Bedding a Savage Axis or any rifle with the recoil lug set in the stock

AdrianM

AdrianM

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Hi all,

I bought a Savage Axis heavy Barrel in .223 rem and also a Boyd's Laminate thumbhole stock to put it in. Also bought an Acraglas kit to bed it.

I've read the sticky above and it all makes sense except one little thing. The Savage has the recoil lug set in the stock. How do you bed a rifle with the recoil lug like that. The sticky shows a more traditional lug mounted on the action between the receiver and the barrel and that's easy. I am a little puzzled on how to do it so that the recess doesn't fill up with the bedding compound and still get a tight fit between the lug and the action. I'm guessing if I fill the void with putty it will squeeze out displace the bedding compound.

Any tips?

Adrian
 
You route a bit of the stock out to make room for the bedding material(not with a great deal of wood removed though. Just a bit. Like 1/64" or so.), apply the release agent and put the stock on and tighten the screws.
Last time I did it I was putting a Win M70A stock on a Cooey M71. The recoil lug on the 71 is about 1/8" aft of where it is on the M70. Routed the 1/8" out and applied the epoxy, but not enough to fill the entire hole. Just the routed space.
This was long before the Acraglas Gel existed. It's more forgiving apparently. Mind you, the regular stuff is thick enough to put in with a popsicle stick.
 
Make a spacer on the barrell side of the lug out of tape. Space in front of the lug somehow improves accuracy. So good contact all around except the very front face. I have no proof of this other than my savages groups.
 
Maybe I didn't explain myself well enough.

I get the basic concept. I'm talking specifically about a rifle action with the floating recoil lug. Not one attached to the action. It's the opposite of an action with the lug attached to it. If I just put the bedding compound on and slap it together I'll have this big lump of bedding compound up in the hole in the action for the lug (it's wider than the actual lug) and I may end up with a mechanical lock.

I'm actually thinking of removing the lug and filling the void in the stock and the void in the action with modeling clay, bedding the rifle action, and then I'll remove the clay and insert the lug only during final assembly. Is this a mistake?
 
I know what you're talking about frigpig, but I think it's the opposite on rifles with the lug like the savage axis.

On a traditional rifle with the lug attached to the action you want space in front and the back of the lug tight to the bedding. That way under recoil the action cannot shift back.

On an axis, the lug sits in the stock. Space in front of it would mean a gap between the action and the lug which could allow the action to shift to the rear.
 
I think I found my answer. Hope it's okay to post this info from another forum. If not, my apologies and please delete.

The recoil lug set up is similar to a tikka t3. what follows is a description of how to do it from Nathan at

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/

quote

You are dead right, the methods for bedding are different. You will need to use the same methods as applied to the Tikka T3 which is almost identical.
So, the stock stabilizing is done first, filling any skeletal voids right through to the tang.
When bedding the T3/Axis, the lug should be araldyted into the recess of the action, left to set, then the whole thing inserted into the bedding compound mortice.
Its a tricky job, you have to ensure that only the front face of the lug touches the action, the top and rear must be free.
You can use a sliver of insulation tape to achieve clearance, but you have to be very careful with it all, also being careful not to allow the araldyte to squelch against the front face of the lug.
Along with this, compound needs to be dribbled into the gap between the lug and the sides of the action to prevent massive air bubbling.
You also need to ensure that the stock (at the lug slot) is hogged right out so that the lug doesn’t get a severe bump as the action is inserted into the mortice, breaking the araldyte bond and ruining the tolerences.
One mistake and the job is screwed- primarily because, in its current form as a floating lug, there is a level of slop in the action which is taken up under recoil. Tikka were immensely cunning/innovative with this design which is copied in the Savage. Its an annoying set up to work with but it can be done.
The bedding compound is applied to the stock but I also dribble the compound around the lug where it meets the action, a minute or two prior to bringing the parts together. Again, this dribble of compound is critical to prevent air being trapped in the nooks and crannies.

After its all done, the araldyte bond will break when the barrel is struck with a mallet as per the usual procedure, leaving the ali lug fixed in the bedding.
Hope that helps, I understand it will be difficult to take it all in, in one go. Take your time, thats the key, just take it one step at a time.

end quote
 
I just bedded one last weekend in a prairie hunter stock.

After the prep of the stock and action, I left it as is with nothing in it, but alot of shoe polish. I let it sit for only about 6-7 hours before pulling apart. There was alittle bit of devcon in there but it came out real easy with a dental pick.
 
Dont overthink it... The whole point of bedding is making a close fit between action and stock AND recoil lug. The bedding compound is filling the voids currently between the action stock and lug.

I do bed with full contact with the lug. If there is play here, the lug is rendered useless.

Apply the bedding compound as normal leaving the area around the instock lug with less.. enough so the action will displace and form an interference fit. Another way to think of it.. the excess near the lug will squish into and around the lug and action when the action is put into place. If that area is filled now, there is too much and you will not get proper metal to metal contact.

What you want ideally is as much metal to metal contact between lug and receiver and remaining voids filled. This is far easier done with the common lug on receiver but it can be done. You do not want to fill the action groove full of bedding compound or clay as there is now less/nothing to index with the lug.

Jerry
 
Whatever you do make sure you protect the exposed barrel threads so if you want to swap barrel down the road it will be way easier. I took a candle and melted the wax on the threads before I did the bedding, it helped a lot. Just lay the wax so it does not interfere with the recoil lug.
 
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