I am looking to use epoxy to hopefully improve the tip bedding of my M77. I read in an older article by John Barsness that automotive wax on the gun barrel makes for a good release agent. Before I experiment has anyone tried this?

Johnson's paste wax gets some good press here. I'd hold off on trying car wax till you hear good things. Brownells spray on release agent is wonderful.

I’ve used Johnson paste wax and both the brush on and spray on stuff from Brownells...and I find the liquid stuff to be much easier to use, and to clean off. I know Chic Worthing uses paste wax and he does allot more bedding jobs than I do, so maybe its just that I’m not applying it right.

Whatever you decide to use it’s a good idea to test it out on something (other than your action) so you have a good idea of how it works for you.

quote:

Originally posted by ned:
Johnson's paste wax gets some good press here. I'd hold off on trying car wax till you hear good things. Brownells spray on release agent is wonderful.

Yup.....that's for sure.

Johnson's. Never had a problem gettin' one loose yet. Thin it down a bit with mineral spirits and you can brush it on, just make sure the coating is even and dry before dropping it into the bedding compound.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
Johnson's. Never had a problem gettin' one loose yet. Thin it down a bit with mineral spirits and you can brush it on, just make sure the coating is even and dry before dropping it into the bedding compound.

Craigster,

See, I knew there was something I was doing wrong with the wax. Thanks for the thinning tip, I hadn’t thought of that.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
Johnson's. Never had a problem gettin' one loose yet. Thin it down a bit with mineral spirits and you can brush it on, just make sure the coating is even and dry before dropping it into the bedding compound.

That's exactly how I do it.

Gets into all the little nooks & crannies.

Works like a charm!

Car wax works, I have used turtle wax before. Put on at least 2 coats, Don't buff the last coat. I prefer Johnson's Paste wax though.

I have successfully used a Meguiar's auto paste wax for a release agent. I used to work in the fiberglass industry and Meguiar's makes the mold release wax I used the most. The critical ingredient is carnauba wax. Brownells liquid release is overpriced PVA, which stands for polyvinyl alcohol. It is widely used in the fiberglass industry as a release agent.

I don't know anything about it, but I've use car wax and it released just fine. BUT, I read a post on another site that said if you ever go to blue metal that has had car wax with silicone, which is most of it, that the bluing won't take, and silicone is nearly impossible to get out of the metal. This is supposedly true of the wood and refinishing it too. I know most of us who are bedding, don't plan on a bluing or wood finishing job in the near future, so it's probably not a big problem.
Just the same, I now use Johnson's paste wax, as it works just as good and doesn't contain silicone.

Now all this begats a bunch of questions. Like what about using silicone cloths to wipe guns off with? I don't know the answers, I just keep on using Johnson's and don't give it much thought.

Silicones can be a pain in the ass sometimes but they can be removed. Auto body shops deal with the problem all the time to eliminate fish-eyes in the paint.

Thanks for the tips. Will try this weekend.

If you want to go for the double duty shure to release technique, use both wax and Poly Vinyl Acetate (PVA) the stinky brush on stuff that comes with acraglass or can be had from fiberglass and plastic shops. Rub on a couple layers of wax, then brush or spray on the PVA.

I've used Carnuba Car wax on dozen's of bedding jobs it works fine and is cheap.
The Brownells spray stuff works well but is expensive and I prefer something that dries.
I put the epoxy on both the metal and the wood to prevent bubbles and voids. The epoxy is harder to brush on the runny brownells spray stuff than a wax that dries hard.............DJ

I bought a can of Old Masters Crystal Clearn Paste Wax #30901 for about $7. Ir has carnauba in it and it really does the trick as a release agent. I soften it and brush it on even in the nooks and cranies. The upside is, when not used as a release agent it makes one heck of fine gunstock wax and metal protectorant for blued parts like the barrel and action. Good Luck... Tom Purdom

Carnauba (correct spelling) wax has some added benefits for wood stocks in that it blocks UVA rays that can fade your finish, and it swells and closes its pores when it comes in contact with water, preventing the water from passing through.

Watch out for the waxes that claim really high percentages (much above 30%) of Carnauba in their product, because in its natural state it is harder than concrete.

Most of the veggies and fruits in the store have been sprayed with a wax containing Carnauba.

Westernmassman
I work with graphite/epoxy; the 'quick & dirty' way we've done things is to put on a coat of floor wax, buff it; another coat, buff it; put on a third coat, don't buff. When you drip epoxy on it, you can pick it right up.

I use Watco Satin Wax. It's a liquid wood finishing wax, solvent based. Brushes on easily, dries fast and easily cleaned off with degreaser spray or mineral spirits. I find it much easier to clean up than the release agents film.

Got the courage to try tip bedding my older M77 last night. Followed the tips on this post and voila, the barrel popped right out this morning! Nice smooth bedding now! Can't wait to try the rifle at the range this afternoon. Thanks again guys for all the tips.

All good advice. I've used Kiwi neutral shoe polish, pops right out.

Anyone found anything better than modleing clay to use as a dam when bedding? Damn stuff is impossible to clean up.

Rob,
I use plumbers putty.

Another thing that works well as a release agent is just about any brand of liquid spray silicone.

If you have your rifle professionally reblued, I would assume the rebluer will use an appropriate boiling chemical bath to remove all contaminates from the metal before bluing...at least that is what I used to do when I had a "Lynx-Line Blu-Blak" franchise in Hollister, Kalifornia in the early 1960's.

One suggestion, whatever you use as a release agent, is to fill ALL the holes you don't want epoxy to flow into, with Plasticene (Modeling Clay or Modeling putty to you Yanks) before applying the release agent. Then cover VVERYTHING in proximity to where the epoxy will fill and flow or overflow, with a couple of coats of release agent.

Also pays to use a couple of layers of masking tape on the stock everywhere that overflow or drips might get to...it is really tough to get epoxy out of unfinished porous wood...