[armedfree]

I've beded remingtons and a few mausers but this ruger has me stumped. You normally use long headless guide bolts but how do you do that with the angle bolt on the ruger. By the way, the bedding on my ruger target rifle is dismal.

 

[Marshall Stanton]

#Moderation Mode

I moved this from the Rifle forum to the Gunsmithing forum so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.



<a href="http://beartoothbullets.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/topic.cgi?forum=11&topic=4" target="_self">Moved here</a>

 

[MT Callahan]

Armedfree,

I'm stumped here. Are you trying to pillar bed a Ruger #1? Let me know what your working on. If its a #1 I have some information that may help.

 

[armedfree]

this is a ruger m77 target rifle. stainless heavy barrel. It has three action screws, one is on an about 45% angle, its the front screw ahead of the magazine.The only thing I can see to do is bed the action and drill it back out after, but I'm worried that it might not line up right.

 

[MT Callahan]

Well, you've got me on that one. I don't really have any experience working on the 77. Think this ones best left for the rest of the group.

Good luck

 

[moose]

I assume you want to bed the cylindrical portion of the barrel, the recoil lug, and the tang. Make sure you use a release agent on everything metal! I use Johnson's paste wax, easy cleanup. Modelers clay will help to keep acraglass from flowing into areas you dont want glass into. Tape the outside of the stock to keep it clean. Relieve wood and double check the metal fit for clearance. Mix the glass (gel I hope) and slap it in. Pop out the metal using a dead blow hammer, a couple of good wacks should do it. If not get metal very cold, leave out overnight or put in deep freeze. Make sure you drill out the screw holes so the screw only touches the bottom metal and the threaded hole. the middle screw only needs to be just past finger tight, the other two can be as tight as you can turn.

 

[armedfree]

so, what you are saying is that I only need to bed the recoil lug area and the barrel shank? This is a lam stock so I guess that movement in any other area should be minimal. When I put it in the stock do I only use the bands to hold it or should I turn in the middle and tang screws?

 

[MikeG]

If I understand your questions correctly, you are thinking about pillar bedding the 77 (right?), and the angled front screw has you confused.  Let me know if this is not the case.

I did a 77 earlier last year and just bedded the mating surfaces of the action, recoil lug, and trigger guard.  Didn't try to pillar bed.  Figured if the first try didn't work then I'd cross that bridge.  For what it's worth it all turned out fine.  My suggestion would be to just bed the surfaces as a laminated stock should be OK.

I don't use the action screws when letting the glass set up.  Too much chance of one sticking.  Usually just use big rubber bands or bungee cords or the like to hold everything together.

By the way, you could try this technique that I have used to pillar bed in the past (though haven't tried it on the 77).  What I did was get some quarter-inch wooden dowel rods and made 'action screws' out of them.  That is, cut down to an inch or so longer than each action screw, and tapered one end so it would start into the hole in the receiver.

Then coat each rod with my release agent, which is paste wax for wooden floors.  Great stuff.

The screw holes in the stock were drilled out oversized, say 3/8" or so. The barrel/action was put back into the stock, the rods put in, then the glass spooned around the rods to take up the excess space.   Then the trigger guard was put back on.  This holds the rods in place and ensures that the holes through the glass are lining up with where the screws are going to go.  I would think that if the trigger guard was not used then there wouldn't be much chance of making the initial hole in the right place.

I was expecting to have to drill out the dowel rods but they came right out after the glass set up.  That give me a perfect pilot hole for the drill bit.  I drilled them out just a bit, say 5/16", to ensure that there would be clearance on the action screws.

It all worked out really slick.  Like I said haven't tried it on the 77 but would imagine that it would work.

 

[James Gates]

Dear MT..I would be greatly interested in your approach on Ruger No1's. The rifle, along with the "plain Jane" No3's, are my favorites. Let us know what you do.
Best Regards from The Hammock...James

 

[tazman37]

First off-----WHY would you want to bed your Ruger Target? the 45 degree angle on the front screw is designed to pull the action into contact with the bedding in the stock. I have two of these (243 and 308) and both barrels are free floating and both rifles shoot MOA with about anything I can put through them. If we're talking about M77VT's leave the bedding alone, even Ruger does not recommending doing this on the M77 series of any kind.
     ALSO--------beware of "floor wax" release agents. If you are serious about bedding anything, get a Brownell's catalog and use their bedding compound with their release agent------and be liberal with the agent. I have bedded dozens of Mausers with this method and have never had a problem getting the stock back out. I usually just "dip" the action screws in the release agent, apply bedding compound (glassbed or steel bed), cinch the action down tight, and have NEVER had a problem getting them out.
   Use the right product for the job and quit trying to cut corners with stuff from the grocery store.