Correcting a poorly inletted stock

F

fireroad

New member
Need some advice before I try my hand at pillar and glass bedding.The first rifle I am going to attempt is my Remington 700 LSS (stainless with laminate stock....full size, not "mountain" rifle). The stock is very poorly inletted as the barrel does not run true in the barrel channel when the action screws are tightened. I can set the rifle into the stock and everything appears okay until you tighten the rear screw and it cocks sideways from what looks like excess material under the tang. Can you recommend a method for determining the high spots when the inlet is not 100 correct?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm thinking of a way for the action to create marks on corresponding high spots.....Is there something I can put on the action (some sort of marker or paint) that will mark the stock so I know where to sand?
 
You can use many things from lipstick to others. Put it on the metal and install the barrel/receiver and it will mark the wood. It's better to use a scraper than sanding. www.brownells.com will have special scrapers made for for the barrel channel etc or you could make your own .
 
Brownells also sells inletting black, which, as the name suggests, is made for transfer marking for inletting, but lipstick is often used. I don't personally like getting lanolin or waxes in the wood if I am going to put any epoxy bedding in the same spot—afraid it will weaken the bond—but if you are just inletting the wood and not glassing it in that spot, that should present no obstacle.
 
Good deal, guess I need to pick up some inletting black. What about tools? A friend mentioned I should be carving/chiseling instead of sanding out excess material. Brownells sells some wood carving tools, but they either have no reviews or pretty poor reviews. Any recommendation on a decent wood carving chisel set?
 
I think you can do fine going to Woodcraft or other woodworking outfits for chisels and other general wood tools. The two kinds that Brownells has that you won't find in such a place are checkering tools and barrel channel shavers, which use sharp ground steel discs that you pull through the channel.

Frankly, you can get into some arguments with wood workers about sharpening chisels until you can cleanly shave the wood cell layers without any tearing so the final finish has the most depth and clarity. I don't personally worry about making the wood that pretty on the inside, where it can't normally be seen. I am more about function than invisible beauty. The last time I put a heavy match barrel on a Garand, I used a coarse sanding drum of the right diameter (from a Sears set) together with my Foredom tool to thin the lower hand guard to create clearance for the heavy barrel contour. It took all of three to five minutes instead of an hour of alternately shaving and fit checking with a disc tool.

I do own one of those (Barrel Bedder Jr.) and it works. Being slower, you have less risk of over-cutting than with the drums, so you can be a bit more precise with it if you want to take the time. Also, it looks to me like the full-size version offers more control and may be faster. I think you want to be in the business of regular stock work to buy one, though.
 
Last edited:
Unclenick - Thanks for the input. I'll be in Albuquerque in two weeks and will probably hit up woodworkers supply. I saw the barrel bedder tool on brownells but could not justify the cutters as my barrel channels came semi free floated from the factory so I don't have all that much material to remove from the barrel channel. I'll probably go ahead and do the sand paper wrapped around a dowel method.

Good point about not needing to get fancy with wood that you can't see. I just want an excuse to buy some wood carving tools :D (and I can be pretty heavy handed with the dremel).
 
"...pillar and glass bedding..." Different things. Different techniques.
If it's a new rifle, still under warrantee, take it back. However, if it's a rifle you want to teach yourself how to bed rifles, it doesn't matter. The glass bedding material can fix high spots.
Inletting black is just ink. Ink can be had in art supply shops. Haven't a clue how much, but anything that is sold as gunsmithing stuff, costs more.
"...What about tools?...barrel bedder tool..." Sand paper in assorted grits. Any chisel will remove too much wood. Not required for a beding job. You don't need to bend the barrel for a bedding issue either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top