Been neglecting my rifle responsibilities lately so finally kicked my ass in gear. My son wants me to go with him on a elk hunt to Afognak Island in October and I plan on deer hunting while him and a friend chase up high looking for elk. Plenty of obnoxious brownies on the island so wanted to take my Ruger Lefty 375 Guide rifle.
Decided to try Pro Bed as I never used it before. It mixes at 50/50 and I like the consistency. Bedded the recoil lug as well as the tang. All went well. With any Ruger Hawkeye 77, it is a PITA as you have to screw in the floor plate and trigger guard after setting the action in place to pull the action in place for best results. I use medium tension on the screws and then allow everything to sit untouched for about 8-10 hours. During this time will check to see if bedding material is oozing out and will wipe it off. Pro Bed cleans up pretty nice with Acetone and Acetone will also thin it out. I used auto paste wax for a release agent. Just rubbed on a light coat with my fingers and allowed it to dry and did not wipe it off. After 8-10 hours removed the trigger guard and floor plate screws and allowed the rifle to sit overnight. Next day popped the action out of the stock with one wack of a rubber mallet. Cleaned up the inside of the stock and made sure the barrel channel was free floating. Then applied 3-4 coats of Tru-oil to the forearm to slow down any water from entering. IMO Pro Bed takes about 96 hours to reach a full cure. Not 24 hours as the company states.
Rifle #2 was another Ruger Hawkeye lefty. This one started out as a SS 30-06 with a gray laminated stock and I had McGowen rebarrel it 9.3x62 with a #4 contour, 22 inches. Wish I would of went with a #3 as barrel looks chubby. Progress went the same as rifle #1.
Next two to finish will be my wife's Ruger Hawkeye SS .308 then finally my lefty Ruger 300 RCM. Currently waiting on the gunsmith to shorten the stock on the .308 and add a new pad.
Ordered some JB Weld, part # 8281. Plan on trying that on one of the other rifles. Used to use Acraglass Gel but so far think Pro Bed is a better choice.
That is all.
Over and out.
Decided to try Pro Bed as I never used it before. It mixes at 50/50 and I like the consistency. Bedded the recoil lug as well as the tang. All went well. With any Ruger Hawkeye 77, it is a PITA as you have to screw in the floor plate and trigger guard after setting the action in place to pull the action in place for best results. I use medium tension on the screws and then allow everything to sit untouched for about 8-10 hours. During this time will check to see if bedding material is oozing out and will wipe it off. Pro Bed cleans up pretty nice with Acetone and Acetone will also thin it out. I used auto paste wax for a release agent. Just rubbed on a light coat with my fingers and allowed it to dry and did not wipe it off. After 8-10 hours removed the trigger guard and floor plate screws and allowed the rifle to sit overnight. Next day popped the action out of the stock with one wack of a rubber mallet. Cleaned up the inside of the stock and made sure the barrel channel was free floating. Then applied 3-4 coats of Tru-oil to the forearm to slow down any water from entering. IMO Pro Bed takes about 96 hours to reach a full cure. Not 24 hours as the company states.
Rifle #2 was another Ruger Hawkeye lefty. This one started out as a SS 30-06 with a gray laminated stock and I had McGowen rebarrel it 9.3x62 with a #4 contour, 22 inches. Wish I would of went with a #3 as barrel looks chubby. Progress went the same as rifle #1.
Next two to finish will be my wife's Ruger Hawkeye SS .308 then finally my lefty Ruger 300 RCM. Currently waiting on the gunsmith to shorten the stock on the .308 and add a new pad.
Ordered some JB Weld, part # 8281. Plan on trying that on one of the other rifles. Used to use Acraglass Gel but so far think Pro Bed is a better choice.
That is all.
Over and out.
