thanks guys--

Will--interesting about the weight--I have the hogback and I thought with the McMillan it would weigh less--

lawndart--thanks for the pics--send all you can--chris

Well, you have both stocks in hand, so I may have lied but the weight of the hogback I had was about 2.5 lbs, or a little less, and the McMillan a tad more (I sold it without recording the numbers). I wanted a lighter stock but it didn't turn out that way.

The CZ American stock I just sold weighed 3.04 lbs.

I wish they weighed about a lb. or a pound and a half. Too bad McMillan isn't making a graphite version.

But please try to accurately weigh the two stocks, as I need to order another and would like to verify my memory, such as it is.

Will--I can weigh the McMillan stock later today, but the hogback won't get weighed until I start to do the glass bed job--but I'm not in to much of a hurry--still need to buy the glass kit and get prepped--chris

this is from the McMillan site--pretty broad range--2 to 4.5lbs......chris

31. How much do the stocks weigh?

As a general rule our hunting and sporting stocks all weigh right at 2 pounds. We do have the ability to achieve a specific weight if additional weight is required. Our tactical and high power competition stocks are designed to be heavier. Since there are several factors that influence the final weight such as the accessories you choose, each stock in weight. In general they weigh between 2.75 and 4.5 pounds.

I have a Mcmillan cut for the CZ 550 on my 585 NYATI. No crossbolts, but a second recoil lug and lots of steelbed. It has taken some dead serious rounds thru it and a few of the other posters here have shot it. It's amazingly controlable and the stock does distribute the recoil admirably. On a .375 you certainly don't want or need a second lug. loose the CZ contraption and steel bed like you would any Mauser.-Rob

Robgunbuilder,

Isn't the McMillan CZ stock a copy of Ed Plummer's AHR stock? For some reason I was thinking that was the case.

ASS_CLOWN

The McMillan AHR I bought for the regular CZ 550 weighs 2.15 lbs. I can't see that the Safari stock is going weigh that little.

IMHO, glass your stock, and use the extra money to up grade your next flight. The .375 isn't a hard recoiling rifle compared to some. I shot my CZ .375 prior to glassing it. Seeing how well the rifle shot and how it was factory bedded, I passed on glass bedding it and with over 500 rounds, no problems.

PS. I love the "hog back" stocks!

I just bought a used McMillan for my cz550 in 458. It has no recess for the front lug, soo I e-mailed McMilland and asked what to do. This is the rely I got:

I cannot find an order in your name in our files so I do not know the specifications this stock was inletted for on the original order. When we inlet for the CZ 550 mag with the factory barrel contour we cut a relief cut in the barrel channel for the factory barrel lug, but do not drill a hole for the screw that secures it in the factory stock. Also the relief for the barrel lug does not contact the lug. We find the rifles will always shoot the best if the barrel is fully free floated and the barrel lug is not touching the fore-end. The stock is strong enough to handle the recoil on the primary receiver lug and we have had no failures with this method.

Regards, Dick Davis

mine has the recess--if you look inside the barrel channel toward the end there should be a name or partial name and number which identifies who the stock was made for---mine has SUTTO1 ---

the hogback stock weighed in at 41 ounces vs the McMillan at 35/36 ounces--not much difference---

chris

quote:

---

Originally posted by justanothernorwegian:
We find the rifles will always shoot the best if the barrel is fully free floated and the barrel lug is not touching the fore-end. The stock is strong enough to handle the recoil on the primary receiver lug and we have had no failures with this method.

Regards, Dick Davis

---

That is true. I bedded mine with neutral pressure on the barrel. That seems to work well with the big bores.

lawndart

lawndart (and others)--when you bedded your McMillan stock did you remove any mat'l in the tang and recoil lug area prior to layin' in the glass??? or did you just fo for it, what about the trigger guard screw area---I got my steel bed and clay and am ready to go forward and just want to make sure I don't muck anything up or miss something I'm not thinkin of-what about the pillars that came out of the wood stock-did you re use them or use new ones?---chris

You really don't need pilars. I wouldn't hog out the McMillan except where you need to relieve it a bit for fit.
The best advice I can offer is to recommend that you find a good gunsmith to do the bedding job for you. I feel very comfortable bedding Remingtons and Sakos, but a big bore CZ is a different breed of cat. Mine came out ok because I had a talented (and very patient) gunsmith holding my hand and giving me ongoing help.
If you are still feeling froggy I will post pictures tomorrow.
lawndart

lawndart--I'm feeling froggy--I can do it I just want to know what others have done and what it looks like to be safe--I've read the glass bedding instructions in a gunsmith book I have on Mausers, but still pics help a lot, so fire away on the pics -- you can email me if you want-- csutton7@pacbell.net ...chris

Hotay Buckwheats,
Here we go:





This is the first place to bed, and the most important. I used Brownells Steel-Bed with plenty of olive drab dye.

The recoil lug is bedded per normal, the barrel is bedded for full contact, and the chunk of steel on the bottom of the barrel is filled with putty and bedded just like the main recoil lug.





