Bedding the stock on my 700ADL
 

I started a thread under the gun section about new stocks and then later decided bed the factory stock in stead.
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/guns...00-3006-a.html

I decided to start a new thread on the bedding project here so I can get help and advise as well as a thread to help anyone else considering doing this for the first time. This is my first time bedding a stock. Here is the kit I ordered, it should be in tomorrow. http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/sid=3..._GEL_4_oz__Kit

Here are a few before pictures. I'll post progress as it comes alone. I found I had some non skid tape (just like sand paper) so I wrapper a 1/2 dowl to make a round sanding block. I started sanding tonight and it works great.




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You need to enlarge the recess for the recoil lug, with particular attention to the area to the rear of the lug. As this area takes the majority of the recoil, this is the most important area. This area should be enlarged in the front, back, sides, and bottom.

You also need to make certain that the stock is extremely rough and that you make "gouges" where you are going to apply the bedding material. Epoxy does not like to stick to those factory "tupper ware" synthetic stocks. You have to mechanically lock the epoxy to the stock and not rely completely on the epoxies bonding properties.

The sanding you have done so far isn't nearly rough enough on a plastic synthetic stock.

These are before pictures, without any sanding or grinding. I'll post some more soon of the sanded, grinded stock. After reading the instructions that came with the kit, it said to drill some small holes in the stock for a mechanical lock. I did that last night. The pictues I have on my camera are BEFORE I dilled the holes. I'll get one with the holes tonight. Thanks for the advice, please keep it coming.

Here is an update. Got some sanding done and removed a lot of material around the recoil lug. I also took it down around the tang and front stock screw to build those are up with glass for more strength. (I'm hoping I don't regreat that later.) The only thing I have done so far not in these pictures is drill holes in the areas getting glass to create a mechanical lock for the glass as recommended in the instructions that came with the kit.

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.

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.

..... A Dremel tool is a stock bedder's best friend.......

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.

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.

I used the sanding drum in the recoil lug area and it really made quick work of it.

Be sure and remember that the ONLY place you want the recoil lug to contact the stock is at the rear of the lug only. Both of the sides, bottom, and front of the lug MUST have clearance. If you can't get adequate clearance in those areas at the time of bedding, they can be cleaned out after removing the barreled action when the compound has set well using the Dremel. I also use the Dremel to drill anchoring holes for the bedding compund along the barrel channel and the interior of the stock where the action rests. A good heavy scuffing is seriously needed also.

I think you will regret not bedding the barrel section at the same time that you bed the receiver. If you do the barrel section later, you will sqeeze some bedding compound up onto the bedding that was previously done for the receiver. I tried to add bedding once (long ago), never again. The only good way to do that is to re-sand the receiver bedding and put another coat of bedding down so that the barrel bedding is the same as the receiver.

Do not put tape on the bolt. After you are done it is easy to clean out any thread impressions from the bolts by using a drill bit. I do coat all threads with a release agent, just in case. My favorite release agent is a floor paste wax (Johnson) that I have used for years. I almost never use the release agent that comes with the kit - it works well, but I like the wax better. The wax can be applied very thinly or it can be used to partially fill in exposed threads. The wax is quickly cleaned off with some WD-40.

I cut a V shape in two ends of a strong cardboard box to hold the rifle while bedding. The box makes clean-up fast, and it allows you to support the weight that is used to press the barreled action down into the bedding. Your weights need to be placed so that they can not slide off of the top of the receiver while the bedding is curing.

I'm thinking after reading this that I may not be uderstanding what exactly should be bedded in the barrel section. I'm thinking of filling in the hollowed section of the barrel channel without it touching the barrel to strengthen the stock. Are you saying to bed the upper edges between the stock and barrel for a few inches? Wouldn't that work against free floating?


After reading your post as well as BU's, I need to put atleast one more layer of tape on the bottom, front, and sides of the lug. I only have one layer right now. Thanks! I did drill some small holes where the bedding will contact the stock. That was after the latest pictures.

A bedding job on a hunting rifle normally has only a couple of inches of the barrel bedded. This is the thick part of the barrel where it screws into the receiver. The remaining barrel is completely free floated.

You are going to solid-bed the action. You also need to solid-bed about 2" of the barrel too, and let the rest of it free-float. My rule-of-thumb is to solid bed as much of the barrel as the chamber in the barrel takes up. I use electrician's tape to tape off the barrel area I want free-floated. I use about 3 layers of tape. Don't worry about having too much gap between the barrel and the stock when things are finished... that's a good guarantee you are not going to get barrel/stock interference. Simply remove enough stock to get a clearance between the taped barrel and the stock before doing the bedding...

