MDT ESS chassis break in?

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MartyK2500

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I know it's a stupid question but is there a break in period for cassis?
When i first got the rifle and chassis, it was really accurate. Didn't shoot the rifle before going into chassis.
Lately the more it goes the wider the groups open. We are speaking of 700 rounds (308) since freshly installed in chassis.

I saw a post on FB from Jerry speaking about bedding chassis.
Went downstairs and double checked torque on my action screws, still at 60 in/lbs.
Decided i would pull everything out, even take scope off rings and reinstall fresh. As a bonus i saw that a spuhr scope mount does not leave any ring marks.

There was some sort of paste that had formed between action and chassis.
A mix of rubbed off cerakote from chassis, what seemed like a little bit of oil.
Now my action and chassis have definate wear marks, but seems like rifle sits even better in it now.
I can hear the recoil lug touching metal of chassis and action screws still line up.

So it got me wondering if there was an actual break in period for these chassis?
And if i should put some effort in trying to determine is recoil lug is supported by chassis once actions screws torqued down?
 
MDT says you don't need to bed their chassis, but I would at least bed the recoil lug. Very easy to do, put masking tape on the bottom and sides of the lug, liberally apply shoe polish as a release agent all over the action, put in a small amount of epoxy in the lug recess and attach action. There are a couple of very good threads on the board about DIY bedding, just search for them. If you are worried about doing it yourself, any gunsmith can do this and cheaply.

I had a Savage in an LSS and did the recoil lug myself. Easy and had no issues at all.
 
MartyK2500 said:
I know it's a stupid question but is there a break in period for cassis?
When i first got the rifle and chassis, it was really accurate. Didn't shoot the rifle before going into chassis.
Lately the more it goes the wider the groups open. We are speaking of 700 rounds (308) since freshly installed in chassis.

I saw a post on FB from Jerry speaking about bedding chassis.
Went downstairs and double checked torque on my action screws, still at 60 in/lbs.
Decided i would pull everything out, even take scope off rings and reinstall fresh. As a bonus i saw that a spuhr scope mount does not leave any ring marks.

There was some sort of paste that had formed between action and chassis.
A mix of rubbed off cerakote from chassis, what seemed like a little bit of oil.
Now my action and chassis have definate wear marks, but seems like rifle sits even better in it now.
I can hear the recoil lug touching metal of chassis and action screws still line up.

So it got me wondering if there was an actual break in period for these chassis?
And if i should put some effort in trying to determine is recoil lug is supported by chassis once actions screws torqued down?
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I am talking about. Please send me pics info@mysticprecision.com.. love to share to other shooters with questions.

That paste is cerakote, alum, and exterior coating of your action being ground up at the high freq vibration of the shooting process. Now if it is greasy, consider that you may be over oiling your rifle and that is seeping into the bedding area. It should be dry and dusty... actually, shouldn't be anything there but, you get what I am talking about :)

There is nothing the action bolts and torque can do to hold the barreled action in place. That is the role of the recoil lug but that currently has no support so it just moves around. Remember, that barreled action and scope weigh how much? Imagine trying to push down on a barreled action on a slick surface while someone is hitting the muzzle with a hammer. Can you hold that barreled action in place?

As I indicated on my FB page, just bed the front portion of the action and recoil lug. Some will also touch the rear 1/2 of the action but this tends not to be the problem area.

Simple, easy fix, accuracy restored ..... As a MDT dealer, I cringed when the "no bedding" vids went out. I really like their product, their company and their service to the end user. A great Cdn company but physics is physics and unless steps are taken to control the barreled action, it IS going to rattle around.

Jerry
 
Jerry
Once i strip it down again i will take pics of wear marks, they are obvious.
Too bad i didn't think to picture the sludge.
I go very light on oil, i swear this rifle was dripping like a milsurp when i got it.
Even though i gave it a vigorous cleaning, some oil sweat seeped out in hot weather while warming the action up.

I am even questioning my reloads because of the loose action. I have tagets that show 1/2 moa, using FC auto brass, basic reload procedures and hornady bullets.
Right now with all the fancy reload tools and nice match components, i saw the groups opening and not going back. Even ran my old loads in my FC brass and it ain't as good as it used to.
Seeing your FB post was good timing for me.

Alpheus, i am usually a handy guy and will look into it.
If it involves materials i don't have access or am scared to mess things up, i will call a gunsmith.
Non restricted smiths are easy to find, compared to trying to find one to hard chrome my 1911 without losing it for 3 months.
 
Brother, I feel your pain, I just went through this with Jerry! Please take him up on his offer of assistance, he will help you make it right! The up side is I learned how to skim bed. Like all things the first time is awkward but now that I've done it a few times and had good results I don't know what all the trepidation was about.

Good luck homie!

The biggest thing I learned myself about bedding is that Kiwi (natural) shoe polish works best on the barrel as a release agent, even better than the blue release stuff!

Nate
 
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Nate.308 said:
Brother, I feel your pain, I just went through this with Jerry! Please take him up on his offer of assistance, he will help you make it right! The up side is I learned how to skim bed. Like all things the first time is awkward but now that I've done it a few times and had good results I don't know what all the trepidation was about.

Good luck homie!

The biggest thing I learned myself about bedding is that Kiwi (natural) shoe polish works best on the barrel as a release agent, even better than the blue release stuff!

Nate
Click to expand...

If ever you have a link to a tutorial with needed tools, materials, and process please share that would be super!

As i have just gone out for the first time since i cleaned sludge between action and chassis.
My old groups are back, finally!
Was always blaming ammo and always trying to better my reloads, when it was a sloppy action that was the culprit.
Tried a load development, interesting enough my now best loads are better than ever, but have shifted powder wise.
My 2 best nodes now require exactly 0.6gr more of varget each, but have got 0.270" groups at 100M now instead of 0.400".
My high node is now too hot also
 
Right now im not bedded, but see the benefit of it.
By removing the "sludge" created between action and chassis sat my action back in tight.
I can imagine some new sludge will create itself with some more shooting now, maybe not now that bluing and cerakote wore, where contact is made.
 
MartyK2500 said:
If ever you have a link to a tutorial with needed tools, materials, and process please share that would be super!
Click to expand...

I don't have a particular link sorry, I watched a few videos on YouTube, next time I do up a rifle I will take some pictures and do a write-up on this forum. I'm planning on a CZ 455 and and olde Lee Enfield sniper to see if I can't coax a little bit more accuracy out of them.
 
For 60$ i rather give the work away than do it myself
Can’t wait to see how the rifle will behave

92Rezuw.jpg
 
I'll be honest i didn't ask what was used.
I saw devcon products, but he told me that devcon shrinks and prefered another product that did a better job.
All i can say it was a white box, was worth 40$, and i believe it's the same ingredients or close to devcon, just a different recipe.

Edit : Google is my friend today for a change. Accuracy in a jar was used.
 
I bedded the recoil lug on my MDT ESS during install. Very simple to do and lots of videos on YouTube .
I did this first on an older rifle and noticed an immediate change,now do it to every rifle before I even fire it.
Also Hornady Unique Case Lube is an awesome release agent and it is already sitting on my bench. I tried a few things but that worked amazing.
Love my MDT ESS and a huge bonus it's Canadian
 
There are many fine epoxy bedding products and Marine Tex is one of the best. Have also seen what Jerry refers to with HS stocks which also required skin bedding.
We noticed a zero change from initial shooting 300m @ Bull Meadow then 1000m at CISC and then back to BM 300m. Same ammo and over 1mil change.
Will do recoil lug on MDT/Rem700 -28" Krieger 6.5X47 Lapua and test grouping which we have not done. There are many epoxies at Auckland Grainger and will try some Dexcon 5 minute epoxy gel that comes in small amounts with twin tubes for auto mixing.

Regards,

Peter
 
So question for you guys, I understand the concept of bedding a traditional lug and have done a r700 in a HS stock gaining more consistent groups.
Now I have a tikka and though I'm happy with the results im getting in my ess chassis how would one bed the separate recoil lug if i wanted to get maximum results?
 
I bedded my 223 even though I was getting amazing groups and didn’t see much improvement after bedding, maybe the olde adage “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” applies here but other my think different....
 
TheM4chef said:
So question for you guys, I understand the concept of bedding a traditional lug and have done a r700 in a HS stock gaining more consistent groups.
Now I have a tikka and though I'm happy with the results im getting in my ess chassis how would one bed the separate recoil lug if i wanted to get maximum results?
Click to expand...

My guess would be to somehow wedge the recoil lug into the chassis, apply epoxy, then install action?
 
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