Glass-Bedding My 10-22
It was recommended to me that for accuracy of my 10-22 with my ER-Shaw Barrel, I should glass-bed it. So the first thing I did was order a kit from American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI), which included an instructional DVD. After watching that, I then read Vincent's thread on Rimfire Central. Armed with this info it was time to start.
The first thing that I did was take apart the rifle. I removed the trigger mechanism and the site. Then I put the action into the stock and marked where the stock met the action. This would assist me in where to mask the stock:
The black lines are the marks. Then I removed the take-down screw, and plugged up the hole with modeling clay:
Then I took a rag with paint thinner and went over the stock and the action, to remove any oil. Alot came off:
The next step was to dry and prep the action, by masking any holes in it:
Now time to attack the kit:
I applied the release agent to the action and barrel and masked up the stock:
Now I was ready to mix up the resin and the hardener. I added brown dye to it, and renamed glass-bedding to caramel coating:
My first mistake, WAY TOO MUCH!!!! Then I reassembled the action and the stock:
and let it sit for about four hours, and checked it and it appeared to me that it was going to separate nicely, so I went to bed. The following morning, I attempted to separate the action from the stock. I think I waited too long. It took ALOT of effort. Finally I jammed a screwdriver between the barrel and the stock at the muzzle end and hammered the large screwdriver in, and with alot of elbow grease, they came apart. The action had very little glass on it, so I breathed a sigh of relief that was heard round-the-world (did you hear it), then I went to work.
The two separated (notice the electral tape wrapped around the barrel to center it better in the action)
The stock
The point where the barrel meets the bed (notice the outline of the helical flutes)
The take-down screw area
The trigger area
Upon returning to the project, I then started removing the tape from the stock, and I chipped off any extra glass (should have done this before the glass had a time to totally cure, would have been much easier). This took alot of time (the prep was about 2-2.5 hours, the glass-bedding was about 15-30 min, drying was overnight (I think - MISTAKE, should try and catch it before total curing)). After removing the tape and extra glass (I used WAY too much), I then removed the release agent from the action and barrel with warm water, and also removed the electrical tape. The action/barrel fitted very nicely into the stock. The trouble started when I reinstalled the trigger mechanism.
After adding the trigger mech. the action wouldn't fit with the stock. I had to remove some bedding compound around the trigger area of the stock, and I removed some from the magazine area. I got it to fit. So I fully assembled the trigger mechanism, no fit. More dremeling (unfortunately, I removed way too much bedding compound than I needed to, however, the fit is still tighter than it was before.
After trial-and-error, I found the problem:
I previously drilled and tapped two holes into the action in-between the two pins that hold the trigger mech in place, one on each side. I then took two set screws, rounded them off so they would fit flush into the action (well, ha ha, NOT with the bedding). Those two set-screws were preventing the trigger mech/action/barrel from fitting with the stock. It took alot of time and unnecessary removal of bedding material before I figured this out by removing the set-screws and the assembly mated beautifully with the stock. Those set-screws were recommended to minimize movement of the trigger action, but I had to remove them.
Well, now everything fits, and even though I removed more bedding compound than I should have, the fit is tighter than it was before, which is the purpose of glass-bedding.
I then assembled the rifle together, tested the action with snap-caps, aligned my scope with my bore laser and put everything away.
I will have more after I return from the range. I plan to go in the next few days.
I also am waiting for the shipment of torque screwdrivers, so I can get the proper amount of torque set on the barrel v-block screws and the take-down screw.
Till then, good shooting!
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