bedding a savage / suggestions please

[doobie]

after taking my savage FV model out of the stock and inspecting where the glass beddding would be on an after market stock and especially around the rear stock bolt and how close it is to the trigger assembly i assume most people either tape it up or take it out . i did some research over on savage shooters . com and quite a few people didn't glass bed their rear bolt ( question on how you can get a stable two point by doing it this way ) , only the recoil lug and front bolt . also some other people only epoxied pillars in . i would prefer to epoxie some pillars in and them come back and bed my action . at this moment i'm leaning towards a laminate stock ( stockys carries the s&k owned by remington )
another thing i was looking at is the blind magazine . is it easily removable to put in another stock ? if so how do you get it out ? mine is really tight in there .
any info and insight would be appreciated . i have absolutely no mechanic time on any savage , i have always used a remington as basis of my rifles . this is a new challange and like i said , shoot me all the wisdom and knowledge you have . maybe another newbee besides me can pick up on it also !

thanks , dan

[Ifishsum]

I have bedded them both ways - If you add a pillar in the rear, you will have to notch out the rear 1/3 to 1/2 of the pillar in order to clear the bolt release assembly in front of the trigger. Then relieve and bed up to the front edge of your pillar. It does help because of the close proximity of that hole to the trigger.

If you want to forego the pillar, it would probably be best to remove the trigger assembly, but I have successfully done it without removal by taping it off and going easy on the bedding material. If you relieve the stock directly in front of the rear screw hole but not quite to it, leaving just enough of the wood next to the hole the original height (basically creating a wood pillar around the screw hole). That will help keep your bedding from flowing back into the hole or the trigger assembly, as long as you don't put way too much compound in. I prefer to use Acraglas gel or thicker resins like Bedrock because they're easier to control.

Savage actions tend to like the tang free floating as well as the barrel. I add two layers of electrical tape to the underside of the tang as well as around the barrel near the forend during prep to ensure that they will float in these areas. Seems to work well, so far I haven't had one I couldn't get to shoot well using these methods. If pictures would help, PM me and I can send you some.

One more thing, if there's any kind of gap between the barrel nut and the barrel, fill it with clay before you put on release agent and set the action in. It can lock it in a bit - I forgot to do that on my most recent one and ended up cracking out some of the bedding when I first popped the action back out of the stock. Not enough to affect anything I don't think, but I'd rather have avoided it.

[jo191145]

doobie

Yep the rear pillar on a two bolt Sav could use some reengineering. I'm not too fond of it myself. I'll bet the accustock will become standard fare in a few years.
If your getting a stockys stock they have pillars available I think.
My first bedding job I removed the trigger. Boy was I green I did'nt pay much attention to how it came out or should go back in.
Took awhile to figure it out. Putting a Sav trigger back can be a real pain the first time. Once you master it its easy enough tho.
I tape them now. No real reason to remove them except for the expierience.

I've found good ol JB WELD does a great job as a bedding epoxy. Seems stronger than most bedding compounds designed for guns.
With that rear pillar offering so little bedding area the strongest epoxy is best. Light recoilers like the 204 might not need the extra strength. Use a weak epoxy with a 308etc. and you may find the bedding in the rear getting compressed/chewed up by the recoil.

Sure is nice having a dremel for bedding work too.

[Lenard]

6mm benchrest site has an extremely good article with pictures about bedding. The reason I bring it up, is that the fellow does not use the action screws when bedding. He uses electrical tape to hold the action/barrel in the stock. I have tried it and it works better than any other method I have tried. Just make sure to fill the action screw holes with wax.

Lenard

[jo191145]

Good point Lenard. Its quite Ok to use the action bolts loosely to make sure the action is lined up correctly. One should not tighten them down though. That will just impart any flex already present in the stock/action fit. Electrical Tape/ Surgical tubing are the answer for holding the action in place.

I found "Engine Studs" at the local Ace Hardware that fit my Sav threads. (Remmy's too) I wrap them with masking tape until they fit slightly snug in the pillars. Then just screw em into the action and drop it in checking for fit. The only advantage to these is they allow me to slip the action into the bedding with the "headless" bolts already installed. No side to side wriggling to get it lined up just right.
Inserting taped and release agent coated action bolts after dropping the stock in the bedding will push some epoxy up into the action holes too.

I tape everything in the area real good. Ifishsum mentioned it well. Back of recoil lug. Edges of lug. Barrel nut. Rear tang,trigger,magazine, exterior of stock, action above edge of stock. Tape it all and good then make darn sure you have release agent on everything you don't want epoxy to stick too.

If the guns brand new to you it might pay to shoot a few groups first to get an accuracy baseline. Might save some head scratchin later.