The red stuff is fancy schmancy high tech gun grease.

More pictures in the next post.
lawndart

thanks a bunch--I'm going to free float the barrel--maybe I can get after it tomorrow or this weekend---chris

Here is the part of the barrel that goes into the stock foreend. Save that metal plate that looks like the letter "F" for when you decide to reshape the wood stock.



The second place you bed is just a dab under the tang. Make sure that the pressure is neutral. You don't want the action rocking or binding.



Notice the lack of bedding epoxy from the front receiver ring all the way back to the tang area.

perfect--thanks so much----chris

The last place I bed is on the bottom of the stock. Just a dab of bedding compound to provide a neutral but solid bedding surface for the trigger guard and magazine plate:



It don't have to be gorgeous to look at, just sound and even:



I had some gaps around the magazine box, so I filled them in a bit:



Again, I differ from the approved school solution in that I full length neutral bed the barrel on big boomers. That seems to mitigate the barrel vibrations. Remember the big boomer barrels are relatively thin walled because a lot of metal gets drilled out to make that big hole for the big bullets to fit through.

lawndart

I figure I can bed the barrel later if I decide it needs it--this is for my 375 h&h, so I'm going with RGB's recommendation to float it first---chris

quote:

---

Originally posted by csutton7:
I figure I can bed the barrel later if I decide it needs it--this is for my 375 h&h, so I'm going with RGB's recommendation to float it first---chris

---

A 375 should float just fine. Have fun. Don't forget the release agent (I did once, duh).

lawndart

Thank you so much Lawndart, this is really helpful! I am going to bed the barrel in neutral pressure as you have done, easy to sand of a thin layer later for free floating if it does not shoot. Great!

Yea big mugs of beer for Lawndart!!!

lawndart--for future reference concerning the McMillan stock--it looks like you didn't use the "F" block at the barrel lug is this true??

my books say to cover the main recoil lug on the front(barrel side), sides and bottom with .01 tape, but not the back(receiver side)--did you do this???

it also says to remove about 1/8" of mat'l at the trigger guard screw areas and spread bed mat'l in there and install trigger guard vs just applying bed mat'l and installing trigger guard---what did you do???----

again many thanks for the pics and tips--chris

You won't need the "F" shaped piece of metal with a McMillan stock. Eventually you will want to go back and bed the rifle in the wood stock after you reshaped it for another mid-winter project.

Fill in the center of the barrel projection under the sight island with putty and put a layer of tape on the front and sides of the projection with a .010" thick layer of tape. I use "PASCO 10 MIL PIPE WRAP". You can get it at a plumbing supply house, Lowes, Home Depot or Brownell's.

I did not remove any stock material around the trigger guard/floor plate screw areas. The more original material in those areas the merrier (for me anyway).

One handy trick is to file a very slight draft on the sides of the trigger guard. That makes the metal come out much easier after the bedding epoxy hardens. On my receiver it was not a big deal, but on some there is a lip on the metal that can make removal a real chore.

A couple other tips. Surgical tubing can be wrapped around the barreled action and stock to hold the whole mess together while it sets up. Brownells sells that. I just replaced my length of tubing after quite a few years.

White vinegar does a good job of cleaning excess bedding material off the stock and barreled action/bottom metal before the epoxy starts to harden. Use real cloth, not a paper towel to apply it.

A plastic putty knife does a good job of cutting a straight line through the epoxy without scratching anything. A little vinegar on the blade helps prevent the goop from sticking to it.

Your finger moistened with vinegar does a good job if you want a small radius in the epoxy. Press harder for a smaller radius.

Be extra generous with release agent on all screw threads.

If the action gets stuck, put the whole mess in a freezer for an hour and then whack it with a rubber mallet. The steel contracts more than the epoxy and stock.

When everything is done have McMillan paint the stock if they haven't done so already. They do a superb job of applying the paint (Polane).

lawndart

Well I started the process-taped up the stock, removed a little mat'l and roughed up the intended bedded areas and drilled some holes for mechanical locking of the bedding, set in some clay, cleaned the barreled action, added some tape to the recoil lug per instructions and sprayed the first coat of release on her---excitement is in the air--chris

she's setting in bed mat'l as we speak--hopefully she'll come apart tomorrow AM--will loosen the screws every couple of hours before I hit the hay to make sure they don't stick--I used plenty of release on the receiver threads and plenty on the bolts themselves, not to mention everywhere else on the barreled action--will possibly have to add some more bedding after the fact, as I had basically nothing ooze out anywhere--chris

I removed it this morning for a quick test run--had one bolt stick to the pillar, but I got it removed and cleaned up and slapped it back together and now it will sit for 4-5 days--with my quick perusal of the job it looked pretty good, but I may need a small dab here and there and a little filing, but I really didn't check it out 100%--I just wanted to make sure it came apart with no probs ----chris

Lawndart- Please post some accuracy results with that rifle. I've seen some terrible results with the approach you used. If it shoots great. If it doesn't E-mail me and I'll help you fix it. Generally Big bores do not shoot well with full length bedding.-Rob