instructions for glass-bedding a rifle

do i have any volunteers for this? i'd like someone to post step-by-step, easy to follow instructions for glass-bedding a rifle, which is one step in the accurization process. i COULd go out and copy and paste an article from the internet of course, but considering the talent here, let's see what we can do.

things such as a list of materials needed, estimate of the cost and the time it will take to do the project would be good too.

let's see if we really CAN make BSB "the sportzman'z rescouce!

thanks!

ok, i'll throw a couple pennies into the ring... one thing i've learned is that there are many different ways to do it, and not many are blatantly wrong...so, this is how i do it for my rifles:

prep work... this can't be overstated. i like to start w/ a free floating barrel. next, i get a tube of lipstick from my wife*, and put a sanding drum on the dremel. i begin by removing all the lacquer/sealer/stuff from the action area. then i 'paint' the bottom of the action w/ lipstick (red shows the best, but use whatever color turns ya on), and put the rifle back into the stock (carefully). then, press down firmly (not hard) on the center of the action. pull the rifle back out of the stock (carefully). you'll see spots, lines, and areas on the wood that have lipstick on them. dremel these spots w/ the sanding drum. put the action back into the stock, and press down again. pull it out and dremel again. repeat this process until you can push down on the action, and find no lipstick on the wood. it doesn't take too long - maybe 45 minutes.

ok, the hardest part of the stock work is done, and it takes about 30 minutes to do that part. next part of the stock work:

take the sanding drum off the dremel, and replace it w/ a cutter. the cutter i use looks very much like a mini- circle-saw blade, and is about 1/8" thick, 1/4" in diameter. i put several deep gouges in the entire area to be bedded. typically, i will carve 4 straight lines around the front action screw hole; 1 set of lines that run paralell to each other going across the stock, and 1 set that runs 'with' the stock. then a single long line over 50% or more of the length of the rail on each side, and then a last, small 'box' around the tang screw. last, i create a dam for where i want the compound to stop. i locate the dam at as close to where the cartridge's shoulder/neck area as i can get it. ok, stock prep is done and that step took about 15 minutes, less if you are comfy w/ your dremel.

now... metal prep. first, locate everything that will create a mechanical lock (on remingtons there is none except the trigger, savages probably should have that little hole behind the recoil lug and the bottom of the barrel nut filled), and fill w/ play-do (note, this stuff dries out and shrinks, so you have to bed within a few hours of putting the stuff in - also note that it will discolor your bolt). scrape the play-do off so that it fills the holes flush, no more. next, put a piece of masking tape over the gas ports. i don't remove triggers for this process, so i use masking tape to tape the whole works off, and then fill any voids w/ play-do. i like 2 layers of tape on the bottom, sides, and front of the recoil lug - none at all on the back of it. once you are sure the mechanical locks are taken care of, and everything plugged that you don't want the stuff into, go ahead and apply release agent. better safe than sorry, so use a lot more than you think you need. ok, almost done, and another 45 minutes shot...

this step is critical: get your action screws centered in their holes. it is the job of the recoil lug to handle recoil, not the screws... center the screws by wrapping masking tape around them until you can barely get them in their holes. once you are satisfied they are centered, or close to it, apply release agent generously. the bedding compound will likely run into the holes during the bedding process, so i always drill the holes out slightly oversized as a matter of course during the clean-up process. but centering them now will help locate your action where it needs to be... 15 minute job.

do as max points out and tape off the top of your stock, too, its only 10 minutes, and will save you hours in the clean up stage...

when you pour the bedding in, make sure to put enough in to fill all the voids, and have the stuff run out...

i use the action screws to tighten the rifle to the stock. snug 'em up is all... i don't torque them down, but they are certainly not loose. now, set the gun on the cradle that max mentioned, and put it someplace warm, arid, and completely out of the way. you won't even look at the gun again for at least 12 hours, and 24 hours is better... after 12-24 hours has passed, go ahead and break the screws loose, and then put them right back where you had them, and put the gun away again... you still have another 36 hours or so to wait before you should mess w/ it.

