Glass Bedding A Hard Rubber Stock...?

[Glenfilthie]

I am under orders from my intellectual superiors here on the forum to glass bed my rifle and stop whining about the crappy accuracy I am getting until I do. Seems reasonable on the face of it but sometimes those people forget who they're dealing with!

I'm shooting the Rem. 700 SPS Tactical with that Hogue hard rubber stock. Can you bed those stocks? Seems to me that trying to glass bed a flexible rubber stock might be akin to polishing a turd! Have any of you guys done it? How did it work for you? Did you have to remove material the same as you would with a wooden stock?

This is my first crack at bedding a stock and I thought I would just bounce it off you guys before I started playing with resins and epoxies and such. As always, your scholarly opinions are sincerely appreciated!

(Yes, I know to avoid getting this stuff in your eyes, nostrils or other orifices. Darwin tried to take me out with adhesives a couple years back...!)

 

[elkhuntr]

May or may not work. Try a little piece with our elixer of choice. I would also try for some kind of mechanical lock like cross drilling and roughing the material. On the tuppeware style, you can get good results with 5 min epoxy and JB weld. Tried it, and it works well. A $9 tube is worth the test. Marine tex may not work on those rubbery compounds. Devcon is my choice product. It is spendy and could result no better than the above options. Any improvement in Stock/action fit should provide good results as long as you are not introducing stress into the mix some where.

Better yet...toss the turd and replace it with a boyds stock (if one is available for your action) then never look back. Good luck.

 

[jjohnwm]

I did mine several years ago with JB Weld, and it worked like a charm. I removed very little material for the actual bedding, but I did "undercut" the corners in as many places as possible to create the mechanical lock as elkhuntr mentioned. It appears to have held up well...I've only had the stock off a couple of times since, the last time being about 6 months ago, and I'm happy with the results.

As long as you're going to the trouble, why don't you get a couple of graphite arrow shafts and remove enough material from the fore-end to allow you to bed them in place at the same time. I did that as well, using JB Weld, and it stiffens up the stock significantly without adding a lot of weight. Make sure that you place them deep enough into the fore-end to prevent them from touching the barrel, leaving it free-floating. It's cheap and easy, and well worth the effort.

The Hogue stock is extremely comfortable and quiet, has a decent recoil pad, and is generally very pleasant to use. This mod corrects its one fatal flaw, i.e. its lack of rigidity. Good luck, and I hope it works out for you.

 

[EZED]

Glass bedding a Hogue stock

Don't waste your time and energy I bought2 VSF in 22-250 and they wanted to shoot but would throw fliers every 3rd shot I worked the load up and down and sideways to no avail. I bedded it and floated all with the same results now some may have had different results but mine were not to my liking. I bought a used BDL wood stock and bedded it into that and all my problems dissappeared imagine that. I think the Hogue stock is not stiff enough for the job. Both rifles turned out the same so I have no boubt that the Hogue stock belongs down a gopher hole somewhere.

Edge

 

[vviking]

I am under orders from my intellectual superiors here on the forum to glass bed my rifle
I'm shooting the Rem. 700 SPS Tactical with that Hogue hard rubber stock. Seems to me that trying to glass bed a flexible rubber stock might be akin to polishing a turd!. .... or other orifices.

Better yet...toss the turd. Good luck.

the Hogue stock belongs down a gopher hole somewhere.
Edge

Depends on your expectations Glenfilthie. If you seek a rifle that will hold a consistent dead on zero, and predictable accuracy ... it needs to have a stiff stock to be what you want.
Sell the flexomatic Hogue, pick up a beautious HS Precision from the EE, skim bed it, and live happily ever after .... is what I'd do mate.

 

[Rode]

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[Mystic Precision]

Lepages 2 tube syringe Epoxy Steel - Can tire, home hardware and RONA.

Lots of aerosol brake cleaner BEFORE you dig up the surface.

Small drill - make shallow holes at acute angle to the surface and each other. You want to make "traps" for the epoxy to sink into and hold the bedding. The surface will not allow the epoxy to stick so you need to make it a mechanical joint.

Bed per usual. Lots of mold release on the metal bits. Really enjoying shoe polish of all things.

Open the forend ALOT - think BIG HONKING GAPS. 1/8" on the sides is min. 1/4" under the barrel is min. With bedding under the first 1" of barrel, the forend has no contact with the stock.

I prefer to bed with contact to all surfaces of the recoil lug. Makes removal more difficult but biggest gains.

Jerry

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?743265-Why-Proper-Bedding-is-Important

enjoy the videos - HS stock.