What are your experiences with paid bedding services and who can do it

fiftycalforsquirrels

fiftycalforsquirrels

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I imagine bedding an action is one of those things I "could" do, but I understand there are things in life I "should" pay someone to do as to not endure the potential consequences and imperfection of the learning curve. Everyones buddy can do it cheaper, which usually ends up with a get what you paid for scenario.

I have a rifle that has been bedded...in my opinion, the quality of work and attention to the detail is as good as it gets. Very nice job done on it. Bought the rifle second hand, no idea who did it... but whoever did it certainly knew what they were doing to achieve an exact result. So this rifle has essentially became my standard for what a triple A bedding job should look like.

I have a rifle I want bedded. I want the best of the best job done on it.

It's a basic process in principle... but I dont want to pay someone to do what I could do...which is to say, practice and say "good enough, maybe next time will be better". I want to pay someone who has perfected it and can do it in their sleep and knows the tricks.

Who can do perfect work? Who to avoid.
 
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fiftycalforsquirrels said:
I imagine bedding an action is one of those things I "could" do, but I understand there are things in life I "should" pay someone to do as to not endure the potential consequences and imperfection of the learning curve. Everyones buddy can do it cheaper, which usually ends up with a get what you paid for scenario.

I have a rifle that has been bedded...in my opinion, the quality of work and attention to the detail is as good as it gets. Very nice job done on it. Bought the rifle second hand, no idea who did it... but whoever did it certainly knew what they were doing to achieve an exact result. So this rifle has essentially became my standard for what a triple A bedding job should look like.

I have a rifle I want bedded. I want the best of the best job done on it.

It's a basic process in principle... but I dont want to pay someone to do what I could do...which is to say, practice and say "good enough, maybe next time will be better". I want to pay someone who has perfected it and can do it in their sleep and knows the tricks.

Who can do perfect work? Who to avoid.
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You’re from Kamloops? Go see Shaun Jennings’s in Pritchard. Or go talk to the boys at the keg. Lots of good knowledge and potential contacts there.
 
Cpollock said:
I'm afraid I'm absolutely no help here - but couldn't help observing that "paid bedding services" sounds like something one might seek out in the red light district.
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Well.... yeah, I guess it kinda does. Lol. Probably more straight forward for that kinda deal though.
Hmatt said:
You’re from Kamloops? Go see Shaun Jennings’s in Pritchard. Or go talk to the boys at the keg. Lots of good knowledge and potential contacts there.
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Could do, no reason not to! Any first hand experience?
 
fiftycalforsquirrels said:
Well.... yeah, I guess it kinda does. Lol. Probably more straight forward for that kinda deal though.


Could do, no reason not to! Any first hand experience?
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Not with bedding, I had him do some drill and tap work/ sweep a bolt handle on an old husqvarna I have and he did a fantastic job. My uncle and grandfather have been going there since Shaun’s father was running the show. I can get you contact info If you’d like.
 
A few tips for do it yourselfers...

Use a product designed for firearms... I reccomend Brownells Acra-Glas or Acra-gel. Extremely low shrinkage when it cures and a decent amount of working time.

Paste was works very well as a release agent, better than most release agents that comes with bedding kits.
One coat and let it sit, then very lightly wipe it with a cloth and apply another coat.

Hold the barrel centered in the barrel channel by wrapping masking tape around the barrel... just enough to do the job. You may have to float the barrel channel first.
Tape masking tape clearance on the front, bottom and sides of the recoil lug.

You can use a trigger guard screw to hold the action square to the bottom metal but do it with no clamping force.

Spread the expoxy into the action area and set the metal in the stock with no clamps or tightened screws, and let it cure. No clamps ot tightened screws assures stress free bedding.

Damming off areas with plastercine works well. Build the dam, lower the metal into place, remove the metal and adjust the dam as needed before doing the release agent and epoxy.

The more bedding you do the more you learn. Sometimes less bedding is better than more. With the barrel floated an action only needs a bit of stress free bedding the front and rear to acheive best accuracy results.
 
regarding your perfect bedding job do you see bedding compound along the action on either side or at the front of the receiver or where the action meets the bbl
if so then it is not perfect
the 2 nd very important part of bedding relief around the recoil lug if this is not done or done correctly then it is a waste of time and money
 
Hmatt said:
Not with bedding, I had him do some drill and tap work/ sweep a bolt handle on an old husqvarna I have and he did a fantastic job. My uncle and grandfather have been going there since Shaun’s father was running the show. I can get you contact info If you’d like.
Click to expand...

