M14 Forum

gas_gunner

What's with the intricate cut that Springfield Armory makes to their bedding on the bolt lock side of the stock? It's found starting just behind the bolt lock recess on a McMillan stock and runs back to the front of the rear lug. It's on the top of the stock bedding. Am I better off just filling that in, or should I try to maintain it by maybe claying it, or maybe re-cutting it in the mill later, which I have to admit, I wouldn't be looking forward to doing.

Thanks,

Danny

bd111

Reads like it was bedded mis-aligned. I'd pull the barreled action and the handguard, inspect closely the relationship of the band to the barrel shoulder. It's possible a weld broke or a screw came loose at the gas cyl-band unit, making it cock-eyed, or those parts could have been unitized without scribing them to your rifle and then slapped on. Or it's possible the ferrule's a little off - not hard to fix. You already know your worst case, which is a complete re-bed. But if that's what it needs, get it over with.

gas_gunner

I've had a chance to look at the rifle and the stock, and it appears that they make the bedding cut to somewhat match the interior contour of the thin section of the receiver behind the bolt lock. I'm not sure if this must be done like this. I've never done it like that before.

Danny

Gus Fisher

I'm sorry, a LONG time ago I lost track of what the different features were that SAinc. used on their "NM," Super Match, Super Dooper Match and other names they have used over the years. Grin.

Is it possible to post a picture to show what you are talking about?

tonyben

Are you talking about the daylight between the bottom of the receiver and the top of the stock? It's the way some people bed them. It's a carry-over from the Garand days but there is debate that it's not necessary on M14's. McMillan stocks (IIRC) are already cut more in this area from the factory.

Attached Images

DSCN4484.jpg (33.4 KB, 16 views)

bd111

Danny, the way the question was originally presented suggested possible other issues at the front end. Apparently that's been mooted. I agree that if you're just talking about some daylight ahead of the heel on each side it was bedded that way on purpose. If you have a lugged receiver there would be other bedding differences from a standard rifle, but you wouldn't be able to see them externally except for maybe a bedded-in adjustment screw (or two).

gas_gunner

Yes,
It's possible. I'll do it. It will be a bit slow, but I'll get it posted somehow.

Danny

gas_gunner

Here is the area that I'm talking about on the Supermatch in the McMillan stock. The bedding cut that I refer to is circled, with an interesting radius cut at the rear, near the rear lug that's got an arrow marking it. Normally, in the past, I've not made that cut where the receiver is thinner, leaving it fully width of the stock thickness. I've also never bedded a rear lugged receiver before, either. I wonder what that radius cut at the rear is supposed to do. Unfortunately, in this picture, the radius cut is not well represented.

Thanks,

Danny

Attached Images

IMG_1294a.jpg (16.2 KB, 35 views)

Gus Fisher

Danny,

Thanks for posting that, it was a huge help to understand what you are talking about.

That cut/ cut out was done for esthetics more than anything else. On the left side of the receiver ahead of the rear lug, the receiver is fairly thin vs the right side of the receiver that has more metal bedding to the stock.

So, when one beds under the left side of the receiver, you wind up with a surface that is not under the reciever and is closer to the stock channel and is higher than the bedding surface there on the left side. When one fills the receiver heel with clay prior to doing the bedding, that higher area is left with the impressions of the clay - so it looks sort of rough compared to the bedding surface. Basically, they just cut into that rough surface so it would look neater.

If that surface was REAL high, as if they did not fill the receiver with clay, then it is possible the left bottom side of the bolt and under the left lug might contact there. Proper filling of the receiver with clay keeps that from happening and then you just get a surface that doesn't "look" quite as good as the bedding surface around it.

IOW, it is just fine and you have nothing to worry about.

gas_gunner

Thanks Gus,
I guess that the few times I have bedded, I never needed to do much cleanup, maybe because I anticipated bedding build up in that area, claying a lot, cutting the clay flat with the bottom of the receiver, but I have no memory of it now. Probably now, I might just cut that with the mill, too.

Danny

bd111

Seems like invariably when a barreled action is pulled from a McM there's a lot of bedding compound spread around, unique to the rifle's geometry and the armorer's bedding style. If I've ever seen that little cut-out I paid no attention to it.

Gus Fisher

When I bed a Garand where I don't want receiver heel contact from the rear of the receiver legs to about 1 1/8" from the back of the heel, I put a couple layers of masking tape over the top of the stock - so you don't have to worry about bedding material being on top the stock where you don't want it.

Usually on an M14 where I glass the entire receiver heel, the clay in the receiver keeps this part of bedding that doesn't need to contact down far enough I don't bother cleaning it up as the area is not that large and won't be seen when the receiver is locked into the stock. Like I mentioned, if you fill the receiver heel to level with clay, you don't have to worry about how high that surface is.

I have on a couple of occasions filed the area that was milled on your stock when the bedding was too high because the clay did not fill the receiver heel, when someone else did the bedding before me, though.

bd111

Danny & Gus, FWIW in bedding WOOD stocks I've never had one that I didn't go back to with a file after it was cured and level out/clear out that daylight strip, then seal it with the same outer finish applied to the rest of the stock.