Hello M14 lovers,
It hasn't been a long time since I started playing around with my very own m305 and I loved every moment of it.
When I first shot it I was scoring an average of 3MOA bests groups would be 2MOA. Back then my rifle was only shimmed and had a replacement oprod spring guide (the one from marstar)Then I decided I'd jump into trying to break the MOA. I started load development and found my receipe with speer 168gr hpbt sitting on 41,5gr of h4895. Barney and others recommended 155gr Palma. I bought em but have not tried them yet.
After this attempt at load development I decided I'd tune the rifle itself before going back and develop for 155gr. Changed the hammer and op-rod springs, had it unitized and bedded the action. Let me tell you, this is no rifle anymore, it's a tuning fork. These mods allowed me to shoot an average of 1.5MOA today (before all hell broke loose and rain started pouring and couldnt shoot anymore)
A few weeks ago I started a thread shimming vs unitizing and people were divided on this. Did unitizing improve my grouping? This I don't know
Did bedding alone improve my consistency? This is almost a 100% sure. The stock is so tightly in place that I even have trouble getting the action out with a dowel and a mallet. Not only did I bed the action but I have also bedded the trigger group and added an epoxy wall to support the front of the receiver (creating a dam with molding clay to leave the barrel unsupported, as per m14's design)
Bedding:
I'll share my experience as wobbles99 did on this subject as the way people explain it can vary from one person another. So this is how I did it, if you want to risk your rifle into it, I take no responsibilities for it
First off I have talked with mysticplayer about bedding materials and I know he uses LePage epoxy but I didn't want to buy epoxy and pick a release agent which could be very good (many kind of waxes work and I hear Barney uses PAM) but weren't intended for this purpose. That's why I went with the Acraglass bedding kit from brownells (you have to pick the non-inflammable version in order to have it delivered outside of the US). It has a mixing cup,a popsicle stick used as a mixer and good to spread (the acraglass gel has the texture of vaseline so it's easy to spread), a spoon, resin+hardener and the release agent which when applied dries up to a thin film. The only extra tools I used were a dremel, molding clay, a dull knife, a sharp knife and a little paint brush to apply the release agent.
Prepping the stock
This is probably the longest part of them all. In order for the gel to stick to the stock you have to file some material off. First you'll need the sharp knife to trace a line around the receiver INTO the stock so that you know where to grind and where not to (This is mostly important if you don't want to repaint the stock, I didn't pay much attention cause I knew I'd be repainting).
Next comes the grinding itself. The areas you have to remove material are everywhere the receiver touches the stock. Now if you don't know this, then you should get familiar with your rifle first. The front of the receiver area might be problematic because on fiberglass stocks (like the one I bedded) there's a gap, the receiver is not actually supported and if you do want to support it, you will have to pay attention to not support the barrel.
I have bought a Jobmate dremel for 9,99$+taxes only for this purpose with a steel router bit (that actually cost more than the jobmate unit)
So when all contact areas have been grinded I used the same dremel with a drill bit and created canals everywhere the bedding material would go so it would take grip deeply (instead of just sitting on the stock). Don't forget the trigger group contact points if you want to bed it.
It is now the time to create a gap with molding clay (used scented playdough, strawberry was my preference for this job) just make sure the acraglass gel wont go past the front of the receiver and wont drool out in the mag well.
IMPORTANT: when you bed the rifle it's important that you remove the op-rod and oprod spring guide. In consequence, the support you have created for the front of the receiver will not let the rifle be inserted in without a bit of grinding!
Wash the stock thoroughly, I used a pressure hose followed by isopropanol. Then if you don't intend to repaint the stock, cover EVERY inch of it with masking tape.
NOTE: If it is fiberglass you're going to grind, I read from a Craftsman_441 post here that YOU DON'T WANT TO BREATHE THIS. I read it after, I'm scared of cancer now, just wear a mask. Also, I did it wearing a t-shirt, ERROR! I had glass sand all over my arms and I was in pain, it took 2-3 showers to take it all off.
Prepping the rifle
It's important to fill all holes on the receiver with molding clay, also on the trigger group. Also put molding clay in the bolt release button area. Don't forget the oprod spring guide retaining pin holes. ALL holes! Then as per release agent's instructions, use a paintbrush to apply at least 2 coats of release agent. My whole receiver was covered in the stuff, which comes off with hot water once everything is done. Once the release agent is dry you're ready to move on.
