I often hear of glass bedding a rifle. What is glass bedding and why is it done? I also hear of CZ rifles needing this procedure.Appreciate your responses.Thank you all-

Locksley,R.

Robin,

Bedding a rifle consists of using an epoxy type filler to mate the action to the stock and provide a solid platform that won’t compress and expand like wood will do.

They used to use fiberglass based epoxies for this and the term “glass“ just sort of stuck and is used generically by some to describe any of the epoxies used for bedding rifles, even though they don’t contain fiberglass any longer.

I don’t believe that CZ’s are any more or less in need of bedding than are any other factory rifles...but I’m sure others may have a different opinion on the matter.

I'm a believer in glass bedding.....it's a way to get the best accuracy out of a gun and also to make the bedding nearly perfect for those of us smiths that aren't perfect matching wood to the barreled action.

Most guns will be better off glass bedded and the CZ is no exception.

How hard is it to bed the rifle yourself?

quote:

Originally posted by NEJack:
How hard is it to bed the rifle yourself?

NEJack,

That’s difficult to answer unless some knowledge of the person doing the work is known. But if you are patient, comfortable with hand tools and their use, know how to use and read measuring instruments...and most important of all: have a full understanding of what you are trying to accomplish, then it can be fairly simple.

There are also some great books, articles and/or videos on the subject that should at least be looked at before you do it. Brownell’s Acra products come with really good instructions also.

Thank you all for the responses.Can you please paste a few pictures that may give an idea of the procedure? Or are there any places on the web where I can find out? Thanks once again.Good shooting-

Locksley,R

Try this site for starters--got some photos and good info.

http://www.charm.net/~kmarsh/glasbed.html#qref

I started out glass bedding with Sweeney's book on gunsmithing rifles:
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=746802

Like most things its not hard to do, but it is hard to do well. Practice is everything. Get a junker stock or two for your gun off ebay, at a gun show or from Boyd's close outs and have some fun. Sure its going to cost you a bit, but when you do it for real the added confidence will help a bunch.

Robin: I own two CZs and glassbedded them both with Probed 2000 I purchased from Score High Gunsmithing in Albuquerque when I was there. I now live in Eudora, Ks. I am of the fraternity that believes any rifle can benefit from a good glassbedding job. Now, that said, on the CZ 527 in .223 Remington, it originally was a Lux model. I had trouble quickly finding the scope, so I purchased one of CZ's aftermarket Fancy American Walnut drop-in stocks and can only say, those things are beautiful. It looks like a chunk of brown chocolat marble. With that stock, I had a gunsmith install pillar bedding. However, with the Lux stock and the CZ 550 American in 7x57mm, I used the Probed 2000. It dries fully in 16 hours, it gives you a 60-90 minute work time (most of the others give you 15 to 20 minutes) so if there is a mistage, you have ample time to go back and correct it, and I got very good tutorial from Score High Gunsmithing to do the jobs. It is not difficult to do, just intimidating. The whole time you are getting things set up to start the project, and during the actual application of the glassbed, my mind was racing through things such as "Am I doing this right," or some such gibberish such as, "Is this Old Masters clear past wax with carnauba really going to work as a release agent, or is my new rifle going to be welded together?" Well, it all worked out fine, so well that I even glassbedded a friend's Model 70 Winchester Featherweight in 7x57mm and he is a happy camper. After all this, my brother and his friend both own CZ 550 Full Stock rifles in 7x57mm and both are accurate as all getout, with no glassbedding. With mine, I glassbedded the action area's and left the barrels free-floated. Good luck with your rifle Robin. Tom Purdom

Gentlemen,

Thank you all for the great info and excellent links. Apologise for the delay. I was away from the 'puter.Couldn't ask for more than what you gave.Best-

Locksley.