* - your wife will be pissed about the lipstick, so it is best to throw it out, and not return it, and then deny any knowledge of it whatsoever. i am dead serious.

OK.

 So we have our stock all ready to go, taped off along the barrel channel and action and all the sawdust blown away. It is setting in the cradle, or somehow supported with the barrel channel horizontal. When we test fit our barrelled action, sans (without for Wankers) trigger, it drops easily into the slightly larger inletting but does not fall down too low into the stock. If it does we have removed too much wood someplace. On a Remington I leave a little island of wood around the front reciever screw hole and a little piece behind the rear hole under the tang. As Dakota mentioned, the reciever can now rock a bit sideways, as the recoil lug recess is nice and roomy, waiting for the glass. It can move forward and back a little too. The barrel should not touch anything. If all seems proper we now coat the metal with mold release. I prefer Acrageeze from Brownell. It is a spray and needs no drying time before bedding. At my age it is always risky to wait on things. So we spray down the metal, and the barrel all the way around and out past where you think the compound will go. Do the spraying away from the wood stock. We don't want any overspray touching wood. Now prop the sprayed action/bbl on its rear tang and lean it's barrel end against the wall. Mix up the goop of choice on a nice flat surface that you can get for free by asking ol Max to send you some. When mixed apply into the stock with popsicle sticks. Don't get too close to the action screw holes. The stuff will run there when everything goes together and we want that area dry for a bit. Make sure plenty goes into the action recoil lug mortise and along the action rail area of the stock. Be a little stingy near that rear screw hole. If You didn't go crazy with a chisel or (GASP) Dremel tool, it won't take much here anyway. I don't put any in front of the recoil lug. I've done it both ways and prefer the barrel to hang out there in mid air, unless the bbl countour is heavier than a big sporter. When it all looks just perfect, and you've got bedding compound on your good shirt that your wife told you to change before starting, ask her to come help for a second. When she gets there you assemble the floor plate assembly with screws- coated with release agent of course, and push it up into the stock and have her hold it there while you lower the bblled action down into the stock. If your hold you mouth just right the action screws will be sticking up above the sea of bedding compound, in the center of that nice safe little island of wood, and the screws can get a start into the action threads without swimming thru bedding compound. STart the screws and snug up the front one first, then the rear. Snug is good enough if you have a nice even flow of squeezed out compound all along both sides of the action. Amounts depend upon how much you slopped in there. I can usually feel if things are right when I push the action down into the bedding compound. The floor plate SHOULD orient the screws vertically and for and aft. If you inletted too sloppily and glass in that action with the recoil lug rolled to one side, not straight up and down, you will say bad words when trying to get it back out of the stock when the stuff is cured. If you have just a little squeeze out yu can clean up the edges with a q-tip soaked in acra eeze. With bigger globs wait until the stuff firms up quite a bit and it will cut off nice and clean with one of those pop sicle sticks you have sharped to look like a scewed chisel or sanded down to a knife like edge. Wait until the stuff is firm befor trying to dress it up. If not you migh wipe off release agent with the wet goop and make a mess you won't like.

I will co-sign on Dakotas advice with one exception. I always sneek in and turn each screw a tiny fraction- maybe 1/8 turn and then back, about 2 hours into the cure. It won't jepordize anything and gives me peace of mind that I haven't gotten a big wad of compound up into the front reciever ring, pushed there by the screw. That is a bad deal and the reason to try and get that front screw touching the hole in the reciever without much compound with it. I have plugged that front hole with clay and pushed the clay up into the action. When in doubt I have also wet down the rciever inside with releae agent before putiing the action down into the stock.

I am too anxious to wait 24 hours and usually get a job bedded in the evening and take it loose the next morning. That can be an adventure too and another installment.

 Amen Brother. Headless action screws screwed into the reciever and THEN coated with mold release and pushed down into the stock is the Kosher way.

I also like my recoil lug bedded tight on the sides and not touching on the bottom. I don't use tape but take a few swipes with a file on the bottom of the lug after bedding. I don't like trying to dig out that tape from the lug mortise.