Thank you Big Uncle and Pawildman!!! I understand now. Tomorrow I will remove the tape and prep that part until the end of the chamber and bed it too. I'll probably actually do the bedding tomorrow. I appreciate you guy's help. Was going to work on it tonight but my daughter went sleep at a friends house so I'm going to do some other bedding. LOL! Gotta go!

People do it but there is no real reason you need to bed the first two inches of barrel when glass bedding a rifle with a typical sporter weight or typical factory bull barrel.

If, on the other hand, you are to build a rifle with an exceptionally long and heavy barrel it helps to bed the entire length of the barrel to help support the barrel and remove stresses that that heavy barrel will put on to the receiver.

If you want to know the truth... When you fire a cartridge the chamber area expands radially. By bedding under the chamber area of a rifle you are actually not allowing the chamber area to expand evenly around the full 360* of the barrel. What you are actually creating is uneven radial chamber expansion. If the barrel is completely floated all the way to the recoil lug the barrel expands evenly all around the circumference of the barrel.

Good description.

CC - Dry fit everything first. Put the barreled action into the bedding compound slowly. The compound should ooze out a bit. When it comes time to remove the barreded action from the cured bedding it will be tight and will probably be difficult to get them seperated the first time. This is normal. Try to resist using the barrel too much as a lever to get them apart. After you get the job apart and cleaned up you will be a happy guy. Don't worry about a couple of tiny imperfections when you pull it out of the cured bedding.

Stress relief activities to prepare for the glass bedding is should be included in the instructions by Brownell!

While I sorta agree with you, it goes against everything melvin Forbes from NULA told me. I stopped by his shop once. And the guy is a bedding maniac. I have watched his pencil thin barrels shoot up to 20 shots at one time and never change POI or accuracy. I was blown away.

He always goes back to bedding being the most critical. I was telling him, my accuracy on this gun or that, falls after 3 shots, he said, "bedding". Or told him a gun was finicky, and he said, "bedding". He even had an occilloscope set up showing harmonics of a barrel by tapping with full length beddding vs. just recoil lug. Showing why a gun can be so finicky. I am still not sold, but I believe he is one of the best smiths in america.

A good friend of mine who is a 1000 BR shooter, even hogs out the barrel channel 1/4" and glasses the entire thing. No pressure on the barrel, just laying on the bedding. The guy shoots awesome. When he beds, it looks like the messiest process you ever seen, and he ends up sanding the edges with a belt sander to get even and refinishes.

..... I totally understand your theory, and I'm certainly not saying you are wrong at all. I'm simply using my personal experiences of what has worked well for me in the past. I have solid-bedded the entire barreled action of a couple of guns, one being a Model 88 Win., and that gun shot great after it was finished, but also had the forend screw to deal with anyhow. The others have been a 721 Rem., and a 700 Rem., with less-than satisfactory results. I guess that's what makes differing opinions..

Alright! I think the stock is ready to go. What do you think?


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You might want to place a small putty dam in the barrel channel at the end of your desired bedding.

So, I should fill that hollow part in under the 1st two inches and not do just the upper side edges where the barrel used to meet?

I put 3 coats of release agent on the barrel. I'm going to give it at least an hour to make sure it good and dry.

I just re-read the instructions and it says not to bed that area unless extra weight is wanted so I'm gonna just stick to the edges.

I would fill the area under the barrel, but if you are more comfortable doing just the sides - go for it. Why don't you look up some pictures of completed bedding jobs on the internet while your release agent is drying. I have never looked for bedding pictures on the internet, but there must be plenty of them. I would bet that 19 out of 20 of them have the barrel supported on the bottom.
Good luck with the bedding. I will check this site in a few hours to see if you need anything, but for now I'm going hunting.

Yeah, I know. You aren't alone. Most people bed a rifle this way.

If you are going to free float a barrel then there is no reason to bed under the chamber other than you just want to. It really isn't going to do anything detrimental to a typical hunting rifle though. Most people aren't going to be able to shoot good enough to see any differences any way.

Now if you are going to full length bed the entire barrel channel that is another story. You full length bed to help eleminate as much of the barrel harmonics as possible and typically you do it on a pretty darn stable stock to begin with... such as a heavy laminated stock, McMillan, etc.... Typically you do not get as good of results full length bedding a sporter weight rifle in a typical sporter weight stock as you would if you free float the barrel because even with bedding compound in the barrel channel the stock isn't rigid enough to keep the stock from flexing.

