Cosmoline
Member
Well it's now 12:47 AM and I just wrapped up the last of the bedding stages for my M1A scout. I used a Miles Gilbert kit sans the little glass beads. I found this site to be enormously useful:
http://imageseek.com/m1a/M1A_Bedding/
And as a word of warning, the bedding collar you can get for the M1 does NOT work with the Scout because the barrel is too short. So while I had that, I was stuck using the coat hanger. I'm not after uber accuracy so I doubt it will matter.
One thing I'd do different is create a clay lump to preserve a channel in the forward bedding base to avoid having to chisel or dremel a slot for the spring afterwards. It struck me in crafting it that this piece of bedding is essentially a new part for the rifle. And if I do it again I'll use a stronger epoxy. This stuff is OK, but it's not designed to be a free standing structural component and I have my doubts the front bedding will last all that long. I'm also thinking about installing a permanent wooden base which can then be epoxied to perfect the fit.
I was very liberal with the release compound, and I'm very grateful for it. Everything popped loose quite easily.
I'd suggest using good chisels instead of the dremel because you can control the cuts with the chisels better and you don't want this stuff turned into breathable dust.
I did not bother to tape up my stock, because it's an old beater. Instead I just slopped some break free around the exposed exterior wood and it was quite easy to remove the overflow.
The difficulty in the project lies in the multiple stages and the need to construct pretty extensive clay dams. There are also a lot of complex parts that must be filled in with clay to prevent the catastrophe of compound setting inside a spring. You're not just create a perfect surface for contact, you're changing the stock's architecture to include a front support that doesn't exist otherwise. I used standard modeling clay that doesn't dry or shrink. Getting it cleaned out of the action was not easy, but it did serve its purpose. I believe there are stiffer clays that would probably be easier to remove, but I suspect they would be prone to permitting seepage underneath.
I just wrapped the receiver and stock in duct tape during setting times. It worked fine.
I'll see how accuracy has improved next weekend.
http://imageseek.com/m1a/M1A_Bedding/
And as a word of warning, the bedding collar you can get for the M1 does NOT work with the Scout because the barrel is too short. So while I had that, I was stuck using the coat hanger. I'm not after uber accuracy so I doubt it will matter.
One thing I'd do different is create a clay lump to preserve a channel in the forward bedding base to avoid having to chisel or dremel a slot for the spring afterwards. It struck me in crafting it that this piece of bedding is essentially a new part for the rifle. And if I do it again I'll use a stronger epoxy. This stuff is OK, but it's not designed to be a free standing structural component and I have my doubts the front bedding will last all that long. I'm also thinking about installing a permanent wooden base which can then be epoxied to perfect the fit.
I was very liberal with the release compound, and I'm very grateful for it. Everything popped loose quite easily.
I'd suggest using good chisels instead of the dremel because you can control the cuts with the chisels better and you don't want this stuff turned into breathable dust.
I did not bother to tape up my stock, because it's an old beater. Instead I just slopped some break free around the exposed exterior wood and it was quite easy to remove the overflow.
The difficulty in the project lies in the multiple stages and the need to construct pretty extensive clay dams. There are also a lot of complex parts that must be filled in with clay to prevent the catastrophe of compound setting inside a spring. You're not just create a perfect surface for contact, you're changing the stock's architecture to include a front support that doesn't exist otherwise. I used standard modeling clay that doesn't dry or shrink. Getting it cleaned out of the action was not easy, but it did serve its purpose. I believe there are stiffer clays that would probably be easier to remove, but I suspect they would be prone to permitting seepage underneath.
I just wrapped the receiver and stock in duct tape during setting times. It worked fine.
I'll see how accuracy has improved next weekend.
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After bedding the M1A or Garand anything else is cake. The coat hanger has worked for me with the SAI rifle.