Looking for rifle bedding material
- Thread starter GRS1
- Start date
Acra Glas isn't far off from ordinary autobody fiberglass kits from Canadian Tire or Princess Auto.
The only real difference is Acra Glas has a bottle of "release agent" included.
Pam cooking spray or Kiwi shoe polish applied to the parts you don't want the glass to adhere to makes a great release agent.
The auto body fiberglass kits are about a third the price of Acra Glas.
They make two types of Acra Glas by the way. One is a GEL, the other is quite viscous.
There are other things that work just as well, like the JB Weld products from Princess Auto. You can bed at least three rifles for less than $5 with a Steel Putty stick
Use the same products mentioned above for release agent. Don't be stingy with release agent.
The only real difference is Acra Glas has a bottle of "release agent" included.
Pam cooking spray or Kiwi shoe polish applied to the parts you don't want the glass to adhere to makes a great release agent.
The auto body fiberglass kits are about a third the price of Acra Glas.
They make two types of Acra Glas by the way. One is a GEL, the other is quite viscous.
There are other things that work just as well, like the JB Weld products from Princess Auto. You can bed at least three rifles for less than $5 with a Steel Putty stick
Use the same products mentioned above for release agent. Don't be stingy with release agent.
The Brownells products have very little shrinkage when curing and is slow curing so it is easy to work with ... I much prefer paste wax as a release agent over what is supplied in a 'kit'. I buy mine directly from Brownells in bulk quantities ... 16 ounces (8 + 8) at a time... it goes a long way.
I've had fine results with steel epoxy and PAM cooking spray. But that's for lower recoil (<30-06) rifles and mostly bedding the recoil lug, barrels were already floating and no skim coat elsewhere.
It works great but that's my result, yours may vary based on product, adhesion, surface prep, cure time, etc. Have used Acraglas in the past though and agree with guntech, very easy to work with. And almost definitely a little better at the least.
It works great but that's my result, yours may vary based on product, adhesion, surface prep, cure time, etc. Have used Acraglas in the past though and agree with guntech, very easy to work with. And almost definitely a little better at the least.
There’s two versions of AcraGlas gel - the standard version and the non-flammable version. Brownells will ship the non-flammable version to Canada.
Well, OP, I hope you've been able to sort it out. Devcon Epoxy Steel (the "resin" part has steel powder mixed in) is slow curing, shrinks almost not at all, and comes in cans, sort of like varnish cans - you scoop the stuff out and weigh it (or by volume, but weighing is better if you've got a scale that reads grams) mix the heck out of it. I use mould release paste wax, but lots of other waxes will probably do.
Last time I saw Devcon on a store self, it was at "Bolts" at the corner of... er... Franklin and Sheldon in Cambridge, ON. I think Acklands Grainger has it, and probably others.
Last time I saw Devcon on a store self, it was at "Bolts" at the corner of... er... Franklin and Sheldon in Cambridge, ON. I think Acklands Grainger has it, and probably others.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Devcon Steel - was feeling flush and was able to buy a pound of the stiff stuff and a pound of the runny stuff - found out that they ARE NOT KIDDING about the expiry date on the box!! So, something to consider for what you are doing. I have done some with Marine-Tex White - where it does not show - no reasonable amount of Brownell's epoxy dye will alter that one's colour. Lately, have been using squeeze tubes of JB Weld - can not see how results are any less - and then I chuck the opened tubes after that job...
For release agent, have used the Brownell's paint-on liquid stuff, also Kiwi Neutral shoe polish, and a floor wax bought at Co-op hardware store - "Trewax Clear Paste Wax" - all worked. But as per a post here on CGN, I bought a spray can of MG Chemicals 8329 Epoxy Mold Release - from Amazon.ca - came in the mail - works very nicely, and easiest to use for old fart like me...
I have bought several rifles epoxy bedded by others - when cleaning that bedding, have had to pick off the Brownell's release agent film - probably does not really make a performance difference, but it "bugs me" that some people can not be bothered to clean that up...
For release agent, have used the Brownell's paint-on liquid stuff, also Kiwi Neutral shoe polish, and a floor wax bought at Co-op hardware store - "Trewax Clear Paste Wax" - all worked. But as per a post here on CGN, I bought a spray can of MG Chemicals 8329 Epoxy Mold Release - from Amazon.ca - came in the mail - works very nicely, and easiest to use for old fart like me...
I have bought several rifles epoxy bedded by others - when cleaning that bedding, have had to pick off the Brownell's release agent film - probably does not really make a performance difference, but it "bugs me" that some people can not be bothered to clean that up...
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Next time, put the left overs in the freezer. I've got a couple of boxes that are 13 years old and still set up well.
Acklands carries it, as does most bearing supply houses. - dan
If you need more or run out (or whatever) William's Arms in Port Perry Ontario carries it.
++1 that stuff is junk. Use some paste wax... if you are doing round or flat surfaces, epoxy won't stick to packing tape either.
I generally use G2 or West System epoxies with either a microfiber or silica based filler ~ depending on application. Acraglas is just REALLY expensive epoxy with filler & you can't use it for other applications like other epoxies.
As guntech notes some agents will shrink - I've not noticed any shrinkage with either G2 or W/S - also epoxies start to break down at high temperatures (surprisingly low high temps!) like 230-250... maybe Acraglas has an edge there?
Anyway - acraglas does work great - just pitch the release crap they provide.
If you can't find a good paste wax, like Johnson's, Kiwi shoe polish works just as well.
