bedding materials

[Redgum]

No doupt its pretty common knowledge that you can add powdered metal to Acraglas at 1 part powder to 4 parts mixed resin. Check out this website, www.fredaldous.co.uk, they sell powdered aluminium pretty cheap, ideal for extra strength in resin bedding.

[kent]

You can also use the resin used to repair Aluminium castings, can be drilled and tapped and shrinkage is effectively nil, cant remember the name but theres a good tub of it in the workshop

[Dunkield]

Devcon?

[Redgum]

Though I have never used Devcon, from the reviews it gets its obviously better than Acraglas but its a lot more expensive, well from what I have seen anyway, how much you paying for it. I have seen it around £66 for 500grams. Paid £24 for my Acraglas, and before you say it, yes weight for weight of mixed resin the Devcon is cheaper but if you only want to do a 2/3 rifles the the acraglas is a better option. Adding the, very cheap, powdered aluminium isnt difficult, just add it when colouring (great thing about acraglas is it has black and brown dies, you cannot tell were the bedding stops and the sythetic stock starts on my bedding job), and gives it a bit more strength. Yes Devcon is the way to go if you have alot of guns to do but if its just a couple then Acraglas.

[bicykillgaz]

is there much difference in accuracy when you've glas bedded a rifle? i was watching how to do it on the tube and thought about having a go but didn't know if it was worth the risk.

[Dunkield]

It certainly isn't worth it on your .22 if that is what you are thinking about [iMHO of course ]

[bicykillgaz]

It certainly isn't worth it on your .22 if that is what you are thinking about [iMHO of course ]

 

 

thats fair enough mate at least you offered an opinion, the reason i asked was the videos on youtube was doing it to identical rifles to mine so i wondered if there was much benefit mines purely a hunting rifle and fairly accurate anyway but i guess you can never be too accurate regardless of calibre, is it something a gunsmith could do fairly cheaply?

[wymberley]

thats fair enough mate at least you offered an opinion, the reason i asked was the videos on youtube was doing it to identical rifles to mine so i wondered if there was much benefit mines purely a hunting rifle and fairly accurate anyway but i guess you can never be too accurate regardless of calibre, is it something a gunsmith could do fairly cheaply?

Practice makes perfect. I've done it on a couple of cheapos and all was well as this sort of thing was part of my apprenticeship but never really used (like cutting out damaged tyre treads down to the cords, rebuilding and vulcanising and then recutting the tread by hand). But with a half decent rifle and no previous real experience, it has to be the 'smith. Won't cost the earth.

[Dekers]

Whether by luck or not all my rifles can shoot 1" even with the likes of PRVI, with the right ammo it is one hole. This is out of the box. My serious competition days are behind me so this is plenty good enough for me.

 

So I'm curious about this one as well, whilst every aid to accuracy must be considered what are most trying to achieve here?

 

Is the rifle a poor performer and needs attention or is it already good and you are looking for better?

 

What sort of benefits are people seeing, from what sort of starting point, are there other options, better or cheaper, ie different ammo, better stocks, bipods/sticks, etc?

 

I don't know, I'm curious?

 

Edited November 13, 2011 by Dekers

[Redgum]

thats fair enough mate at least you offered an opinion, the reason i asked was the videos on youtube was doing it to identical rifles to mine so i wondered if there was much benefit mines purely a hunting rifle and fairly accurate anyway but i guess you can never be too accurate regardless of calibre, is it something a gunsmith could do fairly cheaply?

It made a big differance to my Remington 700 ( is this the youtube you saw as this was the one I followed ) I put the original sps stock in tha attic not long as after buying the gun, it was flimsy so accuracy changed (with barrel touching end pressure bed lugs), had some improvement on fully floating but wanted a constant as had just started to reload for it so bought a hogue full alley bed stock. Decided to sell the remmy and probably would get better price by putting the gun back to original, stock, trigger n all. I just could not resist the temptation in bedding the stock ( as per youtube ) so bought acraglas, alley powder, plasticine, masking tape etc and went for it.

I will put a photo up later but what a success, it shoots better now than it ever has, the gun is nice and light again. The hogue stock made it accurate and feel nice to touch but the full alley bedded version adds a bit of wieght plus I don't really like the flat n wider forend on a hunting rifle.The scaryest bit is seperating the stock and action, mine came apart, took a bit of wiggling, preparation is the thing, doing it step by step it the action is fully coated in release agent then it can stick but still scary. The long and short of it is I will not be selling the gun, that idea came into my head when I held it next to my Tika hunter, no need now as its light again but there will be a Hogue full alley bedded stock for sale in the right section very soon.