Mixing the resin and hardener
Follow the instructions on the box. It's pretty straight forward
Applying the gel and putting on the parts
Make damn sure you have filled the all gaps and holes and applied release agent everywhere on the steel before you move on. A little bedding material stuck on the receiver is not too bad and can be removed, but having the stock glued to the action well, I'm sure you can imagine the suffering involved.
The bedding is done in two steps. I did the receiver first and then the trigger group the next day. Apply the bedding material all over where you have prepped the stock, better be generous than shy. The stuff I used takes at least 8 hours before drying so it will be easy to scrape off the excess material with the dull knife, if you use the acraglass gel.
For the receiver I applied the gel everywhere and a generous amount in the dam created in the front and then inserted the action which I made damn sure it wouldnt move by using surgical rubber tubing. Tight but not too tight. And you don't need to put in the trigger group. Remove the excess and go to bed
For the trigger group, you'll need to remove the receiver from the stock first, using a wood dowel and a mallet. The first time takes more force, don't worry too much, your rifle is getting tight! Then once inspection is done clean some of the molding clay and the material that has dried up on steel that isnt supposed to be there. Again make sure everythign was filled with molding clay and coated with at least two coats of release agent and then apply gel over the areas that have been prepared previously. Put the trigger group in, safety off and don't close the trigger guard completely leave the trigger guard in the middle of the safety. (imagine looking at the rifle horizantaly, well the trigger guard would seperate the safety hole circle in two). Let rest
This one is a son of a ##### to get out, but it will eventually come out
Cleaning the stock, trigger group and receiver
Remove all molding clay. I used a toothpick for hard to reach places and havent had trouble getting most out with my barehands. After a night or two of drying, it usually comes off pretty easily. Now clean the receiver and trigger group of any bedding material that might have leaked. Again I used the pressure hose and isopropanol.
Now is time to grind material in 3 places. A little channel to allow the trigger to be depressed (the way bedding material hardened won't allow the trigger to be depressed), a big channel to allow free movement of the oprod and cleaning the magwell of all bedding material.
Final step
This is probably the most important step, you have to do the test after assembly to make sure hammer won't follow!
Method found here:`
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91174
Charles
It hasn't been a long time since I started playing around with my very own m305 and I loved every moment of it.
When I first shot it I was scoring an average of 3MOA bests groups would be 2MOA. Back then my rifle was only shimmed and had a replacement oprod spring guide (the one from marstar)Then I decided I'd jump into trying to break the MOA. I started load development and found my receipe with speer 168gr hpbt sitting on 41,5gr of h4895. Barney and others recommended 155gr Palma. I bought em but have not tried them yet.
After this attempt at load development I decided I'd tune the rifle itself before going back and develop for 155gr. Changed the hammer and op-rod springs, had it unitized and bedded the action. Let me tell you, this is no rifle anymore, it's a tuning fork. These mods allowed me to shoot an average of 1.5MOA today (before all hell broke loose and rain started pouring and couldnt shoot anymore)
A few weeks ago I started a thread shimming vs unitizing and people were divided on this. Did unitizing improve my grouping? This I don't know
Did bedding alone improve my consistency? This is almost a 100% sure. The stock is so tightly in place that I even have trouble getting the action out with a dowel and a mallet. Not only did I bed the action but I have also bedded the trigger group and added an epoxy wall to support the front of the receiver (creating a dam with molding clay to leave the barrel unsupported, as per m14's design)
Bedding:
I'll share my experience as wobbles99 did on this subject as the way people explain it can vary from one person another. So this is how I did it, if you want to risk your rifle into it, I take no responsibilities for it
First off I have talked with mysticplayer about bedding materials and I know he uses LePage epoxy but I didn't want to buy epoxy and pick a release agent which could be very good (many kind of waxes work and I hear Barney uses PAM
) but weren't intended for this purpose. That's why I went with the Acraglass bedding kit from brownells (you have to pick the non-inflammable version in order to have it delivered outside of the US). It has a mixing cup,a popsicle stick used as a mixer and good to spread (the acraglass gel has the texture of vaseline so it's easy to spread), a spoon, resin+hardener and the release agent which when applied dries up to a thin film. The only extra tools I used were a dremel, molding clay, a dull knife, a sharp knife and a little paint brush to apply the release agent.Prepping the stock
This is probably the longest part of them all. In order for the gel to stick to the stock you have to file some material off. First you'll need the sharp knife to trace a line around the receiver INTO the stock so that you know where to grind and where not to (This is mostly important if you don't want to repaint the stock, I didn't pay much attention cause I knew I'd be repainting).
