the pillars are tight against the action?

 

[p_ham]

Thanks for the quick reply, Paul! What do you do to ensure the pillars are tight against the action?

The easiest is to mount the pillars to the action, and do everything as an assembly. You can use the action screws if going that route. Do a dry run to make sure nothing is binding.

Don't forget release agent on the action before attaching the pillars!

 

[4ohSick]

Well, for better or worse, it’s curing now. Hopefully I was good at following directions, or it might wind up coming your way.

 

[std7mag]

Ok, I'll throw this out there.

Do you "bed" the picitinny rail?

I've heard of people doing this, but it's not for me.

I've been using a couple drops of the Green Loctite. The one for putting in a bearing race.
Then torque to spec. 25lbin.

 

[p_ham]

Ok, I'll throw this out there.

Do you "bed" the picitinny rail?

I've heard of people doing this, but it's not for me.

I've been using a couple drops of the Green Loctite. The one for putting in a bearing race.
Then torque to spec. 25lbin.

I only bed bases if I find something wrong with the fit.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I haven’t had many rifles with screw on pic rails but one came loose with blue lock tite and one didn’t sit perfectly flush so I had to bed it. I’d probably bed most of them going forward just to avoid issues.

 

[4ohSick]

Well I'm not going to include any pics because it ain't pretty, but I think it will be effective. I've done a lot of DIY house stuff and worked on motors some, and would generally consider myself pretty "handy," but this was way harder than I expected.

Using a hand drill to drill out the holes for pillars cracked out a few chunks near the trigger opening where there wasn't a lot of material left and the carbon was brittle. The bedding itself went reasonably well, but the cleanup with a dremel went less well. Having not really used one before, that carving bit really can get away from you in a hurry. I'll try to get out Friday and see if the bedding cured my weird pressure issue with this rifle in the carbon stock, but it feels very solid and tightening the action screws doesn't seem to deflect the action or barrel. Next time a $500+ stock needs modifications, it's going to a smith... I'll have to hide my face in shame if I need to have anyone do any additional work on this one.

 

[p_ham]

Well I'm not going to include any pics because it ain't pretty, but I think it will be effective. I've done a lot of DIY house stuff and worked on motors some, and would generally consider myself pretty "handy," but this was way harder than I expected.

Using a hand drill to drill out the holes for pillars cracked out a few chunks near the trigger opening where there wasn't a lot of material left and the carbon was brittle. The bedding itself went reasonably well, but the cleanup with a dremel went less well. Having not really used one before, that carving bit really can get away from you in a hurry. I'll try to get out Friday and see if the bedding cured my weird pressure issue with this rifle in the carbon stock, but it feels very solid and tightening the action screws doesn't seem to deflect the action or barrel. Next time a $500+ stock needs modifications, it's going to a smith... I'll have to hide my face in shame if I need to have anyone do any additional work on this one.

The 1st one is pretty difficult. It gets easier the more you do.
What pressure issue are you trying to fix?

 

[4ohSick]

The 1st one is pretty difficult. It gets easier the more you do.
What pressure issue are you trying to fix?

This was the thread - https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/help-bolt-sticky-after-stockys-stock-install.321424/
Basically the gun was functioning exactly like it should in a wood stock, but in the Stocky's CF stock the bolt was sticking after each shot. Had a local smith check the bore and he said it looked good, so the best guess was that somehow the stock was torqueing the action in a way that somehow induced or mimicked overpressure.

The rifle has been guarding the safe since I got a new toy (Howa Superlite) but I'd like to get it back to operational for a cow elk tag this fall.

 

[Rie Bread]

This was the thread - https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/help-bolt-sticky-after-stockys-stock-install.321424/
Basically the gun was functioning exactly like it should in a wood stock, but in the Stocky's CF stock the bolt was sticking after each shot. Had a local smith check the bore and he said it looked good, so the best guess was that somehow the stock was torqueing the action in a way that somehow induced or mimicked overpressure.

The rifle has been guarding the safe since I got a new toy (Howa Superlite) but I'd like to get it back to operational for a cow elk tag this fall.

I had to do a bunch of fitting to get my 700 action to fit nice into a stocky stock- not sure I’d get another

 

[p_ham]

This was the thread - https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/help-bolt-sticky-after-stockys-stock-install.321424/
Basically the gun was functioning exactly like it should in a wood stock, but in the Stocky's CF stock the bolt was sticking after each shot. Had a local smith check the bore and he said it looked good, so the best guess was that somehow the stock was torqueing the action in a way that somehow induced or mimicked overpressure.

The rifle has been guarding the safe since I got a new toy (Howa Superlite) but I'd like to get it back to operational for a cow elk tag this fall.

I remember now. It is fairly easy to flex those actions. Hopefully the bedding helps. A little bit of high pressure grease on the bolt lugs may help too.

Also, I very rarely go over 45in/lb on action screws.