Thread: Glued Action in Stock

It has beeen a while since I glass bedded an action and for got to put release agent on the action!
I used Marine Tex for the bedding compound.
I have been told that benchrest shooters glue the action in the stock and wgen they eant to remove it they put an iron on the barrel and the heat travels down the action and the expansion frees the action.
Any suggestions ?

Put the iron on the action not the barrel. Other option is to put into a deep freeze overnight.

Most epoxy takes a lot of heat to soften....they dont melt ,just char with enough heat.Id leave it alone ,unless there is some pressing reason to separate the two....I have two heavy bench rest guns with the lot glued together .Relics of fifty years ago....You can buy $500 rifles now that would win a 1960s benchrest competition.

I was glass bedding the action and the trigger is removed!
I need to install the trigger and magazine box.

I've done a couple Stolle Panda's. Use a clothes iron that will stay on high, placed on top of rail, use some popsicle sticks to create a wedge between front of stock and barrel, maybe 10 minutes, action gets too hot to touch and will start lifting. Keep pushing wedges between stock and barrel and eventually, should pop free. Assumes you don't have a hard mechanical lock somewhere.

aside from heat, once you get the action out, get a gallon of acetone.
Soak the action in acetone bath.
rinse , repeat with a new bath.
The acetone will loosen the epoxy and you can scrape it off with a scraper.

once you glass beaded the action, mold release was not going to help that much.
too many pores created by the beading. Oiling the action is best. Mold release won't fully release from the mechanical bond as well.

I have done many delicate epoxy operations on items that need to move freely. Oil has been the best at ensuring movement. But if you excessively epoxy, you will work hard no matter what to free it up. So it's always best to create damns to avoid heavy squeeze out into the action.

on damming consider dripping hot wax into holes, trim flat so it doesn't wax the rest
Tape --- then cut around area so epoxy can bind to the rest of what needs to be glued

The clothes iron worked! Thanks for the help!
Some epoxy stuck to the action and so now I have to refinish the receiver and touch up the bedding but it is not a useless paper weight anymore!

Originally Posted by woodchuckNJ

aside from heat, once you get the action out, get a gallon of acetone.
Soak the action in acetone bath.
rinse , repeat with a new bath.
The acetone will loosen the epoxy and you can scrape it off with a scraper.

once you glass beaded the action, mold release was not going to help that much.
too many pores created by the beading. Oiling the action is best. Mold release won't fully release from the mechanical bond as well.

I have done many delicate epoxy operations on items that need to move freely. Oil has been the best at ensuring movement. But if you excessively epoxy, you will work hard no matter what to free it up. So it's always best to create damns to avoid heavy squeeze out into the action.

on damming consider dripping hot wax into holes, trim flat so it doesn't wax the rest
Tape --- then cut around area so epoxy can bind to the rest of what needs to be glued

What oil are you using? What epoxies?

I use neutral Kiwi shoe polish as a release agent with Marine Tex and the Brownells products. The shoe polish doesn't add any measurable dimension and works well. I've seen no difference with media blasted actions.

--
Pat Jones
Firestone CO

Originally Posted by pat_j0nes

What oil are you using? What epoxies?

I use neutral Kiwi shoe polish as a release agent with Marine Tex and the Brownells products. The shoe polish doesn't add any measurable dimension and works well. I've seen no difference with media blasted actions.

--
Pat Jones
Firestone CO

various oils.
simple 3 in 1, heavy weight gear oil, motorcycle chain lube, others including straight 30w motor oil (non det).

system 3 epoxy, west systems epoxy, and shell epoxy (industrial that I buy from companies that use as I can't afford the 55 gal for my small needs)... jb weld.

I also have used mineral spirits to clean the oils out, and melt the candle wax. It doesn't effect the epoxy, and allows me to clean out the wax (their is residual left) but I use it where I know the effect. I generally will relube after with proper oil for the use.

Originally Posted by woodchuckNJ

I have done many delicate epoxy operations on items that need to move freely.

What do you typically work on?

--
Pat Jones
Firestone CO

Anything containing silicone will positively stop epoxy sticking...but as mentioned a mechanical lock will still make removal problematic.

I used to work on gliders, the control surface hinges, and control arms.

Others have been various mechanical systems, I used to work with carbon fiber, and glass quite a bit. Any embedded mechanicals, had to be protected during glue in, especially when vacuum bagging in.

you would rather have things attached via screws or other fasteners, but not always practical, or called for. Sometimes they would be glued in to the carbon/glass layups and that would be screwed into the larger pieces.

i remember a funny story: 40 years or so ago; i was hanging out at the local gun shop. a stranger that no one knew came in with a 700 rem. said that he glass bedded it without release agent; and wanted to know what to do to get it apart. the owner who was an old man then looked at the gun and said "hatchet". after a while and some more questions he left. don't know what happen.

Originally Posted by porthos

i remember a funny story: 40 years or so ago; i was hanging out at the local gun shop. a stranger that no one knew came in with a 700 rem. said that he glass bedded it without release agent; and wanted to know what to do to get it apart. the owner who was an old man then looked at the gun and said "hatchet". after a while and some more questions he left. don't know what happen.

In order to help your fellow man, one must have both the expertise and compassion to assist.
Smart asses are amused with themselves, but are of no real value.
Please don't be a Gufus, be a Gallant.

Warming epoxy to about 250 F will soften it enough to release. Commercial casters use PVA for a release agent. It ages out from self-polymerazation which is another way of saying it has limited shelf life. Some people us Simonize auto wax and buff it out to a nice shine. Like so many things you have to do a good job of application. Thin, buffed out, no missed spots. In other words, YMMV. :-)