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> Howa 1500 bedding
Howa 1500 bedding
@ 12:27 am (GMT) |
Martin TaylorAfter a few emails back and forth with Nathan & his kit turning up l have a new project to show everyone. This is my friends new Howa SS 30-06 that is getting bedding into a Boyd's classic.This isn't a bedding tuturial, same as my last post, just showing a few Ideas and maybe a few tips to get you wanting to do your own! All with Nathan & Steph's instructions for guidence. First couple of pics is just checking up fit (with relief where needed) making sure action heught, mag box, trigger, bolt opening and bottom metal all line up. Check your action screw engagement length too, have been caught out with that before on a Boyds. 
I use heat shrink to help locate my action studs whilst checking and working on things. 
I like to really take my time at this stage, planning my next steps. Extra surface area can be gained on the rear tang. Think these pics should work cheers again Thomas!! |
Replies
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@ 10:04 pm (GMT) |
Martin TaylorRe: Howa 1500 beddingNow we are happy with the fit up, it’s into the relieving around the front, have only just started in this picture. l already have my front barrel tape on & have set my height in the fore stock to take out any rock.
Once the front area is finished l start to open up the rear tang but stop before my height "gauge or stop" is lost. Using the kit supplied plasticine next is my support the barrel. I like to do this now so l can rock the barrel down into it, when the rock is gone the height is set (as long as you were happy with the start height in the stock!) I like to really under mine the stock to increase the footprint off the bedding under the tang. Just started to do this in this photo also. |
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@ 10:06 pm (GMT) |
Martin TaylorRe: Howa 1500 beddingDoh done the picture thing again!!
I like to really under mine the stock to increase the footprint off the bedding under the rear tang. Just started to do this in this photo also. |
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@ 10:28 pm (GMT) |
Martin TaylorRe: Howa 1500 beddingOk fast forward a few hours and one last check for clearances, alignment & fit. I still like to use the straws so they are checked to make sure they pass through with the action studs.
Ready to start mixing Nathan's compound, l have made sure there is a nice thick bead where the compound edges meet the stock to stop any breakouts during machining or knocking the action free. 
And ready for the fun bit! |
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@ 08:25 pm (GMT) |
Martin TaylorRe: Howa 1500 beddingThis is how it looked as it knocked out. You can see some of my tape that l fitted as per Nathans instructions.l like to end up with a fairly thick floor to machine out so the bedding won't chip. 
Then after heaps of careful machining we end up with this. The bottom metal will also be bedded in the same way to help stop compression metal Hope somebody picks up a few ideas reading through. Have fun Marty 
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@ 08:28 pm (GMT) |
Martin TaylorRe: Howa 1500 beddingNot sure why l keep loosing my pics but there you go! Anyway got there in the end.
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@ 08:49 pm (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Howa 1500 beddingHeck Marty, I did not realize you were this far along already.The job looks great, the break out looks perfect. You'll note these ones drop in and out very easily after bedding with the relief system you used. No pinch points at all, just an easy but precise fit. The Howa really looks smart with a full length bed. This latest run of rifles (late 2014 and 2015) show improvements in the bore compared to 2011-2013 rifles. An ideal platform for a nice rifle once this work has been done. Next steps for you must be the lugs and trigger? (other viewers please note- this info is in the Accurizing book for those who want to take the Howa from start to finish). Well done- really well done. What a great job Marty. |
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@ 09:03 pm (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Howa 1500 beddingAnother tip for DIYers. If you look at the last photo, there is compound stuck to the barrel- quite normal. The adhesion is very light if release agent is present.Take a broken leg bone from a roast etc (I stole a goat leg bone off Sarge much to the poor dogs disgust). Sharpen one end to a chisel shape. You can use a coarse stone or disc grinder. You now have the ultimate non marring chisel, ideal for a host of jobs. As for that compound on the barrel. Wet the entire action with WD40 etc, then set it aside and work on the stock as Marty has done. Once the WD40 has had a bit of time to work into the metal work, use your bone chisel and a light hammer at a steep angle to chip off any compound that has adhered to blasted / rough areas of the action. Clean up gunk with a toothbrush and WD40 or Hoppes etc. In no time at all, you will have a nice clean action. |
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@ 10:59 pm (GMT) |
Martin TaylorRe: Howa 1500 beddingCheers Nathan, thanks for confirming my relief points with your emails!! They are exactly as you have in your instructions and the fit in & out is perfect.The compound on the barrel nearly all flaked away with my finger nail, I wanted to show everyone what to expect when they break out their job from its bed. And yes you are spot on with cleaning the action straight away. Remembering it’s been fully degreased prior to setting in plastercine, tape & release agents, it's the number one priority, cleaned (l have Butchers) as you say then dowsed with crc. In the picture you can see the piece of wood l use to fit into the action, it serves in two ways, first it holds the small, very lightly crc'd rag in the chamber and second gives me a solid base to fit the plastercine against. I have already lapped the barrel & lugs following your books instructions, lightly dee-burred the chamber, smoothed of the action bolt-race, adjusted trigger weight but left the small amount of creep in as instructed by the owner. Worked out seating depths & made some reduced recoil loads with 150gn interlocks. Set the scope & mounts also using your book instructions, lightly lapping the one piece base (mmmmmm) that l will post some photos of soon. Will serve as a perfect example why you don’t let gun shops fit your optic’s, even though the fella fitting it is a supposed gun smith!!! Stay tuned l think everyone will learn from that one. Thanks again for the help & guidance Nathan, I’m very happy with the gun overall and it should serve my friend verywell. |
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@ 12:46 am (GMT) |
Martin TaylorRe: Howa 1500 beddingJust wanted to share this experience as briefly as l can as a warning to others.This new Howa was supplied by a shop (gunsmith fitted at counter) then muscled or forced into a B&C Carberlite stock (no alloy frame, which was unknown to us at the time), which preloaded the action to the point the bolt travel was noticeably changed & the bottom metal bent to follow stock form. Then a one piece DNZ scope mount and Bushnell scope was chosen by my friend (not my preferred choice), base fitted and scope not tightened (as per my instruction), after many puzzled looks and gestures the scope was left loose. Once home l began inspecting things and straight away noticed the marks on the alloy mount from the scope tube, see how it is only contacting on the very inside edge in the first photo, both mounts where the same. Imagine how marked the tube would have been and the amount of load put into the scope if the shop had tightened the rings. This action climbed out of the stock by almost 3mm measured at either action screw when one or the other was undone. 
