Gunsmithing Bedding my rifle.

[Gd33333]

So I finally bit the bullet and tried bedding a rifle of mine for the first time. I ended up pillar bedding and partially glass bedding my Marlin XL7VH 22-250 in a Boyd’s laminate stock. It was a process but overall it seems to have come out ok. The only issue I’m having is that for some reason, now the forward take down screw seems too long and when I torque the screws down to 35lbs it protrudes too far into the action and won’t allow my bolt to close. I can’t understand why the screw would now screw in further. Any help would be appreciated. I figure I can just file the screw down but before I do, I thought I would see if anyone can shed some light on the situation. Thanks!

 

[...]

my guess would be when it was bedded, the action bedded in the stock slightly cocked forward.....causing the front screw to now be too long

ooor, when you pillar bed......the pillars you put in were slightly shorter than the wood you removed....

 

[Gd33333]

my guess would be when it was bedded, the action bedded in the stock slightly cocked forward.....causing the front screw to now be too long

ooor, when you pillar bed......the pillars you put in were slightly shorter than the wood you removed....

Do you think this poses any potential problems?

 

[...]

i cant imagine it causing any issues.....so long as your barrel is still free floated you should be good.

 

[Gd33333]

It is. Thanks for the help.

 

[Sam Dunham]

Hope the uneven bed job does not cause torque in the action? Thinking it would be a simple fix to leave your screw original length and make sure the front and back of the action does not rock back and forth. It should sit evenly in the action bedding and be solid.

 

[Gd33333]

So you think there’s a high point between the two screws that ma be putting stress on the action? You think I should re-bed it?

 

[spife7980]

It could be high centered and cause stress if it rocks back and forth, but if you put it in and it seats solid without being wobbly then its probably fine.

You probably just removed more material relieving the stock and pillars than you made up with bedding compound thickness. Get a new screw or grind these down enough to not rise up into the action too far. Count how many threads are sticking through and take that many off.

Or it isnt a good fit you can grind it out and retry it. Some people like to coat the stuff in dyechem to see where the contact is.

 

[Easy_E]

You could do the stress test with a dial indicator ?

 

[spife7980]

You could do the stress test with a dial indicator ?

You can also just do a quick loosening and tightening with it on the butt and see if you have any visible movement. Much cruder and less precise but if you dont have the tools for anything else... its something.

 

[Sam Dunham]

Simple me. I just think it should fit with the original screw length. I am not offering critique, I would like to see your rifle bedded with no torque and adjusted so the original length screws all tighten down with equal tension so you have a great platform for success. I wonder if your pillar bedding length was in spec for proper length? I am not railing on it brother, just want you to have a great shooting rifle and help you with my comments. Good shooting

 

[Gd33333]

It could be high centered and cause stress if it rocks back and forth, but if you put it in and it seats solid without being wobbly then its probably fine.

You probably just removed more material relieving the stock and pillars than you made up with bedding compound thickness. Get a new screw or grind these down enough to not rise up into the action too far. Count how many threads are sticking through and take that many off.

Or it isnt a good fit you can grind it out and retry it. Some people like to coat the stuff in dyechem to see where the contact is.

That’s a good idea. I think I’ll try using that dyechem to see if there might be a high spot. It doesn’t seem to teter but the forward action screw seems to get tight but doesn’t seat on the pillar until after a couple more full rotations.

 

[Gd33333]

You can also just do a quick loosening and tightening with it on the butt and see if you have any visible movement. Much cruder and less precise but if you dont have the tools for anything else... its something.

So I tried taking the rear action screw completely out, paying close attention to any movement. I even gave the barrel a couple taps. There was no movement that I could tell. It didn’t seem to rock at all. I did sand out the barrel channel slightly at the very end prior to bedding because it seemed as if the barrel was not free floating. I wonder if the forward end of the action was never seated true until I removed the barrel contact. Now it rests lower in the stock. I want to file the screw down and shoot it but I just spoke to a rep at Marlin and that gun was discontinued and they have no action screws.

 

[Sam Dunham]

Sounds like the distance in the stock thickness is too thin in the front and you may need to add length on the front pillar until you get the length correct on your front screw. If you have the old stock you could run the stem of your dial calipers up the front hole and take a measurement.

 

[Gd33333]

I’ll try that. Thanks!

 

[Steelnecktie]

If it feeds fine and everything works, plus your happy with bedding, just trim screw.

 

[Gd33333]

You can also just do a quick loosening and tightening with it on the butt and see if you have any visible movement. Much cruder and less precise but if you dont have the tools for anything else... its something.

If it feeds fine and everything works, plus your happy with bedding, just trim screw.

I think I’m going to try the dial indicator trick and if that tests ok, I’ll probably just trim the screw. Thanks!