Next comes the grinding itself. The areas you have to remove material are everywhere the receiver touches the stock. Now if you don't know this, then you should get familiar with your rifle first. The front of the receiver area might be problematic because on fiberglass stocks (like the one I bedded) there's a gap, the receiver is not actually supported and if you do want to support it, you will have to pay attention to not support the barrel.
I have bought a Jobmate dremel for 9,99$+taxes only for this purpose with a steel router bit (that actually cost more than the jobmate unit)
So when all contact areas have been grinded I used the same dremel with a drill bit and created canals everywhere the bedding material would go so it would take grip deeply (instead of just sitting on the stock). Don't forget the trigger group contact points if you want to bed it.
It is now the time to create a gap with molding clay (used scented playdough, strawberry was my preference for this job) just make sure the acraglass gel wont go past the front of the receiver and wont drool out in the mag well.
IMPORTANT: when you bed the rifle it's important that you remove the op-rod and oprod spring guide. In consequence, the support you have created for the front of the receiver will not let the rifle be inserted in without a bit of grinding!
Wash the stock thoroughly, I used a pressure hose followed by isopropanol. Then if you don't intend to repaint the stock, cover EVERY inch of it with masking tape.
NOTE: If it is fiberglass you're going to grind, I read from a Craftsman_441 post here that YOU DON'T WANT TO BREATHE THIS. I read it after, I'm scared of cancer now, just wear a mask. Also, I did it wearing a t-shirt, ERROR! I had glass sand all over my arms and I was in pain, it took 2-3 showers to take it all off.
Prepping the rifle
It's important to fill all holes on the receiver with molding clay, also on the trigger group. Also put molding clay in the bolt release button area. Don't forget the oprod spring guide retaining pin holes. ALL holes! Then as per release agent's instructions, use a paintbrush to apply at least 2 coats of release agent. My whole receiver was covered in the stuff, which comes off with hot water once everything is done. Once the release agent is dry you're ready to move on.
Mixing the resin and hardener
Follow the instructions on the box. It's pretty straight forward
Applying the gel and putting on the parts
Make damn sure you have filled the all gaps and holes and applied release agent everywhere on the steel before you move on. A little bedding material stuck on the receiver is not too bad and can be removed, but having the stock glued to the action well, I'm sure you can imagine the suffering involved.
The bedding is done in two steps. I did the receiver first and then the trigger group the next day. Apply the bedding material all over where you have prepped the stock, better be generous than shy. The stuff I used takes at least 8 hours before drying so it will be easy to scrape off the excess material with the dull knife, if you use the acraglass gel.
For the receiver I applied the gel everywhere and a generous amount in the dam created in the front and then inserted the action which I made damn sure it wouldnt move by using surgical rubber tubing. Tight but not too tight. And you don't need to put in the trigger group. Remove the excess and go to bed
For the trigger group, you'll need to remove the receiver from the stock first, using a wood dowel and a mallet. The first time takes more force, don't worry too much, your rifle is getting tight! Then once inspection is done clean some of the molding clay and the material that has dried up on steel that isnt supposed to be there. Again make sure everythign was filled with molding clay and coated with at least two coats of release agent and then apply gel over the areas that have been prepared previously. Put the trigger group in, safety off and don't close the trigger guard completely leave the trigger guard in the middle of the safety. (imagine looking at the rifle horizantaly, well the trigger guard would seperate the safety hole circle in two). Let rest
This one is a son of a ##### to get out, but it will eventually come out
Cleaning the stock, trigger group and receiver
Remove all molding clay. I used a toothpick for hard to reach places and havent had trouble getting most out with my barehands. After a night or two of drying, it usually comes off pretty easily. Now clean the receiver and trigger group of any bedding material that might have leaked. Again I used the pressure hose and isopropanol.
Now is time to grind material in 3 places. A little channel to allow the trigger to be depressed (the way bedding material hardened won't allow the trigger to be depressed), a big channel to allow free movement of the oprod and cleaning the magwell of all bedding material.
Final step
This is probably the most important step, you have to do the test after assembly to make sure hammer won't follow!
Method found here:`
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91174
Charles
Last edited:
