I wanted to run the procedure I gathered on pillar bedding a rifle to make sure I got this down before procedure hits a roadblock with no easy way to fix. There are a few holes and questions.
I hope you veterans can read through and see if I have this right or give me some corrections and stuff to watch out for. I understand there are a few different methods. It is a BDL so I wanted to apply contact bedding to the action at the tang and forward the internal box-mag opening across the receiver shank, recoil lug, and 2”(?) up the barrel.
After review of this post, I am reminded of "if there are this many questions, you should not be doing it". It's mostly leftover gun parts so I am committed to a exercise in learning. Please bear with the length.
I initially prep the stock (in this case wood) by: Fitting the barreled action and relieving material where necessary at the contact points and slot milling the face for the recoil lug back 1/8”
Relieve or ensure 1/8” across the full length of the barrel channel up the receiver face.
I need to set the pillars so I assume I can square the pillars to the receiver, using temporary bolts (smaller OD head) and apply bedding compound to both the pillar and stock bed in one step?
Questions:
I use tape to build up closer to the muzzle to set a fulcrum point to keep the barreled action level….if I do this pre-bed, the tape build will be too low. ???
If I do this in one step (assuming that’s correct), I should use pillars with cupped tops and file to fit the receiver bottom circumference? The concern being bedding material getting into the piller ID.
I don’t think that aluminum bedding blocks are milled prior to bedding so the stock prep above should concentrate on only the tang and fwd the recoil lug? Just the recoil lug and ensure barrel clearance?
There is no index or detent for the receiver when compressed. If I cut the pillars +.100, I can expect that the added bed won’t exceed this? Is +.100 a good additional length on top of measuring from the bottom of the receiver circumference through the action hold to the BM inlet? I read that as excessive. Do I need to expect to have to mill down the pillar, once set, at the BM?
Once this assembly sets, it does not take into account the bottom metal. If the bottom metal is pre-drilled, I expect that the tapered screw face can pull the action screws in non-square. If I use the bottom metal and the action screws, the longer pillars won’t compress the action as the pillars are set longer. My understanding is that I want to go pillar to pillar for the BM. So back to the previous question: how to apply compression and square the barreled action to the stock. With no block or set pillar to compress the action into; I believe it needs to be done at once. I obviously want the BM to set nice and flush.
If I can expect the pillar length to be correct, is it practice to try to bed the BM into the inlet? If so, can I cut the pillars shorter and bed them to the BM compressing both the action and the BM?
Is there any real benefit to trying to bed on the sides of the rcvr along the mag inlet?
Many thanks.
I hope you veterans can read through and see if I have this right or give me some corrections and stuff to watch out for. I understand there are a few different methods. It is a BDL so I wanted to apply contact bedding to the action at the tang and forward the internal box-mag opening across the receiver shank, recoil lug, and 2”(?) up the barrel.
After review of this post, I am reminded of "if there are this many questions, you should not be doing it". It's mostly leftover gun parts so I am committed to a exercise in learning. Please bear with the length.
I initially prep the stock (in this case wood) by: Fitting the barreled action and relieving material where necessary at the contact points and slot milling the face for the recoil lug back 1/8”
Relieve or ensure 1/8” across the full length of the barrel channel up the receiver face.
I need to set the pillars so I assume I can square the pillars to the receiver, using temporary bolts (smaller OD head) and apply bedding compound to both the pillar and stock bed in one step?
Questions:
I use tape to build up closer to the muzzle to set a fulcrum point to keep the barreled action level….if I do this pre-bed, the tape build will be too low. ???
If I do this in one step (assuming that’s correct), I should use pillars with cupped tops and file to fit the receiver bottom circumference? The concern being bedding material getting into the piller ID.
I don’t think that aluminum bedding blocks are milled prior to bedding so the stock prep above should concentrate on only the tang and fwd the recoil lug? Just the recoil lug and ensure barrel clearance?
There is no index or detent for the receiver when compressed. If I cut the pillars +.100, I can expect that the added bed won’t exceed this? Is +.100 a good additional length on top of measuring from the bottom of the receiver circumference through the action hold to the BM inlet? I read that as excessive. Do I need to expect to have to mill down the pillar, once set, at the BM?
Once this assembly sets, it does not take into account the bottom metal. If the bottom metal is pre-drilled, I expect that the tapered screw face can pull the action screws in non-square. If I use the bottom metal and the action screws, the longer pillars won’t compress the action as the pillars are set longer. My understanding is that I want to go pillar to pillar for the BM. So back to the previous question: how to apply compression and square the barreled action to the stock. With no block or set pillar to compress the action into; I believe it needs to be done at once. I obviously want the BM to set nice and flush.
If I can expect the pillar length to be correct, is it practice to try to bed the BM into the inlet? If so, can I cut the pillars shorter and bed them to the BM compressing both the action and the BM?
Is there any real benefit to trying to bed on the sides of the rcvr along the mag inlet?
Many thanks.
