XII. Accuracy

B. Rifle

2. How do I Epoxy Bed a Rifle?

Begin by getting the following:

• Devcon Plastic Steel; three 2-tube kits.
• Lighter fluid; a great cleaner-upper than dissolves gooey Devcon.
• Masking tape; 1-inch wide.
• Modeling clay; you pick your favorite color, I like red.
• Old newspapers to put under the stock to catch the dripping epoxy.
• Toothpicks to poke the fresh epoxy into tiny places.
• Coarse sandpaper; 80-grit.
• Wood dowel; half-inch diameter, 3 to 4 inches long.
• Neoprene O-rings; half-inch inside, five-eighths inch outside diameters.

Here's the process:

1. Before you actually take your rifle apart, use your tools........ Please carefully read these instructions as many times as needed before you actually follow them. It's important to learn why things are done in this order so you'll know what's happening. Should something not go right, if you know very well what to expect, quickly solving the problem is easy.
2. Remove the barreled action from the stock. Then rout out about one-tenth of an inch every place in the stock that contacts the reciever. Use a round ball bit in the Mototool. It doesn't have to be real smooth, just even. Don't forget to rout out the stock's recoil lug recess, too.
3. Get a couple of neoprene O-rings that have an inside diameter of a half-inch; outside diameter of about five-eighths inch. Put one on the barrel about half an inch in front of the recoil lug; the other on the barrel where it fits about half an inch back from the front end of the stock's forend. These O-rings will position the barreled action properly in the stock when the epoxy sets up.
4. Remove all parts from the reciever except the barrel. This includes the trigger, magazine, scope mount bases, etc. Then using modeling clay, fill in all the holes and recesses in the reciever. You can put a twisted piece of newspaper in the bolt way, then pack modeling clay in the magazine cutout so the bedding epoxy won't get inside the reciever. The reciever's trigger port can be filled with clay the same way. Smooth up the outside areas of the clay to where it blends in well with the reciever. Put about 3 layers of masking tape on the bottom of the recoil lug; this keeps it from bottoming out when the stock screws are torqued up as well as preventing vertical shot stringing due to the metal bouncing off this part as the bullet goes down the barrel. That part of the stock that the factory routed out to let the safety clear wood should also be filled with modeling clay.
5. Fill the stock's magazine port and trigger port with modeling clay. The top parts, next to where the reciever will eventually be, should be trimmed smooth with the top edge of the stock. Leave the stock screw holes empty. Put a cofferdam of modeling clay aroung the reciever's tang area to keep the flowing, oozing epoxy from getting away too much from this important part. Then wrap the stock's middle part with masking tape to keep the epoxy off the wood; about 5 inches in front of and in back of the reciever should be enough. Trim the tape even with the edges of the stock next to where the reciever goes; the masking tape can be put in the forend's barrel channel, too so clean-up will be easier.
6. To make a test fit, put the modeling clay packed barreled action in the clay filled stock. The O-rings should keep the reciever in the same place it was before routing the stock. If the reciever is too high, use smaller thickness O-rings, or you can wrap masking tape at the places where the O-rings are. The objective is to have the barreled action position itself properly in the stock so that later, when the bedding epoxy is setting up, an absolutely perfect fit between the hard epoxy and reciever is done.
7. Use Simonize car wax as an epoxy release agent. Smear a thin coat all over the reciever and barrel, then smooth it up by polishing it just like you would your car. The very thin film left will make the epoxy-to-metal contact perfect. And put wax on the stock screws, too; in the thread area as well as on the body of the screws. I suggest going to your hardware/gun store and getting a couple of correct thread socket-head screws of a length to fit your rifle. These will be much easier to remove after the epoxy has hardened with their hexagonal socket. If they're a quarter-inch longer than the stock screws, that's about perfect. Wrap enough masking tape on the screws next to their heads to hold them in their respective stock holes. This lets you put 'em in place before your pour in the bedding epoxy. Put the stock screws in the stock. A trial fit of metal to wood will tell you if all fits properly.
8. Get some Devcon Plastic Steel from your local hardware store at about $2.65 per two-tube kit; you'll need three kits. Mix the epoxy and hardener together in a plastic container. Mix it very, very well; you have plenty of time, like two hours before it starts to get just a little bit hard.
9. Position the stock firmly in a padded vice so the stock screws can be later tightened from the bottom. Then put a cofferdam of clay in front of the recoil lug area so the epoxy won't flow under the barrel. If you are satisfied with everything at this point, pour in the epoxy around the reciever area. Use a toothpick to be sure the epoxy gets into all the nooks and crannies; being careful not to damage the modeling clay you put in the stock.
10. Position the barreled action into the modeling clay by starting the barrel into the front of the stock, then easing the reciever into the epoxy. When the reciever gets close to the bottom, put in the stock screws and tighten them up just enough to put the reciever in the vertical position it needs to be. As the epoxy oozes out, clean it off with a plastic spoon or knife. It gets really messy at this point, but the end result is worth it.
11. Finish clean up of the oozed-out Devcon. Then stand back and admire what you've done. Finally, go away from it for about 24 hours; the epoxy will cure just as fast without you watching it. Clean up yourself and your tools with the lighter fluid.
    Do not use lighter fluid to clean off any oozing epoxy from around the reciever where it fits into the stock. Any lighter fluid used in this area will work its way between the epoxy and reciever, diluting the wax used as a release agent. When this happens, the epoxy bonds extremely well with the reciever. Later, if this bad situation exists, when the barreled reciever is forced out of its bedding, any metal areas whose release agent wax diluted will pull the stock wood out with it. Some folks have had this happen and really got upset when a nice stock split and broke out as it was bonded to the metal.
    Instead, scrape the oozed out epoxy off with a plastic knife or spoon. Use lighter fluid to clean off the tools used and your hands. If the stock is well protected with masking tape, it's OK to let any epoxy on it just harden. It'll come off when you take the tape off the stock.
12. 24 hours after you left the curing epoxy, come back with your rubber- faced mallet. Before you use the mallet, remove the stock screws with an Allen wrench. They'll come out hard, but for sure if you put wax on 'em. Hold the stocked barrel/action upside down across your lap. With one hand holding the forend just in front of the reciever, gently tap the underside of the barrel with the mallet. This should start working the reciever loose from its bedding epoxy. As soon as you see the barrel pointing up a bit higher than it was, gently pull it up the rest of the way by hand. The reciever will slide out of the epoxy easily as it's nice and round. The recoil lug prevents full tilt-out, so you'll have to work the barreled action back and forth to get it out. After it's out, note the perfect fit in every minute detail of where the reciever meets the bedding epoxy.
13. After admiring your perfect work for a while, start cleaning up the stock. Use the Mototool to trim the epoxy over flow and down into the magazine and trigger ports. Just make the epoxy surfaces look just like the original stock looked like before you routed it out. A flat file will trim and smooth up the top edges around where the reciever goes. Rout out the part behind the cofferdam, too, being sure to remove the part that touched the barrel. Be sure all the modeling clay is removed.
14. Clean up the metal by removing all the modeling clay and bolt way filler. After the metal parts are cleaned up, spray-clean the complete reciever with carbeurator spray cleaner, then rinse with WD40 or something to prevent it rusting. Put back the trigger and other parts you removed.
15. Fit the metal to the stock, noting places where someting might not clear. Use the Mototool to remove epoxy so everything fits. When it's just right, put in the stock screws and torque them to about 60 inch/pounds.
16. Take your newly bedded rifle, some of your favorite ammo and someone you want to impress to your nearest rifle range. Enjoy!!!!!!!