Bedding compounds

[Wapiti]

Hi All,
Just wanted to ask as there are some very knowledgeable people here, regarding bedding compounds.
I have used Devcon "steel" putty but found it quite brittle although it sticks to anything very well and is dark grey, and more recently Acraglass from Brownells but find it difficult to get, as well as the fact you need to colour it and I found it only comes with one tint.
Do people have any other alternatives that do a great job that are available to mail order that they like?

[Wm.Traynor]

J B Weld. Get it at Bunnings. Shoe polish for release agent. Cannot be tinted.

[phill55phill]

I use belzone 111 the same thing I use in cylinder head ports

[Bugman]

This might sound weird, but an old gunsmith I used for a bedding job, many years ago, for my Remington 788, used an epoxy that dentists used. Thats all I can remember.

[GQshayne]

Another vote for JB Weld, I have done a few jobs with it. Shoe polish as a release agent too.

[deye243]

devcon 10110

[NTSOG]

G'day,

The local gunsmith in Ballarat used Devcon when bedding three of my rifles. It's wonderful tough stuff. I used it to 'glue' the left main lifting arm on the rear PTO of my 80hp Fendt 280P tractor back on to the splined shaft. The tractor was fairly bashed around when I got it. I have no idea how the previous users managed to rip the left arm off the 2" diameter shaft. It must have taken a special effort. The splines on the shaft were partly burred. I steel-brushed the male and female parts and cleaned all the rubbish out with solvent, applied a standard mix of Devcon, pressed the arm onto the shaft and waited a few days for it to set. 6 years later the lift arm hasn't moved though I use the tractor to do all normal farming operations including ploughing and ripping.

Jim

[deye243]

More importantly it has bugger all shrinkage

[Die Judicii]

See my post (among others) in Gunsmithing "Araldite for Bedding" 09 Feb 2023.
I use that product as per my post for all my bedding needs.
Never failed,,,,,,, and cheap compared to Devcon and the likes.
From Bunnings.

[NTSOG]

G'day DJ,

"... and cheap compared to Devcon and the likes."

You're right there. Some of the more 'exotic' two-pot adhesives/fillers seem exorbitantly expensive, but the cost of a replacement shaft for my German tractor if the Devcon fix had not worked would have been extreme - if the part was still available.

Jim

[GreyDog]

As just a matter of historical interest, maybe? I recall back in about 1977 (a long time ago), as a young bloke getting into big-bore shooting with an Omark 44 308, new barrel and custom made left hand stock in Qld Walnut wood. Free floating a barrel with bedding was a voyage of discovery for me at the time. I guess we just didn't have modern materials options, or maybe just didn't treat it as 'rocket science'. I bedded the action in Selleys Plasti-bond and it did the job for the next decade. Bedding never broke down and the rifle shot under MOA all day with peep sights, as long as I was up to it .

[deye243]

As just a matter of historical interest, maybe? I recall back in about 1977 (a long time ago), as a young bloke getting into big-bore shooting with an Omark 44 308, new barrel and custom made left hand stock in Qld Walnut wood. Free floating a barrel with bedding was a voyage of discovery for me at the time. I guess we just didn't have modern materials options, or maybe just didn't treat it as 'rocket science'. I bedded the action in Selleys Plasti-bond and it did the job for the next decade. Bedding never broke down and the rifle shot under MOA all day with peep sights, as long as I was up to it .

I agree I use devcon 10110 on rem actions for long range rifles and skim bedding ally chassis .
have used plastibond on 6 howa rifles just around the lug after hoging out the wood on boyds stocks and the groups and poi have been stable for many years.

[James@Rexem]

I'm using Compset 221- 2 to 1 epoxy. I warm it up slightly before pouring with a hair dryer. Sets hard as all heck and can be tinted with either powder pigment (like concrete pigment) or liquid pigments. I've done maybe 4 rifles with it now. All shoot lights out, for what it's worth. Also adheres well to poly stocks. I tried PC-7 as well from bunnings with good results. Never tried JB weld.