Bedding question

R

rjgonzo

Rick in AZ
I'm helping a friend fix up a hunting rifle. It's a 7mm wsm on a Rem 700 action with a Richards stock. We finished the pillar bedding which turned out pretty good, but when he clear coated the stock he didn't mask off the bedding and coated the whole thing. I think it could be a potential problem but he thinks it's fine because it is pretty even.
Any opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Rick Gonzalez
 
rjgonzo said:
I'm helping a friend fix up a hunting rifle. It's a 7mm wsm on a Rem 700 action with a Richards stock. We finished the pillar bedding which turned out pretty good, but when he clear coated the stock he didn't mask off the bedding and coated the whole thing. I think it could be a potential problem but he thinks it's fine because it is pretty even.
Any opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Rick Gonzalez
Click to expand...

Kinda depends on how thick and even the coat is. With the clear coat added, the left-to-right width of the opening in the stock is now two narrow by double the clear coat thickness. And the action will sit higher in the stock by the thickness of the clear coat in the bottom of the inlet. The recoil lug will be farther forward in the stock by the thickness of the clear coat. All this might be OK if the coat is really thin.

If the clear coat is not even, then the action will be canted in the stock. The other thing to consider is that paint is generally softer than hardened bedding, which will allow it to "squish" around the screws when the screws are tightened, and push the action upward elsewhere.

Best to sand the clear coat off, I think.
 
I would tape it off, or all the work you did bedding it will be waisted. It's no big deal to tape it off....... jim
 
Thanks

I appreciate the responses. We May try a chemical approach. It turns out to be a Polyurethane clear coat. We will test some products first before trying it on the rifle. I'm thinking mineral spirits or thinner.
 
Just remember that whatever you choose to do, you asked the question because you had reservations & they will surface any & every time the gun doesn't perform to expectations. It's the shooting equivalent of those ear worm jingles you can't forget.
 
It's just too easy to scratch it out! I could turn this job out in an hour using a screwdriver and an old hacksaw blade......
 
Sounds like he wants someone to tell him it'll be ok as it is or that it's ok to half ass it by bedding over paint,LOL!!!
Some times it seems ok to do something wrong if someone else is there saying it's alright even if you know its wrong. He new it wasn't right or he wouldn't have posted the question.
Don't clear coat over bedding and don't bed over clear coat. It usually takes longer to convince your self to do it over than it does to do the work the second time.
Go do it!
 
Some years ago, a friend who was an old school stockmaker, made me a couple of inletting scrapers. He used pieces of power hacksaw blade, grinding them to shape on his bench grinder, double ended with a different shape or radius on ether end. If you search on ebay you should see lots of them for sale.The longer ones seem to be the best value. You could probably score them with an abrasive cutoff wheel and snap pieces off in a vise. I measured one and it is 4 1/2 inches long.
 
Nice ..I hope your problem have been solved. In fact I am agree with Allen..
baby bedding
 
Last edited by a moderator:
rjgonzo said:
I'm helping a friend fix up a hunting rifle. <snip> I think it could be a potential problem but he thinks it's fine because it is pretty even.
Click to expand...

It's his rifle, and he's happy. Where's the problem?
 
I do all my bed jobs with a dremel pencil flex cable the earlier model as it can be grasped in the horizontal position in the barrel channel and do the entire inletting job with a diamond bur bit and sanding drums....For the sake of tolerance remove the bedding and start over....
 
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