Removing Epoxy from Rifle action

[Blastattack]

Hey all. I bought a Tikka T3 TAC for a great deal, and have since realized why the deal was so good. The previous dolt that owned the thing both pooched and then epoxied the rail to the receiver. He even epoxied the screws in, which all shattered when I tried to unscrew them. I managed to grind off the heads and pop the rail off (freezing works great BTW!), but the top of the action is still covered in epoxy. Any advice on how to get it off without damaging the receiver or it's finish? Also, how to remove the newly formed screw studs sticking out the top? Can I slot the stubs then heat the action to screw them out?

Some pics of the damage and the screwed up scope rail:

 

[r204]

I beleive they are epoxied right from the Tikka factory. Heat would have been your freind in removing it .

 

[Blastattack]

I beleive they are epoxied right from the Tikka factory. Heat would have been your freind in removing it .

I guess that means the rail was bent from the factory then. That's lame. Oh well, it's being replaced with a 20 MOA rail from ATRS.

 

[Blastattack]

Anyone have an epoxy removal secret? I would like to get my gun cleaned up sooner rather than later.

 

[Qball-16]

Anyone have an epoxy removal secret? I would like to get my gun cleaned up sooner rather than later.

I can only speak from my experience changing shafts in golf club heads (they're epoxied together), and the 'secret' was HEAT. If you have access to a heat gun, you should be able to heat it up & pick/scrape/flake it off. I have no idea if that would affect the finish on the gun, however...

 

[bsand]

Anyone have an epoxy removal secret? I would like to get my gun cleaned up sooner rather than later.

Aircraft paint remover.

 

[Blastattack]

I can only speak from my experience changing shafts in golf club heads (they're epoxied together), and the 'secret' was HEAT. If you have access to a heat gun, you should be able to heat it up & pick/scrape/flake it off. I have no idea if that would affect the finish on the gun, however...

Would a hair dryer be enough, or do I need a real heat gun?

Aircraft paint remover.

Where would someone find that?

 

[Gunneegoogoo]

Where would someone find that?

Aircraft paint remover store......

hahahahah...

Try looking up a couple of the aviation companies and/of flying clubs out at springbank and ask to speak to one of their mechanics. They should be able to point you in the right direction. Having said that, I'm pretty certain that there's at least a few flying types on here....

-J.

 

[Viper26]

Lowes, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, etc should have a stripper for epoxy based paint. No telling how it would react with the finish. I'd try heat first. You can get a cheap heat gun at Princess Auto.

 

[TAC PRO]

Use a heat gun. Any type of chemical stripper will likely have an effect on the rifle's finish.

 

[CanuckR]

A little propane torch would work well too. It should get hotter than a heat gun and be able control what gets and what doesn't a bit better.

 

[Tcon]

don't worry too much about the finish. worst case, you remove the epoxy and have it cerakoted for $200. Cerakote is more durable anyway.

 

[bsand]

Use a heat gun. Any type of chemical stripper will likely have an effect on the rifle's finish.

If you Google it, bunch of people use aircraft stripper to remove epoxy from trg actions (much more $$). So I would doubt it would do any damage. Highly toxic yes, borderline dangerous if used in enclosed spaces. But its nice and thick so a bit on a Qtip is all you need.

 

[ntm]

Yeah, epoxied at the factory.
Heat gun isn't enough on good epoxy, a small propane torch and some pressure and it'd pop off. You can use the torch to cook the residue and it'll make it easy to scrape off.

 

[tigrr]

Do all or any of these mentioned cleaning solutions in a well ventilated space. Some epoxy and bedding compounds, when heated give off gases that can kill you. Even if you grind it off wear a respirator. Coming from a person who welded on metal covered with epoxy paint.

 

[Jordan Smith]

Hold a soldering iron on the screw studs for a while, and that'll heat up the epoxy so you can turn out the screws.

 

[blwebster]

in order to remove the heat treated epoxy, try cutting a long piece of bone or deer antler to a chisel shaped end. This will not damage the bluing but you can put lots of pressure on stubborn epoxy.

 

[Shooter ----/]

Pic doesn't show up for me. How was the rail bent?

 

[sniper58]

I've used my wife's small propane torch ( she uses it for creme brulee) to remove epoxy.
Tiny flame that's very controllable.