Gluing SKS action into wooden stock.

goldenbb

goldenbb

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Well....thinking out loud.... I would like to epoxy an SKS action and barrel into it's wooden stock.

Part 1 History

I have a Sino SKS with a very loose wooden stock. I can move the action forward and aft and from side to side. I can even roll the action left and right inside the stock. (I have only fired this SKS when fitted to a Tapco T6 stock.)

Here is a YouTube link to a slow motion video of an SKS firing. In the video you can see how much the barrel whips around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZf0kUwCdrQ&feature=fvsr

Searches on this forum show that several people have tried to bed the SKS with poor returns for their efforts. Some have also tried to epoxy the action to the stock while attempting to free float the barrel. Groups improved somewhat but not dramatically.
 
Gluing SKS to action

Part 2 Present

The purpose of bedding a rifle is to improve accuracy. You either ensure that the barrel vibrates in a repeatable way or vibrates minimally. The problem with the SKS is that there is very little contact between the action and the wooden stock.

I think gluing the the barrel and action to every available wood surface is the only way to bed an SKS. (lots of epoxy and C-clamps)

The stock would be permanently attached. I don't see this being a big issue for cleaning or maintenance.
 
Part 3 Future

If I can improve the size of the groups my SKS shoots, I will be pleased. If things don't work out I have wrecked a $187 dollar rifle and wasted some epoxy.

Constructive comments please.
 
The Bayo-curizer™ Harmonic Adjustment System:
sksaccuriser.jpg
 
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If you are talking about actually bonding the action to the stock,,, BAD idea.
You need to be able to get at the action for basic service and cleaning. SKS stocks are quite often loose anyway. If it is too loose, you have a couple of easy options.
a/ Buy a replacement stock. Best and easiest choice. They are a dime a dozen.
b/ find the points where it should be bearing on the action and glue in wood shims and tool to fit.
Try that befor you do the ultimate BUBBA
 
you don't need to epoxy the action to the stock, you can bed the sks to the stock but use a release agent (not turtlewax, don't ask). If you try to glue it to the stock with epoxy you are begging for as nonfunctioning rifle because the expoxy WILL GET SOMEPLACE IT SHOULDN'T. before you say it yes benchrest rifles are sometimes attached to the stock. but that is a bolt action that attaches in a very simple way in comparison to the sks. I got good results by buying a choate dragunov stock which fits quite well (tightly). thats all I know.
 
While i was reading up on glass bedding stocks there were notes on glueing the action and barrel into the stock. One thing that was said about this technique is that it can make a rifle twitchy or unpredictable as to how it will shoot. The explanation given was that as the stock warps and twists due to humidity variations from month to month or summer to winter it will impact the barrel differently over time. This will change the barrel harmonics and yadda yadda yadda. One other thing I would like to suggest is weight, filling the rifle with that much epoxy will likely make it pretty heavy.

I agree with points above, wood stocks should be cheap to lay your hands on. I can see where you are coming from on the glass bedding idea and I have bedded the area around the recoil lug to get the fit a little more snug. I can offer you some of the ideas i have come up with for that if you like. I've also thought about a system to bed the rear portion of the action as well but have not got around to trying it yet.
 
In my experience shooting 3 different chinese military sks's, they are always tight fitting in the stock, esp the force required to seat the trigger group.
All these mil-chinese sks's displayed good accuracy.
How accurate is yours?
 
you can do all sorts of things to try to make a sks accurate .......

but


have you ever put a sks barrel between centers and measured how straight it is ?

i'm willing to bet a paycheck that each and every sks ever built does not have a straight barrel
 
points said:
If you are talking about actually bonding the action to the stock,,, BAD idea.
You need to be able to get at the action for basic service and cleaning. SKS stocks are quite often loose anyway. If it is too loose, you have a couple of easy options.
a/ Buy a replacement stock. Best and easiest choice. They are a dime a dozen.
b/ find the points where it should be bearing on the action and glue in wood shims and tool to fit.
Try that befor you do the ultimate BUBBA
Click to expand...

Thanks for every ones input. I really like this forum and the round table discussions. I hope I am not trying to solve the unsolvable.