The wait has begun!!!! I'm feeling pretty good about it but the truth will come in the morning when I pull the barrel off. I've always been one to listen to other people experiences and learn from them so I went ahead and bedded under the chamber. I mixed to table spoons of resin and 2 of hardner. It took every bit that I mixed. I got good ooozzzing all around but I'm slightly worried that I may not have had enough under the chamber. I did leave enough space over the dam that it could have ozed forward. I guess that will be on my mind until I pull them apart.

How long do you wait to pull the tape off?

Big Uncle, did you get anything this afternoon?

Thanks again to all for the advice. This has been a fun learning experience.


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Those pictures look like you are going to be a happy camper very soon. You will have to be careful now, or you will end up bedding all of your hunting partners rifles too when they see the results. It is great to see a guy tackle a DIY project like this.

I had a wonderful afternoon in the woods today. No deer for me, but a friend dropped one and I got to help him drag it out. Time well spent.

Good deal and congratulations to your friend.

Alright! I'm really happy over all with the job. The only spot I had any problems is on the tang. The glob that sat under the lug came up when I pulled the barrel off. I was worried about the chamber area but I had more then enought and that came out good. I like the way the recoil lug area came out too. My 2nd layer of tape is stuck in there. I also need to clean up the area under the chamber some. My first thought when I saw some of the edges was that it was peeling. Upon further inspection, it is just the sheen from the release agent. Other then the tang, it looks like it all bonded well.


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Looks good, CC.... I usually let mine "cure" for at least 24 hrs. before I pull it apart. Another thing worth mentioning is that you want to drill out the front and rear guard screw holes when you get it apart.. the bedding compound will have filled them and made them tight around the screws. You want to relieve any pressure on those screws so they touch nothing but the bottom metal (i.e. trigger guard, front screw base) and the receiver itself. Anyhow, you "done good" so far....

The important parts came out just fine. You can always put a small dab of bedding under the tang after you get the rest of it all cleaned up. The tape in the recoil lug recess will come out fairly easily. Bedding jobs take some time but they are worth the effort. Nice job.

You have now done more bedding jobs than 90% of the experts!

Man, that looks very professional. I have trouble with the tang area and end up not messing with it.

Very nice. Should be well bedded.

Only question I have is why did you put masking tape in the recoil lug area? I usually let the epoxy fill that area.

I had covered the front, sides, and bottom of the recoil lug with two layers of tape to give me a little room as suggested in the instructions and by others. The little extra room in front and to the sides is to aid in pulling the barrel off the stock to clean it later on. When I pulled it out this morning, the outer layer of tape stayed stuck in the epoxy. It's in there good and doesn't want to pull out. I'm going to leave it in there instead of messing with my nice clean pocket.

.... The recoil lug should have stock contact at the rear of the lug only, and that's why the recess needs to be relieved on the front, bottom and sides. If you've got some tape stuck in there, you definitely need to dig it out or you've defeated your goal of clearancing the lug. A Dremel tool with the small router bit will work fine, and it doesn't matter if you add a little more clearance to the recess in those areas at all by doing that. Just stay away from the glassed area on the rear of the recess... but do take the tape out...

The tape does need to come out of the recoil lug recess, but do not use a dremel tool. There is too much risk that you will hurt the important section of the bedding to go shoving a dremel tool down there. It should pop out if you put a slim and sharp object behind one edge of the tape to get it started.

I got the tape out without having to use any tools, other then a needle and a very small screwdrive. I put a LITTLE water in the pocket and let it sit for 5 minutes. That made a huge difference. I think it softened up the layer of release agent that was holding it. Got it all out! :) Thanks again to all of you that followed this thread and helped me.

....I don't know what kind of a Dremel tool you are refering to, but the one I use is quite capable of doing small, tedious work in tight areas, provided the handler uses a modicum of common sense. I also previously cautioned CC about keeping away from the solid contact area at the back of the lug.... was there some other area of the lug recess you were/are concerned with?

.... I'm glad the tape came out for him the way it did, but I will solidly stand by my statement that proper use of the proper Dremel tools/techniques is perfectly acceptable with proper instruction, and even a little extra clearance in the areas that were hogged out and taped to provide clearance in the first place won't hurt a thing. "Shoving a Dremel tool down there"...really?

"I guess that's what makes differing opinions.."

.....Yessir... I agree..:patriot::cool2:......

Hey Brian, just curious if you elevated the tip of the forearm to make sure it was freefloating or are you going to remove material at the forearm? I hear some guys taking a small piece of cardboard and putting in front of the recoil lug. I wouldn't.