Gentlemen,

Next week while I'm on vacation, I intend to hopefully inlet and glass bed a Mauser action I am having rebarreled to 6.5x55. I have a little chisel set on the way and I'm going to order a barrel channel tool as well.

Now, if I may draw on your experience, will I be better served by ordering acura-glas or acura-gel? And do I want the flammable or non-flammable stuff? I have never tackled this before and do not know what I want - other than a glass bedded rifle.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks,

Jason

You will have a much easier time with the Gel. I use the flammable release agent. Be sure and get a bottle of white vinegar. Before the Gel sets up you can wipe off the excess with paper towels and vinegar.

lawndart

Lawndart is correct...the gel is far easier to work with, especially when you are learning. Use the flamable stuff because it is far more exciting when you include the prospect of having the whole thing blow up in a fireball!

Absolutely positively get the Gel. I believe the kit comes with a release agent.....Make sure you use it as directed.

Gentlemen,

Would I be well served to order extra release agent?

Thanks again,

Jason

I like the thin in the large bottles, them mix with west marine 404 flock and sometimes SS powder and make it as thick or thin as I want

I use the gel, great stuff.

unless you WANT it to pour and run all over, go with the gel...

the gel is like honey out of the fridge... the glass is like it out of the attic in houston in july... can you say runny?

jeffe

As others have said go with the gel. I use clay to fill any voids that i do not want the stuff to migrate into.

PS I order the blue release agent by the quart so i dont run out but about every five years or so. Just keep the cap tight.

tex, the kit comes with enough release agent for several action beddings. i have never bedded the barrel but i am sure there is enough in that little bottle to do several actions and barrels. ditto on the white vingar i also use the blue painters tape to tape off the entire exterior of the stock. you will get some gel on your fingers and you will grab the stock for some reason and then you have a mess. the vinegar will get it off the stock if you catch it before it sets.
i trick i use to apply the gel or the glas is to take a quality freezer bag put the gel in it and cut the corner out and squeeze the gel through. a gun cradle is very useful also. the directions are very easy to follow. i had never done this before and i just read the directions and planned it out so i would not have any distractions.

arky65

In contradiction to what everyone else has written here I'd suggest you get the gel.

The first time you bed a rifle is like losing your virginity. Messy and nerve racking. And it's like that every time after that. Just don't rush it, as the gel take ages to set YOU DO HAVE TIME. Use lots of protection.

good luck, hope she's a straight shooter

Pete

Gel. I use paste wax for a release agent but the blue stuff from Brownells is good and it is water soluble. You can also see where it is and where it isn't (important).

Make sure that you dop the guard screews in the release agent too. I think most smiths could almost make a living on trying to get accraglassed screws loose. Don't release agent on the outside too. Its much easier to get xtra agent off that trying to get spare glass off. Also helps to take a rag with some vinegar on it after you're done and wipe off the excess glass.

Don't mess with the runny stuff. That stuff is the best epoxy "glue" around but will make you a raving maniac if you try it for the first time. Use the gel, it is usere friendly. Also, don't bother with the release agent in the kit. It is a PITA to clean up. Us Johnson's paste wax or auto polish. It cleans up beautifully with some 0000 steel wool.

Use Johnson's paste wax, this is how I was told and it has always worked well for me. Buy at wal-mart and get a bag of pop cycle sticks to use for scrapers and mixers. Also buy some clay as the others have said. Tape the sides of the barrel channel on the outside to keep the gel from getting stuck.

Have everything ready, run everyone out of the workspace and have at it.

Use Gel, don't forget the modeling clay (while you at the crafts store get some popcicle sticks - you'd be surprised how handy the can be), and there's enough release agent in the kit to do many more than one gun.

IMO, the biggest mistake folks make with glass is using the guard screws and cranking the gun down into the wood...

I use Brownell guide screws with a layer of thin paper tape and waxed, and let the mettle settle to the wood mostly on its own, but pushed in to the stops that I apply in preparing the wood, that way you have not created stresses...

