Sleeved Rem. 722 question

A

Al Nyhus

"It'll never work!"
I've posted this in the 'Gunsmithing' section but also here for those that don't visit that section.

I'm looking for a little info on a sleeved 722 that I'm working with.

It's a pretty slick gun and was originally done by the late Seely Masker. The aluminum sleeve is 9" long, 1.625 wide, shaped like a Panda with a flat bottom and a nice integral recoil lug and glued in to a Lee Six stock. Removing the barrelled action was no problem...the standard clothes iron technique I've always used worked like usual. I'm not sure whose sleeve it is...possibly a Davidson or maybe one that Mr. Masker made?

Anyway, my original thinking was to remove the sleeve and re-epoxy it to the receiver just to ensure that time hadn't loosened up the bond. The material holding the sleeve and action together is not an epoxy. It seems to be almost some sort of 'grout' or 'cement' agent. It reminds me of Durham's Rock Hard, for those familiar with that product. Heat does not release it or change it from solid to soft, like epoxy does.

What types of bonding agents were commonly used in that era? I've gone back through my old P.S. magazines as well as the Benchrest Shooting Primer but don't see anything that specifically addresses that. The closest thing I've come across is an article in the Sept. 1983 issue of P.S. by Don Spencer ('Taking Them Apart') where Mr. Spencer states that the heat used to remove a glued in sleeve from the stock does not affect the material used to join the action to the sleeve.

Added: I did find an obscure reference to sleeves of this era being machined off due to the bonding agent used...supposedly a product used to coat steam pipes on ships. This kind of fits with what I'm seeing. Thoughts?

I'll hang some pics for reference. Having the sleeve off would certainly make the work I need to do easier but it's not mandatory.

Thanks for any help or info on this. It's a pretty slick rig from the era. The aim is to modernize it a bit without losing the Old School Cool factor. ;)

Good shootin'. :) -Al

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Seeley sure made some but this one looks like it might have come from Vic Swindlehurst.
 
If that’s what it is it will be difficult to remove.


CAN YOU REMOVE DURHAM'S ONCE IT HAS DRIED AND HARDENED?
Removing Durham's can be difficult, but if you get it wet and let it absorb some moisture it will not make it soft, but may help in getting it out. You will need to break it up or dig it out. Or if it's not too thick, sand it out. It needs to be removed by mechanical means. We have had pretty good luck drilling down through the middle of the patch and putting a screw or nail in to break the putty loose or into smaller pieces.

http://www.waterputty.com/durham.html
 
As an update, it appears that Embeco 885 is likely the bonding material used.

Now I can take off my 'Columbo' overcoat....... ;)

Good shootin'. -Al
 
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It's a Davidson sleeve. I used many of them when we first started shooting 1K. BAT wasn't a common name back then.
 
Got some work done on it.

Determined what would work for action screw spacing, put the pilot holes in the stock and went down with a .750 diameter piloted counter bore:

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Opened the sides of the inletting .015 per side, extended the inletting length on the front/back and opened up the recoil lug mortise. The sleeve was originally bedded with a bit of rear bias:

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Narrowed the recoil lug to remove the wedge on each side, milled the screw holes a bit and tapped for 3 action screws.

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Being a hacker, I use whatever crutch I can to help with this stuff. This gizmo helps for marking the action screws center on stocks with no pilot holes. You don't want to know what they are originally used for! :eek:

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Al

They look like the tungsten cores from armor piercing rounds?

Being a hacker, I use whatever crutch I can to help with this stuff. This gizmo helps for marking the action screws center on stocks with no pilot holes. You don't want to know what they are originally used for! :eek:

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Greg, they're carbide tipped bone screws. These go into the skull to locate what's called a Leksell frame prior to a pre-operative MRI and subsequent surgical brain biopsy.

Good shootin' and stay warm up there! :) -Al
 
Al I'd like to buy a half-dozen of those just so's when my buddies ask "what are those things" I can say "Carbide Tipped Bone Screws for skull clamping".....
 
Al,
Sometime early on I started taping up the sides of the sleeve to facilitate removal of the barreled action. When I trimmed the bottom edge I would do it with the blade angling up which left a fine line of bedding making contact at the corner.
 
Thanks, Dave. I was thinking about milling a couple degree taper on the sides of the sleeve...up to the first 'flat'. If not, I'll likely do it like I do the the bolt-in Pandas/Kodiaks...plenty of side clearance.

Thoughts?

The gawd awful green/gray paint on the sleeve and stock is some sort of epoxy-ish finish that's harder than the Hubs Of Hell. The color was actually starting to grow on me :eek: so that's when I knew it was time for it to come off. Tried two paint strippers that I had on hand and neither did a thing. Hit it with some 80 grit to open the pores up and repeated with the same two. No dice. Stopped at a commercial paint supply place that doesn't do any retail sales, told them what I was doing and asked the guy for whatever had the most skulls and crossbones on the label. ;)

He comes back from the warehouse area with a Honest To God glass Mason Jar full of a yellowish goo. Told me to wear a couple pairs of gloves and that if asked....he'd never admit to seeing me in his store!

My current situation:

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Pillars are in:

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These little 5/16" O.D./1/4" I.D. sleeves go in to center the guide pins:

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Guide pins:

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Test fitting and somehow it all fits. :confused: ;) Guide sleeves will be epoxied in prior to bedding the action. After the action is removed from the bedding the sleeves come out, leaving .031 clearance around the action screws.

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AL
When talking to guys about what we do I have a few key words that convey what's important.
Parallel
Perpendicular
Concentric
Stress free
Which means every part has it's own natural resting place. The less influence the better. I'd want to remove the guard screws and the barreled action fall out of the stock
 
Dave Tooley said:
I'd want to remove the guard screws and the barreled action fall out of the stock
Click to expand...

Dave, that's my hallmark for a well done bedding job, too. If it doesn't rattle around and simply fall out when the actions screws are removed, there's still work to do.

I've seen a couple that were so tight the dial indicator wouldn't even wiggle when the screws were cracked. -Al
 
alinwa said:
"These little 5/16" O.D./1/4" I.D. sleeves"

Could I get a source and part # for these please?
Click to expand...

Al, I used to make them. Now I get 'em from my local Ace Hardware stores. If you can't find any, PM me your info and I'll drop some in the mail to you. -Al
 
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