[Redgum]

Whether by luck or not all my rifles can shoot 1" even with the likes of PRVI, with the right ammo it is one hole. This is out of the box. My serious competition days are behind me so this is plenty good enough for me.

 

So I'm curious about this one as well, whilst every aid to accuracy must be considered what are most trying to achieve here?

 

Is the rifle a poor performer and needs attention or is it already good and you are looking for better?

 

What sort of benefits are people seeing, from what sort of starting point, are there other options, better or cheaper, ie different ammo, better stocks, bipods/sticks, etc?

 

I don't know, I'm curious?

 

 

 

 

didnt see your comment Dekers as writting my reply, you get what you pay for or your lucky, my remmy 700 243 didnt shoot well from the start, not what I wanted anyway. The accuracy altered depending were the stock was placed on the bipod, weak forend, factory pressure bedding and big moderator. Didnt inspire confidence, now my Tika hunter 308 made me smile out right from the box, accurate and constantly so. Now I agree with the accuracy issue, are we (this will become a new topic for sure) more worried in accuracy of a bullet than by killing power. Do some shoot lighter bullets at deer sized prey because they are more accurate when heavier bullets will still group 1 inch at 100yds. I have been starting to use 100gr rnd nose 243 rnds on deer, they seem to hit much harder but like I say, new topic for this issue.

Edited November 13, 2011 by Redgum

[Ackley]

Whether by luck or not all my rifles can shoot 1" even with the likes of PRVI, with the right ammo it is one hole. This is out of the box. My serious competition days are behind me so this is plenty good enough for me.

 

So I'm curious about this one as well, whilst every aid to accuracy must be considered what are most trying to achieve here?

 

Is the rifle a poor performer and needs attention or is it already good and you are looking for better?

 

What sort of benefits are people seeing, from what sort of starting point, are there other options, better or cheaper, ie different ammo, better stocks, bipods/sticks, etc?

 

I don't know, I'm curious?

 

if as you say your were a "serious comp shooter" you should know the benifits of consistant accuracy

for everyone else this article explains why and how to bed a rifle http://www.6mmbr.com/pillarbedding.html

I do have a tuitorial DVD on bedding by master rifle smith daryl holland if anyones needs to see step by step instructions on doing the job correctly

[Redgum]

This is my Remington 700 sps stock after full bedding with Acraglas gel mix with 5:1 aluminium powder and the acraglas black die. The forend has been machined out (dremel) to be generously free floating. With the full bedding and forend work barrel will not touch the free floated part unless alot of force is put on it. The bedded areas ( all parts that touch action) are better quality than the original stock. Acraglas recommend drilling angled 3mm holes in the bedding areas to machanically lock the gel to stock material when applying to synthetic stocks, this I did.

[Dunkield]

Looks like a neat job.

Have you shot the classic before and after group to see if it improved the consistancy?

[Redgum]

Looks like a neat job.

Have you shot the classic before and after group to see if it improved the consistancy?

Unfortunatly no, the action was in a Hogue stock shortly after buying the gun from new, I couldnt get on with the sps stock plus most advice was to change it. It did manage inch groups as long as I set it up the same on the rest each time. It was a bit of a last minute decision to have the guts to bed it myself and wasnt expecting it to be such a success, will put some afters up though when I get around to it.

[kent]

Pure sythetic bedding don't make a real big difference to most guns IF THEY ALREADY SHOOT. Worthwhile for competition guns were just outside the line or cutting it makes a difference. It makes them more reliable in holding zero day to day in changing conditions but realy bedding on pillars is the best for this. If they dont already shoot the difference can be very noticeable though I hate factory std plasic injection molded stocks, there just too flexible to gain much from bedding IMO. personally give me a laminate or a proper fibreglass stock bedded or even a walnut one but in this latter case on pillars

 

Oh the Ali bedding i use aint devcon, i shall endevour to route it out but we are in a bit of a tip here presently

[Redgum]

