So my freshly trued/re-barreled/Cerakoted action is now resting quietly in a bed of mud. ;-)
As promised, here are some captioned photos describing how I went about this;
Photo 1
Here is the stock 99% prepped. The taping actually took quite a bit of time to get just right. As I mentioned earlier, the barreled action sat nearly perfectly in this new A5 stock. The first step of the taping process was to wrap the barrel at the front of the stock to match the already perfect gap. Basically with the action sitting in the stock, the tape held the barrel up in the stock so the tang sat normally in the rear while retaining contact between the receiver and both pillars (see Photo 2 below).
Because I let the barreled action sit in the mud held only by gravity, I did not want to use putty as a dam in front of the lug. So I created a dam with tape in the stock and around the barrel with a tiny gap in between to allow the excess mud in the lug recess to flow into. This will leave a straight, even line after the excess epoxy is trimmed away.
The bedding surfaces in the stock were roughed-up with a file to give the mud a little more grip. After this photo was taken compressed air was used to blow out the dust and the surface was cleaned with acetone before the mud was applied.,
Photo 2
Here is the barreled-action prepped and ready to be dropped into the mud. I used
Meguiar's M8 Maximum Mold Release Wax as a release agent, applying many coats. The openings in the receiver in the bedding area were filled with plumber's putty and then I coated the putty with
Brownell's Accraglass Release Agent.
Two 1/4-28 X 2-1/2" bolts were used to make the studs to align the receiver in the stock. The studs were wrapped with painter's tape so they fit snugly in the pillars. I used the Brownells release agent on the threads and inside the pillars.
The lug was taped on the sides, bottom and front with two layers of exterior painter's tape, which is made of vinyl instead of paper.
Immediately in front of the lug, the barrel was wrapped to create a dam in conjunction with the tape in the stock. More tape was applied on the barrel in front of that to protect it.
Photo 3
Here you can see the ring of tape toward the front of the barrel that is used to hold the barreled-action level and straight in the stock. You can also see in comparison to the barrel how shiny the receiver is from all the wax on it.
Photo 4
With the Marine Tex applied to the bedding surfaces in the stock, it was simply a matter of dropping the barreled action into the mud. It did take a little hand assistance to displace the mud out of the lug recess, and it flowed out the sides and forward through the gap in the tape just as planned. Once the barreled action was very close to being seated I let gravity do the rest, pushing out the last of the mud that had to be displaced. Once the oozing stopped a few minutes later, I knew that gravity had fully seated the action in the mud in a 100% stress-free manner.
Clean-up with Marine Tex is very easy with just water. I had some warm water, paper towels, Q-Tips and tooth picks handy to clean up the oozing mud.
Photo 5
Closer-up view of the finished (for now) clean-up job using only water. You can also see how I had to bed the rear of the scope rail a few days ago using JB Weld - with just the front two screws tightened a sheet of paper could slide straight through in the rear.
The Marine Tex is hardening on schedule, I will probably pop it out this evening. More photos coming...