when I took my new rifle apart to clean,I knew I would want to have the action bedded. here is my questions: I found a metal spacer between the recoil lug (back side of the lug) it looks like it might have been put there to take up space for loose stock in letting but I do not know. I would think it should be removed when the bedding is done around the lug and fill in the space with bedding,the spacer is about 1/8 thick and the width of the recoil lug.next question is in the for arm under the sight is a hunk of metal in the shape of an (F) that fits into the stock and the forward portion mates up against a lug that is under the rear sight looks to be part of the site. question is should that piece also be bedded into the stock or just left out? when the screw is tighten up it pulls the stock tight up against the barrel. thanks for any info as this is my first CZ and appears to be a different animal than all the Remington's I have owned and worked on and want to get this right before shooting it.

KEEP THE f BLOCK!!
you can bed the rear of it, easily. it is different than a remington -

contact CZ for the torque specs ..

this is the third lug setup, and without this, you could easily break the stock

quote:

Originally posted by hydehunter:
when I took my new rifle apart to clean,I knew I would want to have the action bedded. here is my questions: I found a metal spacer between the recoil lug (back side of the lug) it looks like it might have been put there to take up space for loose stock in letting but I do not know. I would think it should be removed when the bedding is done around the lug and fill in the space with bedding,the spacer is about 1/8 thick and the width of the recoil lug.

Here is a picture of a factory stock showing the "bedding pad" of non magnetic stuff,
a strip of tough polymer on mine. The loose bits are held in the stock by clear plastic package tape for storage,
including the F-block and one of the pillar-like action spacers, stowed in front of the F-block:



next question is in the for arm under the sight is a hunk of metal in the shape of an (F) that fits into the stock and the forward portion mates up against a lug that is under the rear sight looks to be part of the site. question is should that piece also be bedded into the stock or just left out? when the screw is tighten up it pulls the stock tight up against the barrel. thanks for any info as this is my first CZ and appears to be a different animal than all the Remington's I have owned and worked on and want to get this right before shooting it.

Below are four degrees of bedding, one through four from top to bottom:

1: Factory bedding, no additional work on bedding.

2: Primary recoil lug bedded (got rid of "bedding pad"), F-block left as factory,
forearm screw with escutcheon tensions the secondary recoil lug against the F-block.

3: Epoxy bedding of primary recoil lug extends over rear of F-block, forearm screw functions as above.

4: Full bedding of action, tang too, with pillars and custom barrel with custom secondary recoil lug.
Forearm screw is nonfunctional, now just a filler screw.



2-4 again:



I have others with more of the F-block buried, nearly fully covered with epoxy.
Don't be afraid to fully cover the F-block with bedding as long as you can get the barreled action out after the epoxy sets.
Yes, retain the F-block unless you have custom work done on the secondary recoil lug on the barrel.
If you do so then you will want a hidden crossbolt in the forearm, when the F-block is discarded.
All of these are the old Lux stocks, "Euro-hogbacks" with extra crossbolts added, visible and hidden,
except for #1 above which is a blond with a nicely figured butt, just for lookin' at so far, has only the tang crossbolt from factory.

thank you RIP,so if the f block is removed and not used do you think just bedding the action will work out,that is the way my 458 Lott was done on the Remington 700 thanks Jim

Bad idea with a walnut or laminate stock to get rid of the secondary recoil lug on a .458 WIN.
The remnant factory contraption on the CZ 550 Magnum barrel is a poor recoil lug without the F-block.
You can throw away the F-block if you get a Bell & Carlson stock with full bedding block.
It has a recess in the barrel channel to fit the remnant barrel contraption without the F-block.
It is the same stock that CZ called first "Kevlar" and then "Aramid" due to infringing on the Kevlar copyright name.
Aramid is the fiber found in Kevlar.
Direct from B&C you save about 200 bucks for the same stock.

Rip ...

You don't need the second lug or to anchor the barrel.Just bed the action as you normally would.The secret is in tightening the guard screws so that they NEVER become loose.

