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Gunsmithing AICS Bedding Tips ? Need help

JayCarver

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 14, 2011
397
1
37
Alberta, Canada
I recently had two barrelled action's spun up on rem 700 receivers, they were trued up and had broughton barrels installed. I then dropped them in AX chassis. One was chambered in 308 and after doing load development I'm very happy with how it's shooting. When I put the barrelled action in the AICS it seemed to make equal contact in the front as well as the rear tang, its shooting great so I don't plan to mess with it.

The other barrelled action is a 338LM, when I installed the ACIS on this one it was obvious that the action wasn't completely strait. When I tightened the rear tang bolt it was clear that it was still settling into the chassis. At the time I didn't think much of it. 250rds of load development later I'm having a very hard time finding a load that it likes constantly. I've tried 4 different bullets and have had it shoot some loads ok, but then shoot the same load poorly after, there's not much consistency. I don't think the problem is me because at the same time I've been doing load development with other rifles that going well and I shot by buddy's 338 on one of the same days and shot four 5 shot groups in a row at 300yds that were 0.5moa. While I have shot some sub 0.5 MOA groups with the rifle in question it wont do it consistently.

So I'm getting tired of burning up pounds of H1000 and Retumbo and wasting 300gr projectiles and have been considering bedding the AX chassis. After searching and reading lots I have decided to just bed the rear tang to relieve some of the stress that might be on the action and hopefully it may or may not get more constant results.

I'm not new to bedding rifle's, have done a bunch of them and the last few have turned out really well but bedding a chassis is new to me and I don't want to mess this up and have to fire up the mill to the chassis and hog it out and redo.

So what I'm asking is: Does anyone have any tips for doing this? Should the surface be roughed up? Should I mill a few shallow holes for a good mechanical lock? My fear is that it will be a thin layer of epoxy and break off over time. Especially at the contact points on the v-block.

Also, whats the best way to have this "set in"? I'm thinking have the barrel in a vice and then raise the chassis with the epoxy up onto the action with the front of the action touching first and tighten the front action screw fully and then I'm undecided on if I should tighten the rear action screw at all?

If anyone managed to make it through this long winded question thank you and I appreciate and tips.
 
I had the same issue. The problem is that the tang of the reciever has no support around or behind the rear screw. Torque it all down and then remove front screw i bet the barrel raises up 1/2" at the forend tip. I drilled a few shallow holes for a mechanical lock first. I use a long 1/4-28 screw with the head cut off as a guide for the rear bolt. Put bedding in the tang area and just snugged up the front bolt, maybe to 30in/lbs. My receiver/aics showed no signs of stress when front bolt was torqued to 65 and no rear bolt. Thats why i just bedded the rear and snugged up the front. If it had showed signs of stress on both ends i would did a full bed job
 
Check out the new service that Longrifles inc is offering on AICS stocks. They are milling out a radius in the chassis that will support the tang.

Chip
 
Yeah that is pretty trick what lri does. Course bedding it like i described cost about 4 bucks.
 
You will need to be careful like you thought, the bedding can chip very easy due to how thin it will be in places. If you are confident in your bedding skills, I would mill out areas where it would end up being thin to give yourself some depth to the epoxy, especially for a large magnum rifle.
 
Check out the new service that Longrifles inc is offering on AICS stocks. They are milling out a radius in the chassis that will support the tang.

Chip

Sending it out isn't a option for me as I live in Canada so it's not worth the hassle of sending it stateside and having it imported back into Canada.
 
I had the same issue. The problem is that the tang of the reciever has no support around or behind the rear screw. Torque it all down and then remove front screw i bet the barrel raises up 1/2" at the forend tip. I drilled a few shallow holes for a mechanical lock first. I use a long 1/4-28 screw with the head cut off as a guide for the rear bolt. Put bedding in the tang area and just snugged up the front bolt, maybe to 30in/lbs. My receiver/aics showed no signs of stress when front bolt was torqued to 65 and no rear bolt. Thats why i just bedded the rear and snugged up the front. If it had showed signs of stress on both ends i would did a full bed job

Thanks 6brshooter, this gives me a great place to start and is exactly the information I was looking for.

You will need to be careful like you thought, the bedding can chip very easy due to how thin it will be in places. If you are confident in your bedding skills, I would mill out areas where it would end up being thin to give yourself some depth to the epoxy, especially for a large magnum rifle.

I've been debating doing this as I have to set up the chassis in the mill again anyways because I didn't quite relieve enough for the Jewell trigger, the bolt stop release is sticky.

I'll probably end up doing this, anyone else done it this way? I wonder what the big names like Surgeon and Gap do?
 
I should mention mine has held up fine for 1500ish rds, but it is a fast twist 243 not a lap mag. I would mill a little where the bedding will be behind the rear screw. In front of the screw the action will sit on the aics "V" and bedding will fill in the bottom of the V turning it into a round shape.
 
Boy, does this one hit close to home!

I'm going through the same exact problem with a recent trued .260 build bolted into a 2.0 AICS. I've gone through 12 different loads and have found 3 that shot sub 0.5" but wouldn't replicate. It's maddening!

This setup has the same problem that others have reported - loosen the front screw and the barrel starts pointing at the moon. I took a Dremel (I hate those things), ground through the anodizing, and bedded the tang with Brownell's SteelBed. She's curing now. Hope it fixes the problem.
 
Boy, does this one hit close to home!

I'm going through the same exact problem with a recent trued .260 build bolted into a 2.0 AICS. I've gone through 12 different loads and have found 3 that shot sub 0.5" but wouldn't replicate. It's maddening!

This setup has the same problem that others have reported - loosen the front screw and the barrel starts pointing at the moon. I took a Dremel (I hate those things), ground through the anodizing, and bedded the tang with Brownell's SteelBed. She's curing now. Hope it fixes the problem.

At least I'm not the only one, can you post a pic after your done. I'm goin to be tackling this soon.
 
If the problem is in the tang then just bed it. Use some Prussian blue to check the contact of the action with the screws just snug so you know what you have to work with. If the Vee of the bedding (everything but the tang) is good then just bed the tang using the forward action screw to secure the action into the chassis while it sets up with a line up stud in the rear. If the whole action is fubar then you will need to skim bed it all. I would rough the surface up a little and clean it very well with brake clean or similar.
 
Long rifles inc did mine right off the bat. Sounds like this isn't an option for you. So fortunate to have them an hour away. Might be worth the road trip? Ay?
 
If the problem is in the tang then just bed it. Use some Prussian blue to check the contact of the action with the screws just snug so you know what you have to work with. If the Vee of the bedding (everything but the tang) is good then just bed the tang using the forward action screw to secure the action into the chassis while it sets up with a line up stud in the rear. If the whole action is fubar then you will need to skim bed it all. I would rough the surface up a little and clean it very well with brake clean or similar.

That's where mine was. Loosen the front and the barrel would jump. Loosen the rear and everything would stay put. With that in mind, only the tang was bedded while the front screw holds everything secure while curing.