Acra-Glas ... be careful out there!

W

williamd

New member
I have bedded many rifles over the years. The new gels are far superior to work with than the liquid I used to use. Excitement is when you set the bbled-action into the stock and notice liquid dripping out through the trigger. QUICK, the lacquer thinner! Not with gel.

So did two Rem M700s this last weekend. Laying in bed when I wondered if I had filled the bolt holes (stock to rifle) with clay on the second. Out to the shop. Answer: NO! Next morning got the bbl-action out of the stock w/o too much difficulty ... did not have to use the old 2x4 approach! But, action holes full of very hard A-Glas. Punch ... no go. Ping and bounce! So, drill and tap ... maybe w/o ruining threads, but prepared to re-tap and find new screws. Drilled a bit undersized. Tried brass brushes on a portable drill. Quickly went through three brushes w/o noticeable impact to Glas! Saw a woven stainless brush in my kit. Why not? Well, cleaned the Glas out quickly and thoroughly and no damage to the threads!!! Will get a couple of new woven ss brushes. That will insure I do not forget the holes again!

I will count me lucky! I have seen disasters with glass bedding! One on an early and spectacular Weatherby Mk V ... heck those were built for beauty, not accuracy anyway. But, a one piece one!! :D
 
My last bedding, I was cognizant that I was woefully low on real play dough. Ran down to dollar store and picked up cheap chinese stuff. Did ya'll know some of that crap melts and oozes right along with the heat (I guess) of the acraglass.
 
About an hour after setting the glas in my savage 110, I came to the realization that I had pushed glass up into the bolthead region when I put the base bolt in. Barely got the bolt out and did the laquer thinner thing w/ rags and a brush and got it cleaned out...wheew.
elkman06
 
glass

Sir;
In my youth I was helping a friend glass a Mod. 70 action and while we were stirring the mix it suddenly became hard and hot - you're quite right!
Harry B.
 
That's called an exothermic reaction. Mixing up large quantites of epoxy can cause that, since epoxy warms up slightly as it reacts- so larger quantites generate more heat. I was repairing a fiberglass model sailplane a feww years ago, and mixed up about 3 ounces of epoxy in a plastic party cup. I got my repair done and plapped down on the couch. Hey, whats that sizzling sound?

I looked back at my hobby table and smoke was coming up from the cup! I lept up and grabbed the cup and ran outside with it, just in time for the bottom to melt out of the cup. When I moved out of the apartment a few years later that hardend blob of Tap Plastics Superhard 4-into-1 was still there, and was very resistant to my efforts to remove it.

If youre mixing up large quantites, you can pour it out of the mixing cup quickly on to a sheet of glass, which will increase the surface area and give it longer "pot life".
 
I suggest that you use modeling clay instead of Play-Doh to fill holes. The Play-Doh contains significant amount of salt (NaCl) that will rust your action in a heartbeat.

Clemson
 
modeling clay as well!

I personally like the 2 guns kits as well and have found that I can get up to 4 guns done with 1 kit.

Oh and I too have had "1 piece" guns while I was still learning that you can never use too much release agent ( I always get a spare tube of it nowdays) :D
 
epoxy

Sir;
I've been using Brownells "steel bed" and am well pleased with it; be sure to use the release agent they send with it!
Harry B.
 
I have been using my own mixture for years with great success. Fine sifted brake drum lathe shavings (sieved to almost powder) and good old 2 part epoxy.
 
About an hour after setting the glas in my savage 110, I came to the realization that I had pushed glass up into the bolthead region when I put the base bolt in. Barely got the bolt out and did the laquer thinner thing w/ rags and a brush and got it cleaned out...wheew.
elkman06
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My first bedding job ever went just like this - it was a Winchester M70 and when I noticed all that gel up in the bolt lug area I about freaked out, ripped it apart and frantically started cleaning it up before it hardened. I had used way too much glass in the recoil lug area and did not know how to deal with the action hole.

How about separating that first bedding job - talk about suspense!
 
Yes, bedding can be exciting. I have done enough to know better ... but! Have had a few guys cry on my shoulder over their one piece guns. But, I honestly do not know much one can done to a glass filled trigger or, as the Weatherby my friend 'Pickle' did. Pickle used no release agent and bedded the entire bbl/action. Laughed 'til I cried. Pickle did not ... you had to know him!!! He finally busted and scraped the stock off but had a lot more to deal with. He wanted to sell it for parts ... I said for part - singular! :D Too funny .... since it was him and not me. Knock on wood!
 
Pickle used no release agent and bedded the entire bbl/action. Laughed 'til I cried. Pickle did not ... you had to know him!!! He finally busted and scraped the stock off but had a lot more to deal with. He wanted to sell it for parts ... I said for part - singular!
Click to expand...
You should have bought it from him for $10 before he started busting things. You do know that you can freeze them at 0 degrees and the epoxy will release, right? As for the trigger and other small metal parts, you can heat them to 350-400 degrees and the epoxy will release.

Who's laughing now?
 
Scorch, the old rifle builder that I hung around and aggravated for years kept a freezer in his shop just for that. Well, he may have had a little ice cream in it.:)
 
I learned a long time ago to use lots of mold release.

I found at Grainger's industrial spray cans of mold release, and that works very well on surfaces that I want a tight fit.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/4KK78

4KK78.JPG



For everything else, like the stock, the barrel, screw heads, anything I might touch and leave a dab of glue, I coat with Johnson's Paste Wax. The stuff in the can.
 
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