MDT ESS Bedding project RE: Pics reposted

I am a CGN member
Still got to use photo hosting app, as CGN ain’t the only forum i use,
I can think of 3 others real quick, maybe more...
Op : imgur is easy and worth it
 
You’re welcome, Nate. Most happy to help out. My takeaway is to watch you have all kinds of success at my Garrison Petawawa PR Matches. Keep up the great work and get ready for next seasons’ course of fire. :evil:

Cheers, Barney :wave:
 
It was a fun project and got to learn something new, now it’s time to bed a few more rifles and see what else I can make a little more accurate! Awesome!!
 
Glad I read this thread....I was thinking of LSS for my Savage 10.....BUT not anymore.....

The oval "washer" set up has nothing to do with that. It is because Savage can't make up their minds and they changed there action screw spacing. By flipping the washer around you go from 4.4" spacing to 4.2" (or whatever it was) action screw spacing.
The fact that some recoil lugs don't make contact with the chassis is kind of stupid, especially of they know about it.
However drilling out the action screw holes slightly larger would probably fix that pretty quickly, as I would imagine the recoil lug clearance would only be out by a few thousandths.
 
The oval "washer" set up has nothing to do with that. It is because Savage can't make up their minds and they changed there action screw spacing. By flipping the washer around you go from 4.4" spacing to 4.2" (or whatever it was) action screw spacing.
The fact that some recoil lugs don't make contact with the chassis is kind of stupid, especially of they know about it.
However drilling out the action screw holes slightly larger would probably fix that pretty quickly, as I would imagine the recoil lug clearance would only be out by a few thousandths.

There are only two reasons for a recoil lug to not contact the correct surface in an MDT chassis; 1.) The action has been machined (or assembled) improperly and the recoil lug is situated further forward than it should be, or 2.) The chassis was assembled incorrectly. All MDT (and other well designed chassis systems) have points of contact between the chassis and action in mind when they are designed, with the rear face of the recoil lug and usually four points on the underside of the action being key.

It is a consideration to slot all of the action screw holes to accommodate low-tolerance actions, but it would cost more and can be easily done by the end user if they so wish :)
 
With the search function i was able to dig out this older thread, as i remember it to be a good reference.
I am happy the pictures are still intact, the process is very well explained too.

At the time, my savage recoil lug wasn’t making proper contact, as it was machined rough and was not true.
So i had a smith bed it for me.

And now i have an ultimatum action with integral recoil lug, and new ESS on it’s way to sit it in.
Will not bed right off the bat, will do some testing and shoot some ammo downrange.
If i detect movement when disassembling 150+ rounds later, i will use this process.
Accuracy will be an indication too, as the savage can now repeat sub 1/2 moa at 200M, constantly without exception.

If accuracy drops, will retune ammo for new harmonics, if it still doesn’t get to par, will look into bedding this action.
 
With the search function i was able to dig out this older thread, as i remember it to be a good reference.
I am happy the pictures are still intact, the process is very well explained too.

At the time, my savage recoil lug wasn’t making proper contact, as it was machined rough and was not true.
So i had a smith bed it for me.

And now i have an ultimatum action with integral recoil lug, and new ESS on it’s way to sit it in.
Will not bed right off the bat, will do some testing and shoot some ammo downrange.
If i detect movement when disassembling 150+ rounds later, i will use this process.
Accuracy will be an indication too, as the savage can now repeat sub 1/2 moa at 200M, constantly without exception.

If accuracy drops, will retune ammo for new harmonics, if it still doesn’t get to par, will look into bedding this action.

With the layout of the Deadline, it would be a good idea to skim bed that action. Otherwise you can torque the front and then rear action screws 5in-lb at a time up to about 45-50. So 5 front, 5 rear, 10 front, 10 rear, 15 front, 15 rear etc.
 
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With the layout of the Deadline, it would be a good idea to bed that action, in testing it's possible that the action will actually bend when going into the chassis and cause the bolt to bind. Otherwise you can torque the front and then rear action screws 5in-lb at a time up to about 45-50. So 5 front, 5 rear, 10 front, 10 rear, 15 front, 15 rear etc.

Thank you for the feedback, I will either re-read the OPs post and go for it, or pay 60$ to my local smith and Devcon bed it.
I have juste received action with chassis base today.
Didn't try to torque it down yet, but was loving the fit.
The recoil lug makes definite contact compared to my savage, then again the savage recoil lug was a bit crooked too.

BLh3YB2h.jpg
 
IMG_2088.jpg

Skim bed and things will work very nicely.

IMG_2089.jpg

A couple of test groups shot at 285yds in light winds... Deadline action, ESS chassis skim bedded, McGowen 260AI 7 twist prefit.. launching 152gr Matrix bullets. The group on the left is the low node... 3rds 0.70" (1/4 MOA) so a nice start. Load on the right is going into the higher node and look forward to refining it.

Good luck with your build.

Jerry
 

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Skim bed and things will work very nicely.

View attachment 196745

A couple of test groups shot at 285yds in light winds... Deadline action, ESS chassis skim bedded, McGowen 260AI 7 twist prefit.. launching 152gr Matrix bullets. The group on the left is the low node... 3rds 0.70" (1/4 MOA) so a nice start. Load on the right is going into the higher node and look forward to refining it.

Good luck with your build.

Jerry

Nice!
Since the nature of the thread, if I should go the DIY bedding route, is there anything you would personally add or remove to the original posted process of doing things?
 
Clean the surfaces so no oil... aerosol brake cleaner

rough up the surface removing as much of the cerakote as possible... roughen up alum will stick better to the bedding compound.

Skim bed and done. Snug up the front action bolt but leave the rear just making contact with the chassis... that will let the action sit level in the bedding while it cures. Done

Not hard to do.

Jerry
 
With the layout of the Deadline, it would be a good idea to bed that action, in testing it's possible that the action will actually bend when going into the chassis and cause the bolt to bind.

That doesn't sound good. Is there an issue with the action or the chassis inlet?
 
That doesn't sound good. Is there an issue with the action or the chassis inlet?

After playing around a little
Definitely an action thing
Rear tang is thin, and action screw binds with the bolt if torqued down hard
Rear tang bedding will definitely be required, may as well do front while being there
 
We have found that slowly tightening the action screws in an alternating fashion on the MDT ESS chassis up to the torque spec will not experience any binding. start at the front and tighten 5 in/lbs, then go to the rear and do the same, go back to the front and torque another 5 in/lbs, then the back, and so on.

We have not heard any feedback from the many other chassis that the Deadline has been installed in doing this.


Thanks

The Ultimatum Team
 
While researching if anybody saw any advantages to bedding their ESS chassis's, I had originally seen this post on Sniper's Hide. I knew it was somebody from Petawawa from the photo's.

I've also bedded mine, but I left the front of the recoil lug alone. Thanks for the photo's! cheers.
 
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