[art luppino]

The recent post concerning, "Does bedding make the rifle more accurate", has some interesting follow ups. Most of these follow ups seem to come from personal experience, that makes them more interesting. Having had some experience in bedding, I'll toss my experience in.

To keep this to the point, I'll assume the bedding was done correctly and the material used was of high quality. We all should know the barrel, bullet, load, along with a reasonable amount of shooting skill is necessary to test a M1A for accuracy... Without getting into MOA or any other numbers, except one percentage, to determine if improvement has be accomplished by bedding, It is necessary to have a before and an after comparison to determine improvement.... dance2

It has been my experience that a bedded M1A demonstrates a 40% improvement... This improvement percentage resulted as a last modification performed in the Match conditioning of numerous M1A's and M1 Garands. Having done the experiment many times to convince myself, and saved the targets for display, it is safe to make this claim.

On the other hand, doing a bedding job as a single/only modification is another matter, I have no experience doing this and can not find a reason to start. Art

 

[82nd ABN]

Thanks for the post cactus comet and well said. Always a plaeasure reading your posts. I have a question if I may. I build my own actions but until I find someone that can teach me the art of bedding single and double lugged receivers with pillars and torque screw I'll gladly leave it up to the pros. My question is this, when bedding an action in fiberglass or wood is there a prefered bedding material for each type stock or could you use the same material. If the answer is they are different what would be the prefered material for each type, if not same question what do you consider the prefered bedding compound.

 

[art luppino]

This will get me in trouble...

Thanks for the post cactus comet and well said. Always a plaeasure reading your posts. I have a question if I may. I build my own actions but until I find someone that can teach me the art of bedding single and double lugged receivers with pillars and torque screw I'll gladly leave it up to the pros. My question is this, when bedding an action in fiberglass or wood is there a prefered bedding material for each type stock or could you use the same material. If the answer is they are different what would be the prefered material for each type, if not same question what do you consider the prefered bedding compound.

I use the same bedding material for all stocks.. The preferred bedding materials are Marine Tex and JB Weld. This is not the same as saying they are the best out there, as I have not tried them all... Most of the time I use JB Weld, it is much easier to mix, one to one, not by wt... JB has a long working time and can be used in colder weather with out thickening up too soon, well in Texas anyway. The other reasons are: The two JB tubes are easy to handle and not so messy, when I use Marine Tex I find evidence of it all over good Golf shirts and the house, There is just the right amount of compound in JB tubes to have excess in all most all bedding jobs. Nothing is worst than having to rush up another batch during a job...

Best for last: The store that carries JB is just around the corner, next door is the DQ, does it get any better. art

 

[bricktop]

I use the same bedding material for all stocks.. The preferred bedding materials are Marine Tex and JB Weld. This is not the same as saying they are the best out there, as I have not tried them all... Most of the time I use JB Weld, it is much easier to mix, one to one, not by wt... JB has a long working time and can be used in colder weather with out thickening up too soon, well in Texas anyway. The other reasons are: The two JB tubes are easy to handle and not so messy, when I use Marine Tex I find evidence of it all over good Golf shirts and the house, There is just the right amount of compound in JB tubes to have excess in all most all bedding jobs. Nothing is worst than having to rush up another batch during a job...

Best for last: The store that carries JB is just around the corner, next door is the DQ, does it get any better. art

What for release agent do you use? I recently bedded my Sprungfeld M1A and, for some reason, the STEEL BED is was using insisted on bonding to the "v-crevice" on the underside of the front part of the receiver. There was 2 ample coats of Brownell's blue release agent on it, but it seemed to still get into the awful machine marks (which I tried to file out as best I could). Unfortunately it ripped some wood out with it when tapping the receiver out. I managed to repair the stock and get it fixed up.

I ended up having to use saran-wrap to get a smooth receiver release. I applied a thin film of grease to the receiver and the saran wrap sticks securely to it, just being careful not to disturb it when placing the receiver in the bedding. It doesn't look too good from the repair, but the bedding is tight now.

 

[art luppino]

Release agent

What for release agent do you use? I recently bedded my Sprungfeld M1A and, for some reason, the STEEL BED is was using insisted on bonding to the "v-crevice" on the underside of the front part of the receiver. There was 2 ample coats of Brownell's blue release agent on it, but it seemed to still get into the awful machine marks (which I tried to file out as best I could). Unfortunately it ripped some wood out with it when tapping the receiver out. I managed to repair the stock and get it fixed up.


Bricktop:
It has been so long {30 yrs.** since I bought release agent, the can, one gal, I use to dip the entire receiver, is cover with stain, I can't read the label.. I do remember it came from a company in Prescott, Ariz... Never had any problems that you described. One thing may help you, apply the release agent before you clay to those difficult areas and again after claying. art

 

[mrgoodrifle]

Mrgoodrifle

Interesting observation on the percentage of improvement by bedding. I wish I had more "before" data on some of the bedding jobs but normally only tested or had the customer test "after". I have used a variety of bedding compounds over the years and now tend to use Bisonite most often but sometimes Devcon or JB. They all seem to work well and last a reasonable time. I do think that proper bedding is the most important step in turning a rack grade rifle into a match grade.
I tried the Brownells blue release agent and did not like it. It forms a film that seems to pull away from the metal. Currently I like and use Brownells "Acra-release" aerosol. The mistake some folks make is mixing the bedding compound, applying it to the stock, then spraying the clayed up metal with release agent and assembling. You have to let the spray release agent dry at least 15 minutes, more is better. In 35+ years of bedding stocks (all types),I've only stuck one and that was because I didn't let the release agent dry before assembly. A good rule is spray on the release agent , have a cup of coffee (or bowl of ice cream), then mix the bedding compound and continue.......

 

[PiKhead]

Bedding material

A friend and HM shooter recently told me he uses Titanium to bed all the M14's in his unit. He claims the action can be removed repeatedly without comprimising the bedding. Anyone else have experience (or opinions) with Titianium?

 

[bd111]

The Brownell's spray can release agent is good because it reaches all the recesses and milling imperfections the brush misses. Glue-ins suck but 24 hrs in the freezer does miracles. The barreled action will pop loose from Steelbed. JB in the tubes really shines when you've got to refresh old glass or go back in to firm up a dip or a void.