September 12, 2005

Article #4

How To: Stiffen the Forearm, Float the Barrel, Bed the Action, & Camo the Gun


I have a Howa 1500 in 270Win that's topped off with a Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14x50mm scope. This is one fine shooting gun that is more capable than most sub-$1000 setups out there. Here's how I got it to shoot CONSISTENT sub-0.50" groups at 100 yards on factory box ammo.

First, I floated the barrel, then I bedded the action. Why would these two things make the gun shoot differently? What you are doing is eliminating the random little changes in the interface between the gun and the stock that take place over time that can, and will throw a shot off.

Floating the barrel is basically remove any part of the stock that could touch the barrel on one shot while leaving it untouched the next. This keeps the forearm from making random touches when shooting in different situations and conditions that can change the harmonics of the barrel and make a point of impact wander.

By bedding the action, you change the stock so that it fits up perfectly for your action, exactly the way it was milled. This allows for consistent mating of the action to the stock which will give you more consistent shooting results in not only all kinds of weather, but also after you break down your gun and put it back together. By having the stock fit the action perfectly, you eliminate the little changes that can occur during reassembly that can change the point of impact.

What all of this means is that you have the same resonance vibrations all the time. This also means that you're getting the most out of your rifle's accuracy on every shot.

Here's what you need to do to FLOAT THE BARREL:

Some people will use assorted hand files and some will use dowels with sandpaper glued to them to fine tune a stock in order to float a barrel. I personally like to use a dremel with a router cutting bit and a sanding drum.

First, remove the barrel/action from the stock. Take a close look inside the forearm (composite stocks) and see what's in there. For a wood stock, the forearm will need to be sanded, but no stiffening will be required. The forearm of my composite stock was almost hollow with just a few rib supports that didn't really provide much support. The forearm was pretty flimsy and would actually touch the barrel if you put any pressure on the forearm at all. I knew that any changes like this from shot to shot could cause changes in the point of impact, so something needed to be done.

I used the dremel to remove all the plastic ribs, essentially turning the forarm into one big plastic C-channel under the barrel. I then used some 1/2" aluminum angle stock from home depot and a couple tubes of clear epoxy to stiffen the nowly hollowed out forearm and give it some MUCH NEEDED strength.

I started by fitted the aluminum angle into the forearm and trimmed where necessary so that I had a piece going down each side of the forearm to stiffen it up without overlapping at the narrow end. I used the dremel and a router bit to drill some shallow holes at various angles into the forearm material (careful not to punch all the way thru) and then I drilled a few holes in each piece of aluminum. I then roughed up the plastic really good and layed in a layer of epoxy, put the aluminum back in, and then covered it in epoxy. This gets the forearm stiff and strong so that you can properly float the barrel.

I used JB Weld on my forearm project and clear 2-part epoxy on the action bedding, but on more recent work, I just used the epoxy on both and they've held up fine. Just make sure to get an epoxy that says it will bond to both plastic and metals AND make sure to rough up the surfaces and drill a few small holes at different angles for anchor points and you'll be fine.

I let that dry a day or two and test fitted the barrel and slid a $1 bill between the barrel and the forearm and took mental note of where the snags were. I then removed the action and barrel again and went to work with the dremel to remove the snags. I repeated that as many times as necessary until I could slide a business card (wrapped around the lower part of the barrel) all the way down to where the barrel met the action. Take your time and don't take out too much material at a time. You want a snug fit, but nothing from the stock should touch the barrel.

Here's what you need to do to BED THE ACTION:

Now that you've floated the barrel, you might as well bed the action. You will need the dremel to remove some of the plastic where the action seats to the stock, some vaseline, and some more epoxy. The area that you use the dremel on will be the flat "pads" where the action bolts go thru the stock, on the inside. You use the dremel to knock them down just a bit all over, but leave just one little bump near the screw hole so it won't change the seat depth of the action in the stock when you screw them down in the epoxy before it hardens. Now coat the action of the gun in a thin layer of vaseline so the epoxy won't stick. Lay down some epoxy into the bedding areas, being fairly conservative w/ the amount. Set the action and screw it down just so it's snug. This will force the epoxy into the voids and will create a perfectly matched stock for your action.

After a decent amount of drying and curing (according to the epoxy directions), remove the action (may take a couple taps on the end of the barrel to break it loose the first time) and inspect the bedding. It should be smooth w/ no voids or "valleys" where the action didn't make contact. If there are, then rough them up, add another thin coat of vaseline to the action, add more epoxy to the problem areas and then repeat the process. When you're done, you'll have a bedded action - essentially making the stock fit your action perfectly.

Here's what you need to do to CAMO THE GUN:

Next is the camo job. Tape off anything that you don't want painted. Use acetone or mineral spirits to clean all the oil off the gun. I mean ALL OF IT. Sand the stock w/ some 180 grit to rough it up ever so slightly and hit the metal w/ 220 or 320 just a tad. Wipe it down again w/ some more cleaner. Get it nice and clean, tie some fishing line thru the sling swivel on the forearm and one thru the sling swivel on the butt of the stock and hang it from your garage door frame or from a tree limb. Now clean it again to get any fingerprints off and any leftover oil/solvents.

Use automotive dark grey primer and coat everything w/ a thin coat - remember, the thinner the better on something like this. Let it dry 20-30 minutes and do another very light coat (Spray paint is fine to use on the gun and is easy to touch up. However, I have an airbrush set and used the flat testors paints to camo the one's in the pics - you will have the same results w/ the spray paints. Make sure to use FLAT paints - no gloss.)

Now spray the gun with some flat olive drab, flat black, and flat brown, but sparingly, allowing the grey primer to show thru in spots. Now use some oak leaves, twigs, maple leaves, etc as reverse-stencils and hold them up to the gun and paint all around them - lightly - to create a "shadow effect".

Repeat this w/ olive drab, black, dark grey primer, flat brown, and flat tan. Repeat for a few minutes w/ alternating colors and stencils, let dry and then do another layer. VERY THIN LAYERS are the key and let the layers get very very light as you do more layers, allowing the shadows from underneath show thru. You will want your last layer to be the darker colors, but still allow some of the tan and olive to show thru.

very good post.

Sure is!

Check out the "Guns!Guns!Guns!" section of Aldeer to see this excellent article with a photo of the camo job. (And check out article #3 after you read this one.)


SB

Hey, SB, if you copy/paste the other ones here, I'll STICKY them or make a "library etc out of the "How to" articles... I'm on my Blackberry for the next 4-days or I would do it myself.

Pam cooking spray works well to keep the resin from sticking to the action as well.

Great Post !!