Military rifle action bedding

Pre 1945 action rifles. Muzzle loading.

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Mauserbill
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Military rifle action bedding

#1 Post by Mauserbill »

Hello
I shoot Military rifles and have been toying with the idea of bedding some of the actions, first to try is a Mosin Nagant.
It has quite a generous amount of leeway around the rear action screw and also at the recoil block.
"Question" I know that acraglass is often used as a first choice, but I have been informed by others that there are a lot of 2 pack epoxies
that can also do the job. If using an alternative to acraglass, What is the best way to ensure release and what is the best product to use.
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snayperskaya
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Re: Military rifle action bedding

#2 Post by snayperskaya »

From personal experience I have had great success with shims, a barrel wrap and relieving the barrel channel in the stock when it comes to bedding a Mosin action.There are plenty of guides on the 'net but here's a good one.....

http://smith-sights.com/accurizing-the- ... -later.php

Shims were good enough for the Finns and the Russians and my '44 PU sniper still has original shims and barrel wrap in it.Whilst there are shim kits available I have always made my own shims from 0.6 to 0.8mm thick steel or aluminium sheet (or 54r spam can steel) and greatly improved the accuracy of a '39 Izhevsk 91/30, a '26 Izhevsk ex-Dragoon and a '44-dated M44 Carbine that I've had and I've also shimmed three 91/30s for club members with very good results. Despite having a less than perfect bore the group size of the '39 Izhevsk was reduced by more than half.On my Mosins I can run a fiver between the barrel and the stock and between the stock and the receiver from one side, around the rear tang and back along the other side of the receiver.

The majority of Mosin's don't like a fully floated barrel hence the barrel wrap of oiled canvas.The position of the wrap is trial and error, move it along the barrel until you find the "sweet spot" which is usually in the area around the front barrel band.The wrap acts as a harmonic damper which takes the whip out of the relatively thin barrel and provides a consistent pressure point.

Mine also have a piece of oiled canvas just in front of the recess for the recoil lug that the barrel shank sits on.The recoil lug recesses also have shims on the back wall of it so there is no rearward movement of the action when the lug is in its recess.Some guides use cork material in front of the recoil lug but I find a square of lightly oiled canvas compresses to the desired thickness, in conjunction with the shims.

The tightness of the action screws is also quite important, they should be snug but not overtight.Just altering the tightness of the screws can pull group sizes in or out.Also make sure the screws are actually snug, I have seen a few Mosin stocks that have had the action fitted and removed to the point where the rear tang etc has dug into the stock to the point where the two action screws actually bottom out before they actually hold the action into the stock securely.

Whilst modern bedding methods and materials will no doubt work I feel it is much more in keeping to use the same methods as used by both the Russians and the Finns.At least with shims you can experiment with differing thicknesses, shims are less messy and are completely reversable without effecting the rifles originality.

If I can offer any more advice or pics etc give me a shout :good:
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kennyc
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Re: Military rifle action bedding

#3 Post by kennyc »

Mauserbill wrote:Hello
I shoot Military rifles and have been toying with the idea of bedding some of the actions, first to try is a Mosin Nagant.
It has quite a generous amount of leeway around the rear action screw and also at the recoil block.
"Question" I know that acraglass is often used as a first choice, but I have been informed by others that there are a lot of 2 pack epoxies
that can also do the job. If using an alternative to acraglass, What is the best way to ensure release and what is the best product to use.
when you get to the K31 do yourself a favour and if it shoots well leave it be, lots of people over the years have tried to free float and bed them and found they shot worse than before .
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Mauserbill
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Re: Military rifle action bedding

#4 Post by Mauserbill »

Hello
My K31 is fitted with a side lock steel scope mount and a Pecar scope and shoots really well and accurately
Its is not on my to do list. .I have looked at the identified web site and its definitely changed my mind on using epoxy bedding of my Mosina. I will be trying the shim and barrel wrap method, I will be ordering the materials and getting to work, this together with the trigger job recently completed, I am looking forward to testing and assessment on the range.
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