I appreciate the concern about cleaning and maintenance. I shoot Czech corrosive ammo, but I don't clean my weapons with boiling water. I only use Gunzilla (a type of CLP), no rust anywhere. Honestly I believe I can clean this SKS as well with the stock on as off. The only maintenance issue might be changing the barrel. (I would never do this anyway.)
 
I had exacly the same idea last week when I was bedding a pair of SKS rifles. But I decided to use release agent.

My thought was that if I did not like the results, I could sand the epoxy surfaces slightly and slather in some bedding compound and then glue them together. My plan would be to glue the action and float the barrel. A barrel would not stayed glued very long. It expands too much with heat.

What I did note was a pair of slanted recoil lugs on each side of the action, around the middle, and a pair of wood mating surfaces in the stock. But the wood cuts were a tenth of an inch away from the recoil lugs. I scuffed the wood up and slathered in some JB there.

Some bedding gunk got where it was not supposed to go. Neither rifle will lock open now. I will have to pop both actions out of the stock. I was hoping they would stay sealed.

I tested both SKSs on the weekend. Both shot about 12" at 300 yards with CZ ammo. I don't have an accurate bolt gun in that caliber to verify what the ammo is capable of.

Edit - I found some epoxy was getting in the way of the arm holding the mag follower. A few scrapes with the chisel and all is good.
 
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mg4201 said:
you don't need to epoxy the action to the stock, you can bed the sks to the stock but use a release agent (not turtlewax, don't ask). If you try to glue it to the stock with epoxy you are begging for as nonfunctioning rifle because the expoxy WILL GET SOMEPLACE IT SHOULDN'T. before you say it yes benchrest rifles are sometimes attached to the stock. but that is a bolt action that attaches in a very simple way in comparison to the sks. I got good results by buying a choate dragunov stock which fits quite well (tightly). thats all I know.
Click to expand...

I have a Tapco T6 stock. I stock appears to be tight. I have no real complaints about how it feels. For any one that does not have one I would like to point out that the fore stock under the barrel is hollow. The barrel is supported by a series of ribs and not by solid material. Are the Choate dragunov and sporter stocks solid in this area?

When you say you get good results from this stock what sort of improvement did you notice?
 
umcoles said:
While i was reading up on glass bedding stocks there were notes on glueing the action and barrel into the stock. One thing that was said about this technique is that it can make a rifle twitchy or unpredictable as to how it will shoot. The explanation given was that as the stock warps and twists due to humidity variations from month to month or summer to winter it will impact the barrel differently over time. This will change the barrel harmonics and yadda yadda yadda. One other thing I would like to suggest is weight, filling the rifle with that much epoxy will likely make it pretty heavy.
Click to expand...

This is a great post. I have not considered this. If changes in humidity have the potential to warp a stock, then a free stock, a bedded stock and a glued stock would all be affected but perhaps to varying degree.
 
umcoles said:
I can see where you are coming from on the glass bedding idea and I have bedded the area around the recoil lug to get the fit a little more snug. I can offer you some of the ideas i have come up with for that if you like. I've also thought about a system to bed the rear portion of the action as well but have not got around to trying it yet.
Click to expand...

Don't let me the only one spilling my guts. What ideas do you have in your man cave?
 
LarryG said:
In my experience shooting 3 different chinese military sks's, they are always tight fitting in the stock, esp the force required to seat the trigger group.
All these mil-chinese sks's displayed good accuracy.
How accurate is yours?
Click to expand...

To be honest every time I go to the range I get different results. (Much like going to the movies with girls when I was a young man.)
The sight radius on the SKS is very short and the front sight covers 8 inches on the target at 100 yards. My eyes are not what they used to be. I wear glasses. Shooting from sand bag rests on a good day with semi warm barrel I can put 8 out of 10 rounds into a 4 inch group. The two flyers could be anywhere on the paper. The type of paper target selected seems to be a major influence on my results. The easier you can see the target and center the front sight the better the result.
 
You could also shoot your SKS in the way it was designed to be fired, at man sized targets up to 400-ish meters. I once considered chasing the dragon of accuracy with my SKS. I'm glad I slept on it.
You could save all the time money and effort and just buy a rifle that was designed to be accurate and consistent for your precision target shooting ventures.
I would say if you're looking to shoot with any great accuracy and consistency then you have started your quest on the wrong foot from the start.
Wrong platform altogether Sir.
 
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