This next photo is the same mounts after bedding, epoxied in place and torqued. Contact is checked with a 1” solid piece of bar stock, blued and rings torqued. I also lapped the bases very lightly after this photo was taken. Hopefully this will serve as a warning to everyone and a free plug to the Burris Signature Zee/Optilock Rings. The rifle had much bigger fundamental problems but if these better designed mounts would have saved any possible damage had the rings been tightened. And l have seen this in most normal production rifles because of maching tolerances. 
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@ 07:39 am (GMT) |
Thomas KitchenRe: Howa 1500 beddinglooks like a beautiful job martin.thank you for putting photo's up, i got a lot to learn and photo's helps a great deal. |
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@ 09:51 pm (GMT) |
Martin TaylorRe: Howa 1500 beddingCheers Thomas, it worked out very nicley.I hope this post and my other Tikka one can help out in some way. Even if it's just a small amount compared to the way Nathan has helped me with his books, emails and phone calls that last way to long, hhhhaaaaaa sorry again mate. If there is anything l can help anybody with yell out, l have heaps of photos of all sorts of bedding jobs & alike. Once you get your head around things it's good fun & very rewarding. |
@ 08:48 am (GMT) |
Ben LawRe: Howa 1500 beddinghey marty, nice job.1 question, it seems you chose not to use pillars, why did you go without the pillars? i may do my 223 oneday, but its shooting very nicely at the moment so i'm not sure if i should bother just yet. |
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@ 09:04 am (GMT) |
Martin TaylorRe: Howa 1500 beddingI didn't put pillars in for a couple of reasons Ben.Firstly, l have had three other Boyd's break out when fitting the pillars, a wedge of laminate basically falls out between the well and pillar hole. Makes a lot more work to fill the void. Fix, use a thin shaft like an arrow as Nathan suggests and fill the void if it still fails. Secondly, l have enlarged the foot print of the bedding area with the under cutting and also bedded the bottom metal in the same way. l have seen no compression in any of these laminate stocks done in this way. I strip my 9.3 after every trip and sometimes during and it is rock solid so far! Each to their own l guess, l used to pillar every one but just don't see the need with this type anymore. l would still pillar timber but just don't do many anymore. Hope that all makes scene! |
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@ 11:43 am (GMT) |
Ben LawRe: Howa 1500 beddingfair points there marty.i had never really thought of bedding the bottom metal, do you have a pic of the bottom metal bedding? |
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@ 02:58 am (GMT) |
Martin TaylorRe: Howa 1500 beddingI will have a look tonight Ben, l didn't take pics of this one but l may have some of others l've done.I have found the inletting the bottom metal critical on many stocks, without wanting to write war & peace l'll list a few things l have found in random order. Recess to deep= pinched mag box, floor plate hard or impossible to open/close, alignment of mag & retaining clip position (i.e. Tikka), Uneven height seats= side loading of screw heads, bowed bottom metal (now bent). Collapsed seats= stock compression, even after one torque, soft or yielding feel on the action screws. Miss aligned to action screw holes, what’s the point in putting in all the effort to bed the action when the retaining part of the deal is free to warp, move and preload in a different way or amount every time you torque it. These are just some of the things l have found and not all are on a Boyd’s stock either, l just had a B&C stock that l refused to use it was that bad! l cringe when l here people say stocks are a drop on fit. You may get lucky and hopefully it will stay that way, but that’s not my experience with after market stocks. Damn, it's nearly War & Peace!!! |
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@ 11:28 pm (GMT) |
Martin TaylorRe: Howa 1500 beddingSorry Ben, have pictures of all sorts but none of the bottom metal getting bedded. |
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