RIP,
Thanks for the photos and info. The forth example confirms for me that I got it right when I did my 458 Lott. (Whew!)

Brian

Brian,

Buy a buy a donkey to you too.
That masterful last job was done by Rusty McGee using MarineTex, and a hidden crossbolt in the forearm, for the barrel lug.

It could use some brown stain on the top edges of the forearm epoxy showing grey beside the barrel channel,
but only if I thought it was aesthetically important enough to do,
which I don't.

I bet few of us would agree with shootaway that a barrel lug is not needed on kickers with wood stocks.
Winchester Arms learned their lesson the hard way with the earliest .458 Winchester Magnums of 1956-1957.
Double cross bolts and a barrel lug were required to stop the too-frequent stock breakage.

Rip ...

There is no logical reason to eschew using an existing barrel that makes sense. Bedding it and the rest of the action, better makes sense. Changing it's location and adding a cross bolt makes sense. No using it and relying on really tight screws seems to me a real step backwards.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Brian,

Buy a buy a donkey to you too.
That masterful last job was done by Rusty McGee using MarineTex, and a hidden crossbolt in the forearm, for the barrel lug.

It could use some brown stain on the top edges of the forearm epoxy showing grey beside the barrel channel,
but only if I thought it was aesthetically important enough to do,
which I don't.

I bet few of us would agree with shootaway that a barrel lug is not needed on kickers with wood stocks.
Winchester Arms learned their lesson the hard way with the earliest .458 Winchester Magnums of 1956-1957.
Double cross bolts and a barrel lug were required to stop the too-frequent stock breakage.

Rip ...

"Double cross bolts and a barrel lug were required to stop the too-frequent stock breakage."

Not really.All that is required is a snug fitting action, preventing it from moving and red loctite on really tight(wrench tight) guard screws.

No matter how you bed it if it moves in the stock the stock will crack.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

.

What's funny-ha ha, is that all YOUR wood stocks crack.

RIP, I put the blue masking tape along the outside edge of the barrel channel and action channel beforehand to make the clean up easier. Like you say, It's just a matter of taste.
Each year my buffalo rifle gets uglier. Green paint, purpose built forend, built up cheek piece and pieces of camo to make me feel good. Chuckle.

The CZ F-Block epoxied in, is a good thing.

is it advisable to remove the little piece of metal behind the recoil lug and fill the recoil lug area with bedding or leave the metal piece there and just skim over it.sorry for all the questions just want to do this correctly. thanks Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Canada:
RIP, I put the blue masking tape along the outside edge of the barrel channel and action channel beforehand to make the clean up easier. Like you say, It's just a matter of taste.

Rusty usually does the masking tape thing too. Here is one I did that way with J-B Weld last week, see below.
I often completely cover the entire stock exterior with plain-old, tan-colored masking tape while slopping in the epoxy:

Each year my buffalo rifle gets uglier. Green paint, purpose built forend, built up cheek piece and pieces of camo to make me feel good. Chuckle.

Ross Seyfried's "A Professional's Rifle" or Phil Shoemaker's Ol'Ugly come to mind.

The CZ F-Block epoxied in, is a good thing.

For the appropriately named "shootaway": That rifle is solid, without a barrel lug, because of the metal endoskeleton or bedding block and composite construction,
unlike the monowood-construction stocks and multiwood and glue laminates which should have barrel lugs in addition to the primary action lug.
Keep your action screws tight whatever you do.

Better check the screws in your shooting helmet too, shootaway, you might want to use red Loc-Tite on your shooting helmet screws.

Rip ...

quote:

Originally posted by hydehunter:
is it advisable to remove the little piece of metal behind the recoil lug and fill the recoil lug area with bedding or leave the metal piece there and just skim over it.sorry for all the questions just want to do this correctly. thanks Jim

I believe you will find that "bedding pad" to be made of some synthetic material, might be Kevlar or some plastic, it is a dark grey, almost black thing that is not blued steel.

