Forearm Bedding

[HEAD0001]

I am in the middle of refinishing a new stock for my Encore. I ordered a 6.5X284 barrel. I would like to bed the forearm. It will be the only barrel used with this forearm. Can anyone give me some instructions as to how to bed the forearm? Any instruction would be helpful. I consider myself ignorant to the art of gunsmithing, but with a little help this is something I think I can handle. Thanks, Tom.

[Bass Ackward]

Tom,

It's fairly straight forward .... IF .... you read the instructions.

The question is not so much how, the kits come with everything you need except the confining material. The instructions are fairly clear. And I would highly recommend that you do read and follow the instructions. Did I say this once before? Or I can GUARANTEE that that forearm will never be used with another barrel.

The real question you have to decide is what purpose do you want the bedding to perform? Cosmetics for wood to metal fit? Vibration control of the barrel? POI stabilization in a bag? And the key there is simply locating your flow control material in the proper locations forming a mold to keep the glass WHERE YOU want it and out of where you DON'T.

I would recommend anything thick or that you can thicken until you gain some experience / confidence..

[montana_charlie]

I am in the middle of refinishing a new stock for my Encore. I ordered a 6.5X284 barrel. I would like to bed the forearm.

Actually (if I can be picky) you want to bed the barrel (in the forearm).
There are three basic ways to bed a barrel.
- Full contact: The barrel (and receiver) are in full contact with the stock as though the steel was poured into the wood.
- Partial contact: The receiver is fully bedded, while the barrel only contacts the stock at one point. The location of that point and the amount of pressure it applies to the barrel are variables, but critical to accuracy.
- Free floated: The receiver is fully bedded while the barrel (everything forward of the recoil lug) has no contact with the stock at all.
Many rifles shoot well with a free floated barrel, but not all...especially those in sporter weights. If you begin with a free float, you can add a contact point later, if needed, and you can try different ones - and different pressures - until you find the 'magic' for that barrel.

The first rifle I stocked was fully bedded, and it was a traditional wood-to-metal job. It was very time-consuming for two reasons...in this process wood is removed in very small increments, and being my first time I was extremely careful.
If you want to do it, for the experience and the education about how to shape wood, I recommend that you get a good book.

Eventually, I did glass-bed that first rifle, but not because it shot poorly. I wanted to learn the technique, and that was the only gun I had to learn on.

Since the wood around the receiver already fit the metal perfectly, I was able to hog out wood to hold the glass, but left 'high points' in the original bedding job to support the metal while the glass cured with the action screws tightend down.
The barrel was still layed in the original wood fit.

I then free-floated the barrel, and got an even separation between steel and glass by covering the barrel with two carefully applied layers of electrician's tape.
It was during this job that I bedded the recoil lug, having used modeling clay to keep glass out of the recess during the receiver bedding process.

This was the square, flat, lug on the Remington 700, and I layered the sides and front of the lug with tape to prevent contact on those two surfaces. Only the back of the lug made full contact when the glass cured.
In all areas, including the top surface of the electrician's tape, I used paste wax as the release agent.

What I described above are just tips that cover some of the 'extra details' of glass bedding. The instructions that come with the product, and a couple of good books or magazine articles on the subject, will give you the basics of the procedure.
CM

[lovedogs]

Give a hard listen to Bass. Your Encore is a whole nuther cat to bed. I've been bedding things for about 35 years and don't think it difficult at all. But you should take precautions or you'll wind up taking that forearm off with an axe. I've not found it necessary to bed any of the Encore or Contenders but would imagine the best way would probably be a solid bed from end to end with this design. You'd want to leave a gap where the screw holds the forearm on though. I'd think a pillar-bed would work well around the attaching screw to keep you from over-tightening that screw. Over-tightening it is one of the major causes of vertical stringing on these models. To keep the goop from running back against the action and locking block you'd probably want to build a clay dam. Tape the stock to keep from getting it all gooped up, too. It should be pretty easy, easier than a bolt action.

[waksupi]

First thing, don't use Acraglas. Use Acragel, and you won't be chasing the drips all over the place.

[lovedogs]

Does anyone still use the liquid? Why? I guess it'd be better for running it into cracks and using it to do glue-type repairs but for bedding I can't see why anyone would use anything other than the gel.

[NVcurmudgeon]

If Micro-Bed is still on the market it is very stay put friendly.

[Mk42gunner]

Another vote for acraglas gel here, it takes very little dye to color it to match the wood.


Remember, "Release agent is my friend," now say this about seventeen times everyday until you do the job.


Good Luck,


Robert

[Firebird]

What is the point of bedding the forearm of an Encore?

Typical rifle with a full stock I understand and montana charlie listed the whats and whys of doing a bedding job. But the forearm of an Encore is attached to the barrel, and only the barrel. So to full-float the barrel you simply remove the forearm. Why would you want the forearm fully bedded to the barrel? Would probably change the POI of any already developed loads due to the barrel vibration pattern changing, but I don't understand why it would make the firearm itself any more or less accurate.

[lovedogs]

Release agent is a requirement but another helpful thing is Johnson's paste wax. Sometimes it's handy in bedding projects, too. Another thing that works well is to use surgical tubing to pull things "gently" into place. Using the screws can sometimes flex things which is not desireable. Just wrap the tubing snugly and it'll pull things down snug and even without undue pressure. It comes off nice in case you get goop on it, too. You get goop on a screw and you may wind up using your hatchet if the release agent didn't work. I just use screws to align things and tubing for the pressure and holding in place. Besides the release agent you can dip the screws in liquified wax and it helps keep from sticking, also.

[waksupi]

I definitley would not full bed the barrel in the stock. When the barrel heats up, it expands. This equals poor accuracy, when the metal starts pushing the wood around.