- Location
- Edmonton mostly
Howdy all, just thought I'd give a quick share on a little project I worked up last night. I've been going through the gun cabinet and correcting minor annoyances on all my pieces.
This weekend's project was a couple simple little jobs on my Dominion Arms Outlaw. First of all, if you haven't given it a detailed cleaning, do so. Removing the firing pin retaining screws, firing pins and pin return springs I found a good amount of leftove swarf/chips from production in the holes. Clean out with some degreaser and q-tips. Re-install and ensure you loctite the firing pin retaining screws as they tend to loosen off after a few shots Ive found.
Next up is the "forestock wiggle". When I bought the gun I noticed the forend to be loose fitting, in that it would wiggle side to side, annoyingly so. I decided that I would "bed" the front end.
The bedding procedure I followed is a very simplified version of bedding a rifle. First I chose the area to bed. I chose to bed in front of the forend retaininglever. I did not feel the need to rough up the wood too much as the finish on the inside of these forends leaves something to be desired to start with.
For my release agent I coated the barrels in the area to be bedded with kiwi neutral shoe polish. Coat the stock as well to prevent any spillage from sticking. A nice coat, let stand dry a minute or two and then buff to a fine shine for a nice close fit. Next I created two "dams" with modelling clay, one at the front and one at the rear of my area to be bedded. Next I mixed up my epoxy. For this job I used what was expedient. Lepage marine epoxy is slow drying, non shrinkkng and available at Ukranian Tire. As this is not a uber critical location i did not want to waste my devcon. The only downside to the lepage is that it cures to an off white colour. I simply colour it with a small amount of brown dye powder. I filled the channels and lower portion of the barrel inlets with epoxy. Install the barrels in the gun and then assemble the foreend. I used medium pressure to compress my clay and epoxy. All epoxy that squeezed out was wiped away and the forend compressed to allow the forend catch lever to operate and clamp the forend secure. I did not bother with excess clamping force as I want the forend tight inbit's latched position. Wipe away all excess epoxy that has flowed out.
Next step, place gun level in a rest or clamp and ignore. Ignore for at least 12 hours. Impatient yet? Go have a scotch a smoke and a sleep.
Next day: A couple whacks on the forestock with a soft mallet, operate the catch lever and remove forestock. Epoxy makes a nice "crack" when it lets go. Clean up and reinstall. Enjoy a forend that fits as securely as possible.
This adds only minor weight to the front end and does not really affect balance much. If one was so inclined they could fill both channels under the barrels with a mix of epoxy and lead shot to weight the front end more, as well as weighting the rear stock by drilling/filling with shot amd epoxy. This would increase the weight of the gun and reduce felt recoil if you fire yours with magnum slug loads all the time.
Feel free to use my methods or refine as you see fit. It is nice to not have a wiggly gun.
JC
This weekend's project was a couple simple little jobs on my Dominion Arms Outlaw. First of all, if you haven't given it a detailed cleaning, do so. Removing the firing pin retaining screws, firing pins and pin return springs I found a good amount of leftove swarf/chips from production in the holes. Clean out with some degreaser and q-tips. Re-install and ensure you loctite the firing pin retaining screws as they tend to loosen off after a few shots Ive found.
Next up is the "forestock wiggle". When I bought the gun I noticed the forend to be loose fitting, in that it would wiggle side to side, annoyingly so. I decided that I would "bed" the front end.
The bedding procedure I followed is a very simplified version of bedding a rifle. First I chose the area to bed. I chose to bed in front of the forend retaininglever. I did not feel the need to rough up the wood too much as the finish on the inside of these forends leaves something to be desired to start with.
For my release agent I coated the barrels in the area to be bedded with kiwi neutral shoe polish. Coat the stock as well to prevent any spillage from sticking. A nice coat, let stand dry a minute or two and then buff to a fine shine for a nice close fit. Next I created two "dams" with modelling clay, one at the front and one at the rear of my area to be bedded. Next I mixed up my epoxy. For this job I used what was expedient. Lepage marine epoxy is slow drying, non shrinkkng and available at Ukranian Tire. As this is not a uber critical location i did not want to waste my devcon. The only downside to the lepage is that it cures to an off white colour. I simply colour it with a small amount of brown dye powder. I filled the channels and lower portion of the barrel inlets with epoxy. Install the barrels in the gun and then assemble the foreend. I used medium pressure to compress my clay and epoxy. All epoxy that squeezed out was wiped away and the forend compressed to allow the forend catch lever to operate and clamp the forend secure. I did not bother with excess clamping force as I want the forend tight inbit's latched position. Wipe away all excess epoxy that has flowed out.
Next step, place gun level in a rest or clamp and ignore. Ignore for at least 12 hours. Impatient yet? Go have a scotch a smoke and a sleep.
Next day: A couple whacks on the forestock with a soft mallet, operate the catch lever and remove forestock. Epoxy makes a nice "crack" when it lets go. Clean up and reinstall. Enjoy a forend that fits as securely as possible.
This adds only minor weight to the front end and does not really affect balance much. If one was so inclined they could fill both channels under the barrels with a mix of epoxy and lead shot to weight the front end more, as well as weighting the rear stock by drilling/filling with shot amd epoxy. This would increase the weight of the gun and reduce felt recoil if you fire yours with magnum slug loads all the time.
Feel free to use my methods or refine as you see fit. It is nice to not have a wiggly gun.
JC
