Glass bedding 2 of my newest pre 64 model 70 purchases...

[bsa1917hunter]

Well, some of you guys know I lucked into some really nice pre 64 model 70 rifles. One was a featherweight 30-06 made in '58 and the other a '59 H&H magnum rechambered to 300WBY. Both rifles are in very good condition, but they needed to be glass bedded. I like shrinking group size and consistency in accuracy, so this gets done to all of my rifles. Here's a pic of the stocks and my 2 rifles in the shop right now, sitting in bedding compound:





My preferred bedding compounds is Devcon steel 10110. It sets up very hard and stays on the stock without cracking out or shrinking. Its excellent bedding compound and far superior to accraglass. I'll show pics of how it turns out when I'm done. Should be decent... Then shoot them next weekend. That's the fun part

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[bsa1917hunter]

Well say it isn't so, BSA isn't masking off every square inch of that stock. How is that possible???? Not like any other bedding job, I've ever seen. Here's some more pics. Removal of the excess bedding compound:




ooooohhh, that's clean and it's not even really clean yet, until its all done. ha ha..

I'm showing you guys 2 different methods. Here's the featherweight with stock fitters inletting screws in the action and electrical tape keeping the barreled action in the stock. I know it looks crude, but it works well:




It's going to look sharp when its done. It's going to shoot even better....

 

[bsa1917hunter]

For those of you that know what these are, you can understand my exitement for wanting to get back into my model 70's. I used to be a big time model 70 guy, but the last 2 years or so, I've gone off to the dark side with my evil black rifles and savages and Tikka's. Those newer rifles are awesome, don't get me wrong, but they aren't a pre 64 model 70. I remember days when some yayhoo would get on the net bragging about how his Tikka can outshoot any rifle made. Usually just a couple posts and pics of how my old model 70's shoot, generally shut those types up for a while. So, I'm letting some of you guys in on a little secret to make your model 70's shoot lights out. Here's the glass bedding now as finished. These rifles are ready to take to the range this weekend. Well, I need to get a scope on the big weatherby, but that's about it. I worked on these 2 rifles after work today. Put an hour and a half into pulling the barreled actions, cleaning up all the metal and stocks, adjusting the trigger's down to a perfect 2.5 pounds. These things are ready to rock and roll this weekend!!!

Featherweight recoil lug and front action screw area:




300WBY:



I hope some of you guys enjoyed this thread, as you don't see a whole lot of glass bedding threads here. This wasn't really a tutorial or anything, just pictures to show how easy glass bedding can really be. And trust me, it does help with attaining the most consistent accuracy from a rifle you can get. Of course there are more than just proper glass bedding that makes a rifle shoot good, but as I've said many times before, glass bedding is the foundation to having an extremely accurate platform. Here's a good example of one of my pre 64's and the accuracy you can achieve when everything works well together:


That's actually the pre 64 in my avatar. I only take it out on rare occasions and during elk season. It's a pretty sweet old 338 and I love packing it around in the woods. Bare rifle without scope weighs in at 7 pounds even. Not too bad for a 338WM....

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Thanks No Regerts. I know you like that featherweight.

 

[No_Regerts]

Awesome job! Its one of those things where it can be really simple to do and yields some real benefit. Unlike battleworn finishes and cerakoting kryptec on your stock, or putting one of those koch rings on the barrel.

 

[No_Regerts]

Thanks No Regerts. I know you like that featherweight.

I do! I'd still trade you my westerner for it! Or a Tikka Superlite 223 with an 8-twist, or whatever else I got!

 

[bsa1917hunter]

I'll let you in on a little secret. I will not ever sell a rifle that DOESN'T shoot well..... You've probably seen my '56 30-06 featherweight. It's more original than the '58, but I still glass bedded it:


That rifle is a sweetheart. Made the same year my parents were born, so I will hang on to it until my dying day. Oh, it shoots good buddy:


It doesn't just look the part...