Pure sythetic bedding don't make a real big difference to most guns IF THEY ALREADY SHOOT. Worthwhile for competition guns were just outside the line or cutting it makes a difference. It makes them more reliable in holding zero day to day in changing conditions but realy bedding on pillars is the best for this. If they dont already shoot the difference can be very noticeable though I hate factory std plasic injection molded stocks, there just too flexible to gain much from bedding IMO. personally give me a laminate or a proper fibreglass stock bedded or even a walnut one but in this latter case on pillars

 

Oh the Ali bedding i use aint devcon, i shall endevour to route it out but we are in a bit of a tip here presently

Well kent, there is the olde saying,'The proof is in the pudding'. I can only talk from my own experience to desagree with the so call more knowledgeable folks on here. Yes the sps stock on the Remmy 700's are pants, they pressure bed at the end of the stock mainly to centralize the barrel from what I can see, mass produced injection moulding doesnt make for a well fitting stock. The sps stock is so flexible that any pressure almost anywhere on the barrel section of stock will move POI, heavy mods dont help the situation. Mentioned the sps stock problems on here a few years back and all the experienced fellas said, ditch the stock and buy a decent one. This I did and the Remmy, along with my homeloads achieved half inch grouping and better at 100yds, not all the time because I'm just not good enough.

As mentioned earlier, I've always wanted to try bedding a rifle so I thought nows my chance, if it goes wrong I will somehow get the action off the stock with a saw and sell the gun in the hogue stock. The real big surprise was, apart from it working out so well mistake wise, is that the gun now shoots as well as when it was in the hogue stock if not a bit better. This makes me think that floating a remmy sps stock is worth doing but the stock fits so badly from manufacturing and doesnt have much action contact area that just floating isnt enough.

The easy way, buy a new stock, the cheap and interesting way, bedding the original and see what happens.

 

Ps obviously if it shoots ok in its original state don't bother altering anything.

Edited November 14, 2011 by Redgum

[kent]

Well kent, there is the olde saying,'The proof is in the pudding'. I can only talk from my own experience to desagree with the so call more knowledgeable folks on here. Yes the sps stock on the Remmy 700's are pants, they pressure bed at the end of the stock mainly to centralize the barrel from what I can see, mass produced injection moulding doesnt make for a well fitting stock. The sps stock is so flexible that any pressure almost anywhere on the barrel section of stock will move POI, heavy mods dont help the situation. Mentioned the sps stock problems on here a few years back and all the experienced fellas said, ditch the stock and buy a decent one. This I did and the Remmy, along with my homeloads achieved half inch grouping and better at 100yds, not all the time because I'm just not good enough.

As mentioned earlier, I've always wanted to try bedding a rifle so I thought nows my chance, if it goes wrong I will somehow get the action off the stock with a saw and sell the gun in the hogue stock. The real big surprise was, apart from it working out so well mistake wise, is that the gun now shoots as well as when it was in the hogue stock if not a bit better. This makes me think that floating a remmy sps stock is worth doing but the stock fits so badly from manufacturing and doesnt have much action contact area that even just floating isnt enough.

The easy way, buy a new stock, the cheap and interesting way, bedding the original and see what happens.

 

 

If bedding goes horribly wrong just apply heat Not a fan of houges either the ones i have had my hands on bent about in you hands you would swear the whole darn forearm was made of rubber not just covered in it. of course it might well shoot better as you now have proper contact on the recoil lug. generally not worth the effort i would have bought a half finshed laminate on price or a McMillan on quality and bedded that personally.

 

Oh poop its placky, scub apply a little heat the blooming thing might melt before the bedding softens

Edited November 14, 2011 by kent

[Redgum]

If bedding goes horribly wrong just apply heat Not a fan of houges either the ones i have had my hands on bent about in you hands you would swear the whole darn forearm was made of rubber not just covered in it. of course it might well shoot better as you now have proper contact on the recoil lug. generally not worth the effort i would have bought a half finshed laminate on price or a McMillan on quality and bedded that personally.

 

Oh poop its placky, scub apply a little heat the blooming thing might melt before the bedding softens

 

 

The stock would melt before the bedding softens, kept a ball of the acraglas with the added alley powder in, boy does it go hard, looks like granite with the flexs of ally in.

I would never buy another hogue, I had the fully ally bedded job and the action sits in an alley v block, you can see from the action were it has touched the ally, just a thin line down the side, rigid yes but for serious accuracy you would need to bed as well. If you want a budget tough rifle, a remmy 700 if you like to do some work yourself or splash out a few hundred more and get a Tika.