According to google, it sounds like his business is Jennings Custom Gunsmithing with a phone number/address. I'd imagine thats current...wouldnt know until Tuesday though.

guntech said:
A few tips for do it yourselfers...

Use a product designed for firearms... I reccomend Brownells Acra-Glas or Acra-gel. Extremely low shrinkage when it cures and a decent amount of working time.

Paste was works very well as a release agent, better than most release agents that comes with bedding kits.
One coat and let it sit, then very lightly wipe it with a cloth and apply another coat.

Hold the barrel centered in the barrel channel by wrapping masking tape around the barrel... just enough to do the job. You may have to float the barrel channel first.
Tape masking tape clearance on the front, bottom and sides of the recoil lug.

You can use a trigger guard screw to hold the action square to the bottom metal but do it with no clamping force.

Spread the expoxy into the action area and set the metal in the stock with no clamps or tightened screws, and let it cure. No clamps ot tightened screws assures stress free bedding.

Damming off areas with plastercine works well. Build the dam, lower the metal into place, remove the metal and adjust the dam as needed before doing the release agent and epoxy.

The more bedding you do the more you learn. Sometimes less bedding is better than more. With the barrel floated an action only needs a bit of stress free bedding the front and rear to acheive best accuracy results.
Click to expand...

Good tips. Have seen Arcaglas recommended several times now, but not attatched to a reason such as less shrinkage.

The barrel alignment and all that sorta thing is definitely a requirement of mine. I firstly would want the action/barrel to be verified as true to itself so any subsequent barrels are straight in the stock. That's a bit more involved than just bedding the rifle. Or am I overthinking that deal and the rifle just needs to rebedded at that point. Also, what would be the way to verify the action and barrel is parallel to the stock without any cant in any direcrion. (In a stock designed to ride bags)

struff55 said:
regarding your perfect bedding job do you see bedding compound along the action on either side or at the front of the receiver or where the action meets the bbl
if so then it is not perfect
the 2 nd very important part of bedding relief around the recoil lug if this is not done or done correctly then it is a waste of time and money
Click to expand...

I do see bedding compound in all the areas you describe....it is a factory action and factory laminate stock. But it is clean, consistent, and even and I have zero doubt the action is dampened/only fits in 1 exact spot. It looks as if it is just part of the stock and the action fits the inlet like it was a machined fit. I suppose it looks perfectly done for how it was done...not necessarily that it is a truly perfect minimalistic approach

I'm all ears... but are you suggesting that to be perfect, the action needs all the benefits of bedding, without seeing that it is bedded? Or that that if you can see the bedding, there is too much and is negatively affecting the purpose?
 
I bedded a lot of 700's. I made two headless action screws with a very slight taper (for ease of lifting out of cured bedding). These engaged to bottom metal... so when the bottom metal was held in place with tape, these screws engaged the screw holes and held the action square to the stock.

With these screws in place I would lower the barreled action into the stock and make the inletting so it was free to lay in and take out. At this stage you can use a level and determine if the action is flat with the stockline. I would have enought tape around the barrel just behind the end of the stock so it was centered in the barrel channel and was floating back to the action.

Often I would build a dam ahead of the action so the raw bedding compound would not run down the barrel channel. I would use masking tape in the barrel channel first. The when cleaning up after curing you can remove the dam and lift the unwanted bedding out more easily.

Do a lot of fitting, checking, in and out, BEFORE release agent and mixed epoxy.
 
☝️ great local recommendation.

I do bedding myself, but there is definitely an art to it. Don't expect the 1st one to be perfect.

Good epoxy is expensive - I like Devcon for bedding (because it mixes to a consistency I like), and I'd say the price of admission is probably not worth it unless yer gunna bed 3 (or more) actions. JMHO
 
Craige Douglas of AC Douglas in Saskatoon. Best of the best is something that would be pretty hard to establish; but I do know that if you have one of his jobs you’ll have to fight the urge to take it apart to look at it, then take it apart to show friends; then probably yet again to post pictures on the internet.
He uses Devcon.
 
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