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Ok, so I had a chance to take a couple of my 300 magnums to the range earlier this evening. My newly chambered BSA model E put a little spanking on my new to me 300WBY. The BSA is a little rough chambering though. I need to look at the extractor. I'm thinking something needs to be a little more fine tuned to function 100%. These m1917's when done right, are an absolute dream to shoot and run. This one, not so much right now, but that will soon change. The chamber was cut perfectly though. Here's how she shot tonight:


Now, on to my 300WBY that I just glass bedded last weekend. This rifle is such a sweetheart and chambered in one of my favorite 300 magnum cartridges. The new red pachmayr decelerator pad that I installed last weekend really soaks up the recoil too. I couldn't be happier about how the rifle performs. Here's how she shot. No cherry picking groups here. I used some el cheapo hornady interlocks I've had laying around for years. I bought 500 of them for dirt cheap about 10 years ago and this is the first time using them. You can see how the weatherby is reacting to the charge weight increasing. Accuracy was steadily getting better:





I'm imagining that this rifle is going to do very well with some nosler partitions. Either 180 or 200 grain pills.... Looks like it's got potential though. As soon as I get a chance, I'll take my 30-06 featherweight out and see how she does, but until then I guess you just get stuck with looking at how my newly acquired 300 magnums are doing...

 

[bsa1917hunter]

I do! I'd still trade you my westerner for it! Or a Tikka Superlite 223 with an 8-twist, or whatever else I got!

That fwt is a sweetheart man. I shot it last night, but got in too late lastnight to let you know how it did. Keep in mind I was shooting "unproven" loads, that I actually use in all my other 30-06 rifles. I tried 2 different loads and it shot well, but I believe it would do better if I worked up loads just for it. As it is, I'd take it out tomorrow and hunt with it though. I worked 12 hours today, no lunch, so after I take a shower, I'll post some pics to show you how it did. Keep in mind, they are going to be as honest as they come... I don't believe in sugar coating or cherry picking... I'll show you guys how it shot before bedding and after bedding...

 

[Xaevian]

Thank you for this post, @bsa1917hunter. Sweet rifles and sweet shooting!

 

[bsa1917hunter]

You are welcome my friend. I love these old rifles. I use them for hunting, so when I come across one for a good deal, I'll usually snag it. These 2 rifles were prime examples of what you can sometimes find out there, if you are looking for a "shooter" class of rifle. I would take either of these rifles out hunting in a heart beat. Here are the pics I promised. Please keep in mind these loads were not "worked up" in this rifle, just something I had laying around for my other 30-06 rifles. However, with that being said, they have always performed wonderfully in all of my 30-06 rifles. A little load development for this featherweight and I'll have a better idea of what she will really do. In these pics, you'll see the first group I ever shot with this fwt:

I was saving this target pic, just for you guys. It really shows how the bedding (or lack there of) has an influence on the accuracy of a rifle.

This is kind of what I was expecting to see with this rifle, since it was in a non bedded aftermarket stock. I know a lot of guys panic and want to sell a rifle when they get it and it shoots like this. However, I see potential in this rifle. The rifling, bore and chamber are in very good condition. It still has a lot of life left in it. It just needed a little TLC.

Here is the most recent groups shot with this same rifle, after glass bedding it into an Ebay stock. I bought the stock cheap because the seller listed stating it didn't have any finish left on it and it had been cut for a recoil pad. It was the perfect stock for this rifle, as I had a spare red pachmayr laying around. I needed more practice grinding recoil pads anyway. So here goes, the first group wasn't impressive, but much better than the first group fired with the rifle:


Then I tried my 180gr winchester powerpoint load that my other fwt loves:

And then the last group fired with the fwt:

I thought I was going to put all 5 into moa, but screwed up the last shot!!!!!^^^

Now, I have to show off the rechamber job velzey did for me. It's my BSA model E (factory sporterized m1917). I always said if I ever buy the right 308 Norma, I'm going to sell the rest of my rifles... I won't get carried away and do that, but check this out. This Norma just shoots!!


Now of course, what that beautiful featherweight needs is some good ol old fashioned load development like I've been doing with my new Norma and 300WBY. I think I can throw something together that it likes...

 

[Velzey]

This is good to see!

 

[DLS]

Thanks for the great bedding thread, I enjoyed seeing your work!!!

I have a couple of early Ruger M77s that I have toyed with the idea of bedding, but they actually shoot so well that I don't want to mess with a good thing. They (a .270W & .338WM) both shoot around 1.25 or a bit better for the .270 and a bit worse for the .338. So I hesitate to change anything since they are rarely used since I switched to bow hunting but in the back of my mind the idea of bedding still percolates. That and my kids are wanting to hunt rifle so my plans may change in the future.

So ...

Do you do bedding coaching / mentoring? I've seen a million YouTube videos on the matter, but picking the brain of someone who has actually done the work is far far better in my mind.

