Bedding question

[Yotehntr]

I just bought a new stock for my Remy     I mean Remington LVSF    It'll already be free floated... was from a mag. short action so I should have .015 clearance on both sides.  I've never done a bedding job...any tips?

[Bills Custom Calls]

Well...... uh....umm.... first ya have to get her to like ya some what.....and then ya take a chance and feel oh heck never mind 

[slagmaker]

A good dinner with some wine usually helps. OH be sensitive, they like that stuff. Take her to a chick flik, if you can sit through it then your chances go way up.

[pitw]

I wouldn't be much help either but if the above doesn't work I have a great recipe for popcorn .

[coyotehunter_1]

 ^^ ^^


Brad, there may be some things worse than a disastrous bedding attempt but it is sort of hard to think of one at this moment. Some people may tell you it’s a piece of cake (and it can be sometimes) but if you have never done a bedding job on a rifle I would very seriously consider having a qualified gunsmith do the work. Trust me… all it takes is a little epoxy in the wrong place and/or not enough release agent and your rifle will be wearing that nice stock till you decide to cut it off.    


If you decide to do it yourself the link below describes one popular method along with the material needed…
http://www.varminthunters.com/tech/bedding.html#methods
 

Good Luck... with which ever way you choose to go. 

[FinsnFur]

Never done one Brad, but I'm looking forward to learning along with ya.

[FOsteology]

First thing I would do if I were you would be to get rid of the LVSF stock and replace it with at least a take off first generation Ti stock (or McMillan Classic if you're willing to spend the coin). They (1st Gen. Ti) can typically be found for $175. You should be able to get $100 - $125 for your LVSF from someone who doesn't know any better......

[slagmaker]

Brad, there may be some things worse than a disastrous bedding attempt but it is sort of hard to think of one at this moment.

I had a disastrous bedding attempt once. Well the attempt actually worked, the disastrous part was she wouldnt leave till I threatened to cut her off..... Maye next time I will try some release agent

[Okanagan]

I just bought a new stock for my Remy    I mean Remington LVSF    It'll already be free floated... was from a mag. short action so I should have .015 clearance on both sides.  I've never done a bedding job...any tips?

I've bedded several rifles, most of them Remmys, and never had any serious problems.  Some shot fabulously better and two of them shot the same as they had before bedding.  None shot worse.  Rather than claim expertise about how you should do it, I'll relate what I did. 

The name brand bedding kit I tried (once) was a mess to work with, way more trouble than my homemade stuff.  At the time, a top notch glass and epoxy worker told me that epoxy shrinks less than glass resin, and since he was making parts for US submarines with Devcon, I used that stuff.  I pulled glass fibers from a matte of glass and mixed my own.  Use as much glass as possible and as little resin or epoxy as possible for max strength my friend told me, so I did.   It is a little stiff, like semi-dry cookie dough, sticky but not runny at all.  

I coated the metal parts with oil, roughed the inside of the stock where bedding would go and gooped the stuff in.  I bedded the rear tang screw top and bottom, and the full action top and bottom with care around the recoil lug.  I like to bed the rear of the lug but leave a gap in front of it.  The perfect bedding job IMO would have full contact on the rear and both sides of the lug, but nothing ahead of the sides.  I'd rather risk a partial gap at the bottom of the recoil lug rather than put in too much goop that will cup the whole bottom tightly and maybe extrude into the screw hole, though if all is coated with oil or release agent, ithat is OK to get loose.   Usually my bedding jobs grip both sides and the bottom of the lug but not quite fully, to make sure the lug is free in front and so easier to get out of the action.

I usually bed the first 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches of the barrel.  From there on it free floats, though I later put a pressure point in near the forend on one rifle.

When it is partly hardened, carefully cut off bedding compound that sticks out where you don't want.  After an over night, I remove the action and barrel from  the stock and inspect the result.  I fill any large bubble gaps with a bit more epoxy, but think I only had to do that on one job one time. The others had no large gaps.  I trim off the uneven parts of the bedding compound that extrude farther under the barrel on one side than the other, till it is eyeball even.

Two rifles I bedded went from so so shooters to eye popping half inch groups.

It will be hard to get the barrelled action out of the stock the first time.  Go slow.  When you bed the rear tang especially, make sure none of the goop wraps around the metal so when it hardens it is locked in.  Oil or release coat the screws .

If you cannot get it loose, stick the entire rifle in a chest freezer overnight, a gunsmith told me, and then take it apart.  He assured me it would come apart then but I've never had to test that.

If the rifle does not shoot better, or you want to do it over or whatever, grind out the bedding stuff and re-do it another way.

Careful, slow, and think through each step and you should have no trouble.  Triple check that you have coated all metal surfaces that MIGHT come into contact with the bedding compound with some kind of release agent, wax, oil, something.  Make some various sizes and widths of little wooden paddles and spatulas and use them to carefully put only the minimum amount of bedding compound exactly where needed.

[Okanagan]

One other tip:  if there are any holes in the metal to be bedded, or any grooves or imprints in the metal like stamped letters, etc. then fill the groove or hole or letters etc with wax.  Rub it on with a candle or bar of paraffin and smooth it flush, so the bedding compound does not extrude into the hole or etchings etc. and grip the metal.

[Yotehntr]

Thanks for the help guys!... Well some of ya anyway.      Some of ya are just smart azz's      I already had my eye set on the CDL stock FOs.  It came it today too, I really like the look to be honest.

[alscalls]

Only had the first one I done get stuck......   you wont make that mistake twice...... 

[vvarmitr]

Why buy a gun you don't like in the first place? 

[Yotehntr]

Why buy a gun you don't like in the first place?  

 Lost me on that one VV...  who didn't like what gun?  If you're talking about my LVSF it's one of my favorites...I've had it for several years....just giving it a "face lift".   

[vvarmitr]

Well then if it ain't broke don't fix it. 

[Yotehntr]

Well then if it ain't broke don't fix it.  

     ...... dumb azz  

[vvarmitr]

You're to much fun to give a hard time.
   

[FinsnFur]

Brad, I'm betting that Semp was commenting on Fo's reply, regarding getting rid of the stock.

[KySongDog]

Brad, I'm betting that Semp was commenting on Fo's reply, regarding getting rid of the stock.

Say what??     You got me mixed up with some one else?   

Remember, I am the  handsome one.   

[Yotehntr]

   .....