Hello, I have a win 70 featherweight and the forend twists and touches the barrel with a tight sling (this was brought up in another post), I have freefloated the barrel, and I do not wish to enlarge this space. I wonder if I could epoxy in something to stiffen the forend, while maintaining a relatively lightweight stock. Thanks for any Ideas
Ian

jsirm,

I had similar problems in a Browning. I put a section of carbon-fiber arrow down each side of the forearm, and filled the forarm with micro-balloon-filled epoxy.

The micro-balloons are available in hobby shops that cater to the remote control airplane crowd.

Good luck,
Don

You failed to say if its the wood or plastic stocked fwt...If its the thin plastic stock I doubt it...

The wood stock can be channeled out for a piece of aluminum I beam and glassed in full lenth...works real well.

------------------
Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

I saw this post and was wondering if I could stiffen up the fore end of my Ruger 77 synthetic. Then, I could free float the barrell. Is this possible?

Hello, Thanks for the Ideas, The stock is the wood one. I will keep my eye out for something to epoxy into the stock, thanks
Ian

jsirm,

I looked at your profile and note that you are a mechanic. Just the right profession for a solution. I have used hydraulic lifter rods in both fiberglass and wood stocks for added rigidity. As has been suggested, hollow out the stock and add some Agra-glas or other such thin epoxy, degrease the rods and submerge them in the epoxy as Don suggests. It is the same principle as Ray's I-beam just different materials.

Bill

Toss a bit of Viagra in the Acraglas,....that'll stiffen 'er up!

Here is another method that works well. Get some carbon fiber bidirectional weave cloth and some epoxy resin and hardener. Hog the barrel channel out as much as you safely can. A dremel tool with sanding drums works well, but because you are sanding on an angle, you will go through a few of the rubber drums themselves.

Once you have a nice, deep and fairly uniform U shaped channel running the length of the forestock, cut about four strips of the unidirectional graphite cloth to fit within the channel. You will need to trim to get a good fit. You want to make sure that the cloth goes up the inside of the U shaped channel as much as possible (without extending past the top edge of the stock). After you have fitted the carbon fiber strips, take them out and coat the inside of the fore end with epoxy matrix (resin mixed with correct amount of hardener. Hereafter "resin").

Lay in your first strip of graphite cloth and then dab in some more resin (so you get a good wet out). Repeat the process, laying in all four pieces of carbon fiber cloth and make sure they are thoroughly wetted out
with resin.

Don't worry too much if some cloth extends up past the edge of the stock. You can trim it easily with a knife after it hardens. Be sure and mask the stock on the outside!!!

Let the lay-up cure. Do not use radiant heat to assist the cure!!! The carbon fiber cloth will warp and twist the stock. You can use a flowing heat such as a blow dryer.

The carbon fiber/epoxy matrix in a U-shape gives phenomenal strength and stiffness. The U shape gives much better stiffness than just using an arrow shaft or two. Be careful when working with the cured carbon fiber edges. They are razor sharp.

When finished, you can fill the channel with some expanding foam and then bed/float the barrel as you normally would.

Jordan