And ...

You mention you were / are a Mod 70 guy. You wouldn't happen to have a post '64 long action beater stock I could pick up from you? I have a Mod 70 Featherweight in .257 Roberts that I want to stock for my 14 yr-old daughter. She's pretty small and the factory stock is just too large for her. I've been trying to locate a beater stock that I could cut down for her so she can use the rifle until she grows a bit more. It doesn't have to be pretty, or even in usable shape. I can pin and epoxy and hack away to make it work for the short term.

She is hunting deer for the first time this year and using a SKS because of stock fit. I was hoping to have the scoped bolt gun set up instead but have not located a stock (except for the very nice ones you can always find for sale, full price, on the likes of eBay and GunBroker).

Sorry for the rambling … again thanks for one of the best threads on NWFA this year!

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Thanks for the great bedding thread, I enjoyed seeing your work!!!

I have a couple of early Ruger M77s that I have toyed with the idea of bedding, but they actually shoot so well that I don't want to mess with a good thing. They (a .270W & .338WM) both shoot around 1.25 or a bit better for the .270 and a bit worse for the .338. So I hesitate to change anything since they are rarely used since I switched to bow hunting but in the back of my mind the idea of bedding still percolates. That and my kids are wanting to hunt rifle so my plans may change in the future.

So ...

Do you do bedding coaching / mentoring? I've seen a million YouTube videos on the matter, but picking the brain of someone who has actually done the work is far far better in my mind.

And ...

You mention you were / are a Mod 70 guy. You wouldn't happen to have a post '64 long action beater stock I could pick up from you? I have a Mod 70 Featherweight in .257 Roberts that I want to stock for my 14 yr-old daughter. She's pretty small and the factory stock is just too large for her. I've been trying to locate a beater stock that I could cut down for her so she can use the rifle until she grows a bit more. It doesn't have to be pretty, or even in usable shape. I can pin and epoxy and hack away to make it work for the short term.

She is hunting deer for the first time this year and using a SKS because of stock fit. I was hoping to have the scoped bolt gun set up instead but have not located a stock (except for the very nice ones you can always find for sale, full price, on the likes of eBay and GunBroker).

Sorry for the rambling … again thanks for one of the best threads on NWFA this year!

Dang, I'm sorry I didn't see your post earlier. I wasn't ignoring you. To answer some of your questions, I have posted many threads and pictures of another site where a bunch of Winchester collectors get together and talk about guns. I've posted tutorials there, but some of them are so old, and photobucket hosted all of my pictures in those threads, that they are lost now. These guys here don't know me too well, so I tiptoe around and post tiny exerpts of some of the things I can do. Speaking of Ruger 77's, I've done lots of bedding work and trigger work on that model. Don't let the angled recoil lug scare you, just make sure you use plenty of release agent and bed everything tight. My best suggestion is to leave the speed bumps and just bed the recoil lug of the rifle. Don't bed the tang, it's not necessary, if you leave the speed bumps. You'll still have 3 points of contact that way and it's more than sufficient for optimized accuracy of your rifle. I used to have so many pictures of my bedding jobs and groups, that you guys would tire of them because they all look the same. My Ruger m77 elk rifle (338wm) was a consistent 3/4 moa 5 shot group rifle and the 270 round top was phenomenal after glass bedding. Those aren't the only Rugers I've glass bedded though. After years of experience glass bedding rifles, I found that I could cut group size in half by doing a good glass bedding job. It was almost a given and became something I'd expect and anticipate. As for the post 64 stock, I have some, but they are for the short action WSM and factory long action tupperware stock that I modified to fit on one of my pre 64's. Sorry I can't help you there my friend. One thing I'd like to share with you guys is some recent work I have done to a couple rifles. One a very nice Sako A7 that was not shooting consistently at all (unless you call random flyers consistent) and the other a rifle I bought from a good mod here. Both excellent shooters now, after glass bedding.
I won't start with those rifles there though, I'll go back further and pick on my Tikka superlite. Everyone knows nothing outshoots a bone stock Tikka right? Here's some pics of how it shot before glass bedding:

Dang, something's not right about that one^^^^ NO not even Pharm can fix it with his magic loads. It's going to take more than good load development. The next step was to freefloat the barrel:

Geez, that's not much better^^^^ Right? I think you guys can agree, this rifle needs more than a freefloat... Ok, lets get down to it. Here's how she shoots now after a proper glass bedding job:

Now, that's looking better. On to the next victim: I call this one my "CTR #2". Here's how it shot when I got it:


This right here ^^^^ is why I shoot 10 shot groups to confirm a rifles true accuracy and poi. On the surface, you say, that doesn't look bad. Well, when you get funky flyers and a horizontal dispersion, something is not right. I knew the rifle had good potential. When shooting these 10 shot groups, the first 3 -5 were pretty good. Again, that's not really telling the whole story. You need to shoot more shots on paper to see if you get flyers or to see if it starts stringing them. This one did that, so it needed work. Upon further inspection of the rifle, I found the recoil lug was loose and it was wearing on the action of the rifle. A little jiggle here and there will throw a shot randomly, so I bedded this recoil lug to both the action and the stock:

It's pretty secure now and shoots much better:



Now, I can really start in on some good handloads for this rifle and maybe use it for some F class shooting. It will likely be my backup to my CTR #1, which shoots like this:

Like I said, I wish I wouldn't have had most of my pictures on photobucket, because I lost those pictures They were very informative in regards to glass bedding rifles. I hope you guys enjoyed this thread and letting me explain why I like to glass bed my rifles and why it's important, if you like accuracy..

 

[bsa1917hunter]

This is good to see!

Thanks buddy. I know you can relate. You are a shooter and understand the mechanics behind what makes a rifle shoot to it's highest potential. Having had one of my rifles in your shop recently, you know I like them bedded tight. . Thanks again for re-chambering my old BSA buddy.You do great work and that rifle is shooting lights out. I've already started the process of getting rid of a few rifles. That Norma will replace a few....

 

[North Plains]

Thanks for the great bedding thread, I enjoyed seeing your work!!!

I have a couple of early Ruger M77s that I have toyed with the idea of bedding, but they actually shoot so well that I don't want to mess with a good thing. They (a .270W & .338WM) both shoot around 1.25 or a bit better for the .270 and a bit worse for the .338. So I hesitate to change anything since they are rarely used since I switched to bow hunting but in the back of my mind the idea of bedding still percolates. That and my kids are wanting to hunt rifle so my plans may change in the future.

So ...

Do you do bedding coaching / mentoring? I've seen a million YouTube videos on the matter, but picking the brain of someone who has actually done the work is far far better in my mind.

And ...

You mention you were / are a Mod 70 guy. You wouldn't happen to have a post '64 long action beater stock I could pick up from you? I have a Mod 70 Featherweight in .257 Roberts that I want to stock for my 14 yr-old daughter. She's pretty small and the factory stock is just too large for her. I've been trying to locate a beater stock that I could cut down for her so she can use the rifle until she grows a bit more. It doesn't have to be pretty, or even in usable shape. I can pin and epoxy and hack away to make it work for the short term.

She is hunting deer for the first time this year and using a SKS because of stock fit. I was hoping to have the scoped bolt gun set up instead but have not located a stock (except for the very nice ones you can always find for sale, full price, on the likes of eBay and GunBroker).

Sorry for the rambling … again thanks for one of the best threads on NWFA this year!

I have a plastic stock I took off a 1986 375 h&h. Not sure the make. You can have it if it will work for you.

 

[DLS]

I have a plastic stock I took off a 1986 375 h&h. Not sure the make. You can have it if it will work for you.

I'm about to give up on finding a wood stock. I've had a few offers of plastic ones, but was concerned about mounting a recoil pad to the hollow shell once it is cut to size. But I'm thinking I can fill it with foam, or glue In a wood block and make it work.

So, this came off of a Winchester M70 long action and has 7 5/8 inch hole spacing?

 

[North Plains]

I can check tonight on the hole spacing.its a 375 h&h so I'm pretty sure it's a long action.

I'm about to give up on finding a wood stock. I've had a few offers of plastic ones, but was concerned about mounting a recoil pad to the hollow shell once it is cut to size. But I'm thinking I can fill it with foam, or glue In a wood block and make it work.

So, this came off of a Winchester M70 long action and has 7 5/8 inch hole spacing?

I'll try and post some pictures also

 

[North Plains]

The wood stock I replaced it with was new old stock. The outfit had a bunch of them. If I remember right it was 100$

 

[bsa1917hunter]

The wood stock I replaced it with was new old stock. The outfit had a bunch of them. If I remember right it was 100$

CDNN is a good place to look.