Just wondering what you guys think? Is it worth paying a gunsmith to bed it or are you going to have the same results with a garage job. Thanks!!!
Gunsmithing Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
- Thread starter Danhalen7.62
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Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
I think it depends on what you're trying to get out of the gun, and the quality of the components that you're dealing with. For me, if I'm dealing with a custom action and a high-end stock, I'll have a pro do it. If I'm dealing with a Rem700 that I picked up cheap at pawn shop, then hell yeah, break out the Marine Tex! Get dirty, have some fun, and get some experience doing it. Just my 2 cents.
I think it depends on what you're trying to get out of the gun, and the quality of the components that you're dealing with. For me, if I'm dealing with a custom action and a high-end stock, I'll have a pro do it. If I'm dealing with a Rem700 that I picked up cheap at pawn shop, then hell yeah, break out the Marine Tex! Get dirty, have some fun, and get some experience doing it. Just my 2 cents.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
I've done all my own. It isn't that hard to do. Just be careful. Fit it the way you want it to be in the first place. Tape off all areas you don't want touched. Make sure you have enough release on the action. And don't bed the top and bottom metal at the same time. That has frequently resulted in a glue-in. Clean all excess off as soon as you can. (It helps to have the gun in a working vice)
Once you've lived through all the first 'emergencies' the rest aren't that bad.
I've done all my own. It isn't that hard to do. Just be careful. Fit it the way you want it to be in the first place. Tape off all areas you don't want touched. Make sure you have enough release on the action. And don't bed the top and bottom metal at the same time. That has frequently resulted in a glue-in. Clean all excess off as soon as you can. (It helps to have the gun in a working vice)
Once you've lived through all the first 'emergencies' the rest aren't that bad.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
I have done all my own, about 3 per year for the last 10 years.
The glass bedding and pillar bedding does not increase the accuracy much, but it can decrease it a lot if done wrong. So the only time I have got a big increase in accuracy is when someone else glass bedded their rifle in a way that bends the barreled action or if they used a Tupperware stock. Then I have made huge gains in accuracy when I glass bedded the rifle.
But just because glass bedding and pillar bedding accuracy improvement is so small that I usually can't measure it, does not mean I should not do it. It does not cost much or take long, so it is when done, just one less thing to worry about.
I have done all my own, about 3 per year for the last 10 years.
The glass bedding and pillar bedding does not increase the accuracy much, but it can decrease it a lot if done wrong. So the only time I have got a big increase in accuracy is when someone else glass bedded their rifle in a way that bends the barreled action or if they used a Tupperware stock. Then I have made huge gains in accuracy when I glass bedded the rifle.
But just because glass bedding and pillar bedding accuracy improvement is so small that I usually can't measure it, does not mean I should not do it. It does not cost much or take long, so it is when done, just one less thing to worry about.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
Do it yourself, if you understand that the action is to be seated STRESS FREE in the bedding, while it cures. That is, do not crank both screws down tight, lightly tighten the front, but the rear should only be finger tight, and the barrel should have 2 or 3 layers of electrical tape to space it away from the stock until cured.
Do it yourself, if you understand that the action is to be seated STRESS FREE in the bedding, while it cures. That is, do not crank both screws down tight, lightly tighten the front, but the rear should only be finger tight, and the barrel should have 2 or 3 layers of electrical tape to space it away from the stock until cured.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
Look at the sticky/post in the gun smithing section by William Roscoe. He did a great job of outlining the whole process with pictures. You can do it your self, and it doesn't matter if you do it in a garage, or McMillans professional 12000 sq ft facility. What matters is the mechanical skills of the person doing the job. The only one who knows that is you. Best of luck.
Look at the sticky/post in the gun smithing section by William Roscoe. He did a great job of outlining the whole process with pictures. You can do it your self, and it doesn't matter if you do it in a garage, or McMillans professional 12000 sq ft facility. What matters is the mechanical skills of the person doing the job. The only one who knows that is you. Best of luck.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: STR</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Look at the sticky/post in the gun smithing section by William Roscoe. He did a great job of outlining the whole process with pictures. You can do it your self, and it doesn't matter if you do it in a garage, or McMillans professional 12000 sq ft facility. <span style="color: #FF0000">What matters is the mechanical skills of the person doing the job. The only one who knows that is you.</span> Best of luck. </div></div>
yep.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: STR</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Look at the sticky/post in the gun smithing section by William Roscoe. He did a great job of outlining the whole process with pictures. You can do it your self, and it doesn't matter if you do it in a garage, or McMillans professional 12000 sq ft facility. <span style="color: #FF0000">What matters is the mechanical skills of the person doing the job. The only one who knows that is you.</span> Best of luck. </div></div>
yep.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
Thanks for the input guys. I feel I am very much capable, I just wanted to get some other opinions.
