Gunsmithing Savage Bedding Project

[flyboy10]

Before bedding, the Savage 10FCP McMillan was capable of sub-0.5" groups (most groups were at or around 0.6"), with the best group of five @ 100yds being under a dime ES.

Well, the Devcon came in last Thursday and I decided to see if I could permanently weld the rifle into the McMillan this morning... Not really, I'm actually about 98% certain it'll come out.

The stock prior to prep:

A little fancy Dremel work:

I drilled holes and then cleaned everything prior to action prep - a layer of Kiwi shoe polish, then plumber's putty and silly putty in the open spots:

Another layer of Kiwi, some tape, and we were ready for final stock prep:

Mix and apply the Devcon:

Setting the action in the stock (I wasn't happy with the amount of excess material that came out so ended up pulling the action, applying more Devcon, and setting again):

T-11hrs and counting...

 

[Petey]

Re: Savage Bedding Project

Looks good! Looking forward to seeing how it shoots when it's all done.

 

[JWV]

Re: Savage Bedding Project

From the quality of prep you did, I have no doubts that this bedding job will come out very nice. Don't forget to shoot it after!!!

 

[flyboy10]

Re: Savage Bedding Project

Thanks - good or bad, I'll make sure to put pictures up when it comes apart. And I'm fairly certain that I'll remember to shoot it, or at least give it a more prominent place in the safe...

 

[flyboy10]

Re: Savage Bedding Project

Pulled the action this morning and all looked good except for a little bit of chipping around the front lug:

Cleaned it up with the Dremel and everything still looked pretty good (except for the chips - how bad are those going to be? should I touch them up, or would that fubar the whole thing?):

And then as I was doing a final wipe-out, an air pocket popped through just to the right of the front bolt hole (below it in the picture):

With the action installed and torqued:

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Would it be worth it to fill in the air pocket?

 

[A-Rok]

Re: Savage Bedding Project

If it really concerns you, open up the air pocket a little bit with a dremel and fill er up, and re-set your action in the stock. I'd be really, really surprised if that pocket negatively affected accuracy though.

 

[tomcatfan]

Re: Savage Bedding Project

Let us know how this shoots when you get a chance. I've been toying with the idea of bedding my savages. I just wonder how much you are going to improve accuracy.

 

[anthonylapoint]

Re: Savage Bedding Project

Flyboy, I noticed you didn't tape around the tang for spacing or wrap around the action and stock to keep it tight together. Are those missing pictures or is that how you did it? Does the tang still float?

 

[flyboy10]

Re: Savage Bedding Project

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SavageMOA</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Flyboy, I noticed you didn't tape around the tang for spacing or wrap around the action and stock to keep it tight together. Are those missing pictures or is that how you did it? Does the tang still float?</div></div>
I followed wnroscoe's directions (sticky on bedding under this topic); specifically NOT taping around the action to keep it tight. The electrical tape around the barrel close to the recoil lug and closer to the front of the forearm keep the action level; the weight of the action and barrel keep it in the bedding compound after you initially set it.

The tang is still floated (pics posted yesterday in response to your thread/question were from the completed project). I didn't put any bedding compound in that area of the stock or on that area of the action, as such, didn't see a need to tape it. I'm guessing the float at the tang is less than 0.020" (I'll gage it and post results).

 

[USAF SP]

Re: Savage Bedding Project

So how's it shoot? I plan on doing mine next week.