I have a benchrest rifle in a McMillan stock that I will be rebarreling. Currently the barrel has a 1" dia at the muzzle and the bew barrel will he .75 dia.

This is going to give me quite a large gap around the barrel.

I want to fill tha barrel channel so that there is a more rerasonable gap but don't want to add a lot of weight.

I certainly have enough AcraGlas to do the job but am hoping for a lighter solution.

I'm sure there is a lot of bedding expertise out there that will have a solution to my dilemma.

Thanks.

There are lightweight foam sheets that are used for packing. These can be layered with a film of epoxy and set into the current barrel channel until you have the proper buildup. Then lay a "skim" of appropriately colored epoxy on top of that to give it a finished look.

quote:

Originally posted by safarihunter:
I have a benchrest rifle in a McMillan stock that I will be rebarreling. Currently the barrel has a 1" dia at the muzzle and the bew barrel will he .75 dia.

This is going to give me quite a large gap around the barrel.

I want to fill tha barrel channel so that there is a more rerasonable gap but don't want to add a lot of weight.

I certainly have enough AcraGlas to do the job but am hoping for a lighter solution.

I'm sure there is a lot of bedding expertise out there that will have a solution to my dilemma.

Thanks.

Why not leave it and let it breath, or, wrap several layers of Duct tape around the barrel to produce the amount of gap that you want and then bed it as usual, only using "Bondo" Auto Body filler. It's relatively cheap and sets up fast. And paint really digs it!

Go to your local hobby shop and buy some microballons.
http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004/02/stuff_eng_tech_microballoons.htmMix these with accra glass for a light solid filler -not quite the same material as "Bondo". You can use this on cars I suppose but it's not the best stuff to use on fiberglass stocks.......

Use plummers tape to mask off your barrel .Do the barrel channel work before your final bedding.

Glenn

I will second the use of microballoons with acraglass. It'll give you the best compromise with what you want to do. Check the weight of the rifle before you begin though to make sure you stay within weight limits for the benchrest rifle. However, going from a 1" barrel to a 3/4" barrel ought to let you use anything you want to in the barrel channel.

Ditto on what Westpac said but take it one step further. You only want to close the edges around the barrel and save weight so after you do the "bondo" thing, go back and hog out all of the excess except a little at the top and front of the stock. It will add very little weight there.

as your only talking about .125 0n either side I'd for sure look at it before deciding to fill in the bbl. channel. I'd be real tempted to leave as is. a generous float is normally advantageous to accuracy.

I agree with swampshooter . I would be tempted to lay in a few pieces of carbon fiber in the barrel channel to stiffen up that McMillian stock fore end .

A lot of the materials used for finishing cars should not be used for finishing fiberglass stocks."Bondo" is actually a pet peeve of mine. One good bump on a hunting rifle and you repaint.
Try using the Evercoat products http://www.evercoat.com/ The Polyester Glazing Putty is great. Easy to use and very hard after curing .
http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=29

You can finish a Brown Percision blank in one and a half passes .


I remember one M77 Ruger .257 R that someone had attempted to use Bondo for bedding and then rebedded with some epoxy over the Bondo. That rifle shot great after it was rebedded properly .He got a fine pronghorn the next week though....

Glenn



Glenn