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Montana 1999 Long Action Bedding?

Hello,
Long time lurker here, first time poster, thanks in advance. I have a Montana 1999 Barreled action [long] I bought new many years ago, with a Sendero barrel contour 26" long. Lets say life got in the way and it sat in the gun safe for over 20 years. I bought a Hogue 07013 Stock for it at a decent price and want to try bedding it myself. Has anyone bedded one of these? I read up bedding a Winchester M70 action, there are different ways of doing it which can be a little confusing1.jpg2.jpg. Any tips or links would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
 
The first thing I do is to reshape the bottom of the tang so it is just like a model 70. Then I bed the front and under the tang, just as on a model 70. Bedding for full contact, front to rear, is optional but you want to be sure that no rear-facing surface contacts the stock except the rear of the recoil lug. I like to tape the front, sides and bottom of the lug. There is no center screw, so you don't have that to worry about. Because there is no boltstop slot, there is a little more surface at the tang. WH
 
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Make sure and provide adequate clearance below the lug with tape so the stamping doesn't leave a raised profile. If for some reason you want to be the bottom of the lug tight, have the bottom of the lug surfaced to remove the stamping and any imperfections. Ditto for the flat surface of the receiver behind the lug. The MRC actions I've seen were pretty rough in that area. Clearance around all the lug except at the back...the recoil surface. Make sure you have clearance around the lower rear 'ledge' where the rear action screw locates. Provide plenty of room around the action screw holes and the holes in the bedding block. For a 1/4" screw, I like a 5/16" hole.

Good shootin' :) -Al
 
Thanks for the replies! The Tutorial is very helpful!

I have a question regarding the masking and cleaning up. I'm anal about prep, masking, and keeping things clean from painting for over 45 years. Anyhow after the initial prep, masking and applying the release agent, I saw people swapping and wiping bedding compound that oozed up when the barreled action was set into bedding material inside the stock. I read about people wiping with alcohol breaking down the release agent and making separating the stock from the barreled action a nightmare later on. If I coated the entire action and barrel 360* with release agent, then put some release agent on the tape on the taped stock edge so that if bedding material oozed out and onto the 1/4" finished edge of the stock stock would that make cleanup easier later on? I could use business cards to clean up and if a little remained on the barrel and tape it would easily come off. My thought is the release agent on the tape and 360* on the barrel and action would make clean up a lot easier.
 
Your approach is sound. I lay tape inside the barrel channel ahead of the face of the action. When the bedding oozes forward, it goes between the tape and the barrel. With release agent on the tape and barrel, all you have to do is scribe a line in front of the action and the compound snaps off like a potato chip.

A plastic windshield stick or a drinking straw cut at an angle works well to remove the excess ooze along the sides of the action.

For what it's worth.... -Al
 
Your approach is sound. I lay tape inside the barrel channel ahead of the face of the action. When the bedding oozes forward, it goes between the tape and the barrel. With release agent on the tape and barrel, all you have to do is scribe a line in front of the action and the compound snaps off like a potato chip.

A plastic windshield stick or a drinking straw cut at an angle works well to remove the excess ooze along the sides of the action.

For what it's worth.... -Al
Thank you!
 
I use popsicle sticks, cut to shape with scissors, to remove excess bedding compound. Just be careful not to remove too much. After the bedding compound has set up and the barreled action is removed, I use files to file the bedding compound down to the masking tape covering the stock. Good luck with your project.

Mike Montgomery
 
I use expired credit cards, driver licenses, etc as mini squeegees to clean up excess bedding. Cut 'em with a scissor for a nice sharp corner or use the rounded corners where needed. The plastic won't harm bluing when run tightly along the action.
 
Thanks for the great info. Well as it turns out I did a little measuring and what I have is a short action, please go easy I've been out of the loop for a long time. No problem returning it, so no loss. In any event the Winchester M70 control fed, short action stocks with a varmint barrel contour, 1 piece bottom metal are slim in my price range, real slim. I prefer not to have a wooden stock, I'd rather have the aluminum bedding block, no luck. I found a few Hogue stocks that have pillars. It seems they discontinued them with the aluminum blocks in short actions. Once again the help is greatly appreciated!
 
What exactly is the action screw c-c measurement? It should be 7", if it's the short MRC action. Bell And Carlson offers short action Model 70 stocks that will work with little or no tweaks. They are reasonably priced, good quality and ship quickly.

Hope this helps.
 
What exactly is the action screw c-c measurement? It should be 7", if it's the short MRC action. Bell And Carlson offers short action Model 70 stocks that will work with little or no tweaks. They are reasonably priced, good quality and ship quickly.

Hope this helps.
It's 7" c to c, what's throwing me off is they're showing it for Short Action/WSM. I read somewhere it won't work, which is confusing me. Mine is a short action chambered for 6.5x284 Norma.

I found this, but no info on the barrel or if it has a block or not. Not sure.

This will most likely fit but I don't really like it, and trying to paint it will be a project in and of itself.
Should fit.

If this will fit I'd go for it.
Preferred.

Thanks again!!
 
It's 7" c to c, what's throwing me off is they're showing it for Short Action/WSM. I read somewhere it won't work, which is confusing me. Mine is a short action chambered for 6.5x284 Norma.

I found this, but no info on the barrel or if it has a block or not. Not sure.

This will most likely fit but I don't really like it, and trying to paint it will be a project in and of itself.
Should fit.

If this will fit I'd go for it.
Preferred.

Thanks again!!
The Model 70 Short Action and WSM actions are both 7" c-c. The WSSM actions are 6 3/8" c-c.

The confusion is with the nomenclature...even among the stock companies.
 

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