Thanks for the input guys. I feel I am very much capable, I just wanted to get some other opinions.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
Also consider cost of the whole process. It requires a dremel type tool and Devcon Ti is almost $100 for the product. If you don't plan on doing more than one per year, I would just pay the $125-175 (depending where you are) to get it done professionally.
Also consider cost of the whole process. It requires a dremel type tool and Devcon Ti is almost $100 for the product. If you don't plan on doing more than one per year, I would just pay the $125-175 (depending where you are) to get it done professionally.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: xXlojackXx</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Also consider cost of the whole process. It requires a dremel type tool and Devcon Ti is almost $100 for the product. If you don't plan on doing more than one per year, I would just pay the $125-175 (depending where you are) to get it done professionally. </div></div>
Most people here already have either a Dremel or a file that will do the job. Devcon Steel putty is $35 per can, which is enough to do several rifles. Therefore, total cost of DIY is about $8 per rifle. It's not a difficult process, just nerve-racking the first couple times. And bedding is also time-consuming, which is why gunsmiths charge what they do.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: xXlojackXx</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Also consider cost of the whole process. It requires a dremel type tool and Devcon Ti is almost $100 for the product. If you don't plan on doing more than one per year, I would just pay the $125-175 (depending where you are) to get it done professionally. </div></div>
Most people here already have either a Dremel or a file that will do the job. Devcon Steel putty is $35 per can, which is enough to do several rifles. Therefore, total cost of DIY is about $8 per rifle. It's not a difficult process, just nerve-racking the first couple times. And bedding is also time-consuming, which is why gunsmiths charge what they do.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
i vote DIY, your first one might not come out perfect, but its a learning process, and you can always dremel out the botch job and start over if you dont like it(ask me how i know)
i vote DIY, your first one might not come out perfect, but its a learning process, and you can always dremel out the botch job and start over if you dont like it(ask me how i know)
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
If you want it pretty, pay someone to do it. If you just want it to work, you should do fine DIY. Your first one may not be pretty, but the next one will look better than the last. It's not difficult, you just have to learn where to pay attention to the details.
If you want it pretty, pay someone to do it. If you just want it to work, you should do fine DIY. Your first one may not be pretty, but the next one will look better than the last. It's not difficult, you just have to learn where to pay attention to the details.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
Another vote for DIY. If you've got somthing cheap to practice on first, do so. I bedded a shitbox norinco .22 first. Got a good feel for the bedding compound, and where to be generous with release agent. Its a worthwhile skill and a good feeling knowing you invested the time into your own rifles.
Another vote for DIY. If you've got somthing cheap to practice on first, do so. I bedded a shitbox norinco .22 first. Got a good feel for the bedding compound, and where to be generous with release agent. Its a worthwhile skill and a good feeling knowing you invested the time into your own rifles.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
did my first pillar and bedding job all at once the other day andd it came out much better than i was expecting. i took care to pay attention to the small details and scuff up the stock and plug all places where u don't want the mix to get into. then i applied release agent(pam olive oil-spray) and made sure i had everything taped real well and started.
i'm happy with the job i did and feel a great deal of self-satisfaction.
looking forward to the next one!
did my first pillar and bedding job all at once the other day andd it came out much better than i was expecting. i took care to pay attention to the small details and scuff up the stock and plug all places where u don't want the mix to get into. then i applied release agent(pam olive oil-spray) and made sure i had everything taped real well and started.
i'm happy with the job i did and feel a great deal of self-satisfaction.
looking forward to the next one!
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
Get one of ernie's kits make life much easier. Some devcon 10110 and kiwi neutral and you'll be in the house. Just make sure to dry fit many many times before.
Not affiliated but his pillar kits are nice.
http://www.erniethegunsmith.com/
Get one of ernie's kits make life much easier. Some devcon 10110 and kiwi neutral and you'll be in the house. Just make sure to dry fit many many times before.