Get rid of it. You can hog out the area and lay a piece of 1/8" diameter or larger steel allthread in that area, then bury it with epoxy bedding.
But, if you have a visible crossbolt between the recoil lug and magazine well, just scrapping that bedding pad and filling in with good bedding is fine.
Steel-Bed, Marine-Tex, Acraglas, or J-B Weld.
I like J-B Weld best, speaking as an amateur.

Rip ...

Rip
What do you use as a release agent on your JB Weld projects?

Brownells Acraglas Release Agent:

https://www.brownells.com/guns...agent-prod41622.aspx

I started off with the brush on blue liquid that dries to a tough plastic film, two coats.
I still prefer that.
Peels off the metal, and water and a tooth brush will get any traces off of anything else.
Can be thinned with warm water and isopropyl alcohol (50:50 alcohol and water mix) if it thickens in the bottle over the years.

Or Kiwi brand neutral-color shoe polish if I don't have the blue stuff.

Rip ...

Thank you sir!

hey RIP, in photo #3 did you bed that piece of metal in place then just cover a part of it to keep it in place,also on mine when the front forearm screw is tightened down so the recoil lug mates to the metal plate it pulls the forearm up into the wood should that not do that,I think I might need to make a spacer to go in there so wood does touch the barrel what do you think

hydehunter,

#3 was shooting well with the F-Block-barrel-lug contraption, so it was just left in place and the epoxy from the action lug area was allowed to flow forward
to cover the rear of the F-block and glue it into place as the action screws were tightened snugly. The forearm screw was tightened not so much.

You do not need to add a spacer in the forearm.
Get it bedded like above with barrel free-floated forward of the barrel recoil lug.
You can cover more forward over the F-block with epoxy.
You can cover the barrel channel forward of the recoil lug, full contact with barrel.
Sand it out later to free-float if needed.

There is no way the forearm would bend or barrel flex down with tightening the forearm screw, if that is what you meant by this ...

quote:

Originally posted by hydehunter:
hey RIP, in photo #3 did you bed that piece of metal in place then just cover a part of it to keep it in place,also on mine when the front forearm screw is tightened down so the recoil lug mates to the metal plate it pulls the forearm up into the wood should that not do that,I think I might need to make a spacer to go in there so wood does touch the barrel what do you think

... unless your stock is warped or the barreled-action is rocking on a high spot somewhere between the tang and barrel lug/F-block.
Here is another CZ 550 Magnum action bedding job (call it #5) with a custom stock and barrel having standard recoil lug on barrel, no F-block,







Hidden crossbolt is visible above, in web between magazine well and trigger well.





Rip ...

there is no specific way to bed any rifle, there is onl 3 ways, bed it full tight all the way; 3 point bed it, or free float it..The rifle will determine that not advise..Inasmuch as its hard to put wood back you have created a mistake..The good news is glass can be changed, redone to fit the circumstances, and works best with any big bore, factory or custom along with recoil bolts, hidden or exposed....

I normally start by using shims of whatever and place them strategicly where they should or could be to get the gun to shooting small groups, when that's done I know how to bed the gun...

Full tight bedding is usually effective with big bores, if not then 3 point bed with glass in the tang, the action recoil lug and two inches under the chamber, then in the rear of the forward barrel channel recoil lug, not the side bottom or front just the rear of that lug...If this doesn't work then all that's left is the bedded tang, and action recoil lug and free float the barrel, the barrel recoil lug is a tricky in a free float so knock it out if you can but if not tape the front, sides and bottom with at least two layers of tape. and glass it..take the tape off and its free except for the rear of that lug, may have to play with this, use a scraper....

I personally don't like a free floated big bore rifle unless that's the only way it will shoot, Its best in all respect bedded tight all the way with glass if it will shoot that way....Keep in mind a real big bore need not shoot like a bench rest rifle, Id prefer a bedded tight big bore that shot 2" clovers at 100 yards than a 3 point or free floated gun that shot 1/2 to 3/4 inch groups..reliability is first and foremost in any DG rifle..and its your option..

A forend screw bedded is as good as a second recoil lug in aa tight bedded rifle plus it can be fine turned with screw tension...

I would like to thank everyone for help on this rifle. Merry Christmas everyone