I use both gel and liquids but I use them for different applications...For typical glass bedding, I personally prefer Marine Tex, but for a newbie, the Brownells Gel is the only way to go IMO...

Good luck, go slow and be meticulas, make yourself a list of steps to follow..Do not panic if it sticks, there are ways to proceed at that point that will solve the problem. Be sure you have release and clay everywhere you need it..

Gel. I use silly putty for the dams. Get one “eggâ€. It won't leave the clay mess. Removes great from all the small parts and holes. Use a small torch on Tupperware stocks to polarize the plastic enabling the Accra glass to stick. Use just a light flame. Don’t melt it.

I havent seen silly puddy in ages, I tried to find some a few yrs back and couldnt find it. Many years ago, I worked in the same plant with a guy that gun smithed on the side, he worked shift work and had time to smith on the side. He told me about using silly puddy in stead of clay, he brought me some one day and gave me some pointers, I was young and dumb, now I'm old and dumb. Anyway about a week later our shop was broke into and someone stole all personal tools from my guys and all the company tools. Come to find out, the day the guy brought me the silly puddy, he picked my keys up off my desk when I wasnt looking and impressioned the key to the shop with silly puddy, made a key and came back the next night shift and stole us blind, he got fired for sleeping a few weeks later and I never heard from him again.

That new stuff made by Crayola called "Model Magic" that take the place of clay might work good to but one use you throw it away. After it's exposed to the air for a while it dries out.

Silly Puddy
http://www.addedtouchstore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=9311U&S=OV&OVRAW=silly%20puddy&OVKEY=silly%20puddy&OVMTC=standard

model magic (never heard of the stuff before), wonder if it works better than clay
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=kd0011&channelid=

I agree with Ray about not using the guard screws for tightening the barreled action into the stock when glass bedding. However, (knew there had to be one didn't ya?), I use surgical tubing wrapped a number of times around the action to hold it into the stock. Just tie the ends together. This applies some pressure and allows minimal handling of the bedded unit.

Get some of that stuff that is used for squeezing in the hand for therapy to fill the voids. It comes out of the crevices much easier than clay.

as usual, i do it all backwards....

I use the gel, or steelbed, and a great big ole horse syringe to help me lay it in...

and plumbers putty.. cuz i am cheap, .. actually, because it was laying around one day, and my choice was that, megastick, or drive for 30 mins to get some modeling clay...


Since most of the guns I am doing these days have a barrel recoil lug, I can cheat a little, and make DAMN certain the action and bottom metal are aligned... I do the front action lug first, and use the rear action screw to pull it into the metal... and the front barrel lug screw to make sure it sits square... my thoughts on the matter are that I am using this to make a perfect fit for the metal, not to reinforce the stock, directly.

Then, when I do the rest of the rifle, i use the front action screw (which gets no bedding at that time) to realign everthing.

I like the brownell's spray release.. alot!!!

if you ever MUST use action screws in a poured area, there's LOTS that can go wrong... here's a quick pointer on how to get around screws being glued into the action/stock....

start your pour in the morning on a saturday that you can be around all day. do all the other work, and then after the first hour, turn each screw in and out 1.5 turns.. do this about every 15-20 mins for the first 6 hours... or a hour after you feel NO resistence turning them....

after about 6 hours, on a warm day, you CAN (i don't) remove the metal... but you should remove the screws afterall, the tubing/string/leather laces you have around the barreled action will hold it in

jeffe

quote:

Originally posted by imhance:
Gel. I use silly putty for the dams. Get one “eggâ€. It won't leave the clay mess. Removes great from all the small parts and holes. Use a small torch on Tupperware stocks to polarize the plastic enabling the Accra glass to stick. Use just a light flame. Don’t melt it.

First I've heard of this, can you elaborate on the process and why it works?


Thanks, Rob

Tex,

Neither. I would use Micro-Bed. Its also available from brownells. I prefer it over the AcraGlass Gel. I do use regular Acraglass but only as an epoxy, not a bedding compound.

I also use Micro Bed sometimes. That stuff has been around for eons.