Not affiliated but his pillar kits are nice.
http://www.erniethegunsmith.com/
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
DIY with Devcon and Kiwi. Devcon Ti not necessary unless you have money to burn
DIY with Devcon and Kiwi. Devcon Ti not necessary unless you have money to burn
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
I used to pay someone to do it but over the years I have gotten VERY VERY good at it... Took tons of hits/misses to finally get it right. The biggest help is the bedding post here on the site and work from that. I now have plexiglas inserts to put in the place of the trigger, magazine etc. Switching to Devcon from Acraglass really helped also. Prep work is where the key is. Each time it seems I find something to make the next one a bit easier.
I used to pay someone to do it but over the years I have gotten VERY VERY good at it... Took tons of hits/misses to finally get it right. The biggest help is the bedding post here on the site and work from that. I now have plexiglas inserts to put in the place of the trigger, magazine etc. Switching to Devcon from Acraglass really helped also. Prep work is where the key is. Each time it seems I find something to make the next one a bit easier.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Poke</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Prep work is where the key is. Each time it seems I find something to make the next one a bit easier. </div></div>
that is the truth!
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Poke</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Prep work is where the key is. Each time it seems I find something to make the next one a bit easier. </div></div>
that is the truth!
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
I would give the task a 3 out of 10 on the DIY gunsmith scale, its not too difficult to do, prep work is everything. Here is a quick job I did on a PSS stock, best advice is to ise modeling clay to fill any voids in the receiver after removing the trigger and in front of the recoil lug to make a "dam" where you want the bedding to terminate (a inch or two in front of the lug is good). Use a good release wax on the receiver, I use Partall paste wax. Marine Tex or Devcon is the way to go, use a Q-tip with WD-40 for clean up when the epoxy is wet, its like magic. You can use a small file set to pretty ip up when your done similar to the pic.
I would give the task a 3 out of 10 on the DIY gunsmith scale, its not too difficult to do, prep work is everything. Here is a quick job I did on a PSS stock, best advice is to ise modeling clay to fill any voids in the receiver after removing the trigger and in front of the recoil lug to make a "dam" where you want the bedding to terminate (a inch or two in front of the lug is good). Use a good release wax on the receiver, I use Partall paste wax. Marine Tex or Devcon is the way to go, use a Q-tip with WD-40 for clean up when the epoxy is wet, its like magic. You can use a small file set to pretty ip up when your done similar to the pic.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
Ensure you remove the action from the stock before it completely dries. It's a hell of a lot easier to trim the excess with an X-acto knife than have to dremel it down with any precision.
Ensure you remove the action from the stock before it completely dries. It's a hell of a lot easier to trim the excess with an X-acto knife than have to dremel it down with any precision.
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
Try it yourself and then send it to us if it doesn't work out...there's a lot of little things that make bedding an art form, but if you get a one-to-one fit between barreled action and the stock, and do it so it's stress-free, you're on the right track.
One trick (out of about a dozen) I'll share that a lot of guys miss is the recoil lug. When you bed the lug, layer some tape (we use a couple strips of 10MIL tape from Brownells)on the bottom flat of the lug so you create a gap between the bottom of the lug and the bottom of the lug recess in the stock. The reason being, if you don't, after you relieve the pillars and install your barreled action and torque your action screws, the barreled action may be primarily resting/pivoting/torquing on that lug's bottom surface instead of resting stress-free in it's entire bed....I actually gave two tips...one more thing, it's risky if you're a beginner, but for the least amount of stress possible you do need to bed the barreled action and the bottom metal together as they will be upon final assembly....good luck..
Try it yourself and then send it to us if it doesn't work out...there's a lot of little things that make bedding an art form, but if you get a one-to-one fit between barreled action and the stock, and do it so it's stress-free, you're on the right track.
One trick (out of about a dozen) I'll share that a lot of guys miss is the recoil lug. When you bed the lug, layer some tape (we use a couple strips of 10MIL tape from Brownells)on the bottom flat of the lug so you create a gap between the bottom of the lug and the bottom of the lug recess in the stock. The reason being, if you don't, after you relieve the pillars and install your barreled action and torque your action screws, the barreled action may be primarily resting/pivoting/torquing on that lug's bottom surface instead of resting stress-free in it's entire bed....I actually gave two tips...one more thing, it's risky if you're a beginner, but for the least amount of stress possible you do need to bed the barreled action and the bottom metal together as they will be upon final assembly....good luck..
Re: Bedding a rifle. Do it yourself or go with a pro?
I would also encourage you to use some brownells spray release. I have used a bunch of different things, and the spray on just gave the most professional looking results.
I would also encourage you to use some brownells spray release. I have used a bunch of different things, and the spray on just gave the most professional looking results.
