Originally Posted by
Big Uncle
You don't need the tape inside the barrel channel. Tape goes on the barrel to give the desired float after you remove it, but you want the bedding to attach to the barrel channel. Are you going to bed the first couple of inches of the barrel?
I would double the tape on the front, sides, and bottom of the recoil lug to give the lug room to make it easier get the action in & out of the stock.
The tape in the barrel channel is there for cleanup just incase I make a mess. You can't see it on the barrel in the pictures but I do have have several wraps on the barrel to give it a float. I did check after I taped the barrel channel to make sure that the tape I put won't interfear with the floating.
You got me thinking now and I'll probably remove it just to make sure it doesn't interfear and when I tighten it down, I want to keep an eye on that area, on both sides of the barrels.
I'm going to wait on bedding anything in the barrel channel until after I finish the action area. The weakest part of the stock and where I think it was flexing is at the recoil lug. I took a lot of material out of that area and will fill it with bedding. I'm thinking it will stiffen it up so I'll wait to see how much.
Originally Posted by
Big Uncle
On a 700 action I like to do something a bit different with the action screws. I have a set of bolts (easily found at any hardware store) that are longer than the original action screws by about an inch or so. I cut the heads off of the bolts, gring a small flat on two sides of the last 1/4" (so they can easily be removed with a wrench later), put them into the action, and put the release agent on the bolts. This seals up the threaded holes in the action, and pushes the bedding compound down through the stock action holes.
Normally the original action screws are pushed up through the bedding compound which pushes a bit of compound into the screw holes of the receiver. Using the original action screws works fine, but the alternative method works a bit better. With the alternative method weight (about 10 pounds) is placed on top of the action to keep it down into the stock while the bedding compound sets for a few hours.
If you use the original screws be careful to tighten them enough to pull the action down into the bedding compound, but not enough to stress the action. The tang and the taped barrel will make contact, but the front of the action is being pulled into a thicker area of bedding which will not provide support, allowing the action to be stressed if overtightened.
Too funny! I had just got back from the hardware store with fine thread 1/4 bolts and cut the heads off right before reading this. Do you put release agent inside the screw holes on the stock?
Do you tape the first inch or so on the bolt before putting the release agent? I was planning on doing both. I had saw it done that way on a You Tube video and thought it was slick.
Originally Posted by
Pawildman
..... A Dremel tool is a stock bedder's best friend.......
I used the sanding drum in the recoil lug area and it really made quick work of it.