MDT ESS Bedding project RE: Pics reposted

Nate.308

Nate.308

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Hey guys,

Though I should post this project, get the feeling it might be useful to a few. I was lucky and had someone to hold my hand on this project so in the spirit of putting it forward here is the epoxy bedding job I did on my MDT ESS chassis.

I never indented to bed this chassis, after I swapped out the original stock (Hunter Magpul) to the ESS there was a terrible lose in accuracy. I mean TERRIBLE! In the break in process of the barrel I managed a few 5 round dime sized groups at 100m, post swap I was looking at 2.5-3 MOA. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. I approached MDT and their advice was to tap the butt of the rifle against the ground when mounting the action into the chassis before you tighten the action screws to the chassis. I was also told bedding wasn't required, well I flat out disagree with that statement because after I completed the bedding project my accuracy returned, all things being equal, load,brake etc. For the record I love MDT!!

I started by masking the chassis with painters tape. I found two tapped holes in the ESS chassis and I couldn't figure out what they were for. Rather than just fill with epoxy I masked the holes with Kiwi natural shoe polish if I need access to them later.

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I used a Dremel tool, 1/8 ball bit, to rough up the surface I will be applying the epoxy to.

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I applied Kiwi shoe polish to the barrel with my finger to the areas of the barrel that contact the chassis, this is a fantastic release agent.

JB Weld is the epoxy I picked up from Canadian Tire, a small amount was applied to the chassis and the barrel. I used a good olde fashion white candle stick and rubbed a healthy portion into the threads of the action screws to prevent the epoxy from sticking. I also used the traditional release agent in the magazine well and in the barrel action screw holes of the chassis so I didn't have any problems with epoxy in places I don't want it.

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The messy part is getting the chassis, action and screws all together, but 8 hours later I tapped the action out of the chassis with a wooden block, placed in the mag well and gently tapped out with a rubber mallet.

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I bedded the lug in two parts so I could properly mask the screw that attaches to the handguard. I wasn't sure at first what to use but with a toddler in the house it didn't take me long to snag a white crayon. It fits perfect leaving easy access if required later. With the crayon in place I applied a small amount of epoxy to the other side of the lug and chassis.

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I was happy with the results, everything is all snug and my accuracy has returned!!

Thanks to Barney and Jerry for all their help on this project, thanks guys!
 
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Ressembles my job, except my gunsmith poured over the screw you are protecting, meant to remove black plastic barricade support.

As my smith told me also, if it was truly no bedding required, there wouldn't be any bedding between chassis and recoil lug!
Mine did get into the 0.5-0.6 moa groups without bedding, if you just swapped rifle in without a new load development, i suspect it's only because harmonics we're off.
Without bedding it still was a constant without exception, sub-moa rifle.
 
So IIRC, in your other thread, you mentioned that when you had taken it back apart prior to bedding it, there was quite a bit of oil/worn away cerakote. EDIT - Maybe I was thinking of MartyK2500?

Did you try cleaning it all off and re-assembling it (and shooting it) before you bedded it? Not to say you shouldn't have bedded it or that Jerry was wrong to suggest you should; just curious if you eliminated that as being the issue prior to bedding it.

I have the ESS stock on my Tikka (In fact, I think I was shooting next to you in Pet in July?). I haven't bedded mine, but I didn't find any real change in accuracy between the original stock and the ESS (although I did have issues with my original ESS chassis base being out of spec, and they ultimately had to send me a new one.......that could be your problem....).

I also had a set of MDT rings that were out of spec (bore was too large in diameter), so it's not impossible that you got a bad chassis......
 
Worn cerakote, blue, with a mix of oil, that is me.
Both MDT and smith confirmed that V bedding is not a problem, and if i do have some bedding where my front action screw is, it's only to hold recoil lug bedding in place.
MDT did confirm that some lugs don't touch, the 2 options include bedding Vblock, or driling oval holes in action screw hole in chassis, to be able to sit recoil lug on to chassis while torquing.
I found the bedding to be cleaner looking and made more sense for me.
 
Yes we were shooting at Pet in July but I was using a 223 in an LSS . I remember you saying that you had a problem with the first chassis, well I definitely had no option but to bed this rifle after the change in furniture, like night and day. I was wondering how other ESS chassis owners faired.

I have a Remington 700 action with a 308 chamber
 
MartyK2500 said:
Worn cerakote, blue, with a mix of oil, that is me.
Both MDT and smith confirmed that V bedding is not a problem, and if i do have some bedding where my front action screw is, it's only to hold recoil lug bedding in place.
MDT did confirm that some lugs don't touch, the 2 options include bedding Vblock, or driling oval holes in action screw hole in chassis, to be able to sit recoil lug on to chassis while torquing.
I found the bedding to be cleaner looking and made more sense for me.
Click to expand...

So MDT knows there's an issue with their chassis'......but it's up to you to fix it?!

Is that why my buddies' Savage ESS chassis has a slotted hole with an oval washer for the front action screw?
 
I was going to bed my HS3 but havent gotten around to it yet. Might have to take it apart and check what kind of wear makes there is.

Thanks for the pics.

For the Savages its for the different action bolt spacings.
 
*MALICE* said:
So MDT knows there's an issue with their chassis'......but it's up to you to fix it?!

Is that why my buddies' Savage ESS chassis has a slotted hole with an oval washer for the front action screw?
Click to expand...

Let’s be clear
They proposed to ship brand new chassis and exchange if desired.
As they have also proposed for me to ship rifle and they repair free.
My rifle is a savage, and allegedly receiver screws are not exactly the same from rifle to rifle.
Local gunsmith was 60$ all in, with a 3 days turnaround.
60$ represents 1% of what i got invested in that rig, and i didn’t lose rifle for more than 3 days
I’m happy
 
And photo bucket destroys yet another forum thread.

My ESS with a REM 700 is fine, its been blue printed and has a thick recoil lug so that could make a bit a difference with some taken off the receiver face when it was squared the lug sits back a bit from stock, but anyway it's a .223 that will shoot 0.5 moa with factory ammo.
 
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MartyK2500 said:
Let’s be clear
They proposed to ship brand new chassis and exchange if desired.
As they have also proposed for me to ship rifle and they repair free.
My rifle is a savage, and allegedly receiver screws are not exactly the same from rifle to rifle.
Local gunsmith was 60$ all in, with a 3 days turnaround.
60$ represents 1% of what i got invested in that rig, and i didn’t lose rifle for more than 3 days
I’m happy
Click to expand...

Ok, I'll concede that's a much better situation than what I thought they were doing ;)
 
They now require you to upgrade to the premium paid account to be able to hot link, and it's $$$$$$, most people just move on to other resources.
 
imgur is what i use since
I am not tech savvy, and can get around using it
Pictures appear nicer resolution than photobucket
Direct liking a picture is hard to do from a cell phone, for me
So i upload pics using app, then link them to posts once on a computer
 
*MALICE* said:
Is that why my buddies' Savage ESS chassis has a slotted hole with an oval washer for the front action screw?
Click to expand...

Savage made two different spaces between their action screws. So the oval front hole with the washer allows one chassis to be used between both variations so when you're ordering there is no confusion or frustration in possibly getting the wrong one.
 
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