Scope base Bedding Question

[Phil3]

I am fitting a scope base to my Howa 1500 223 Remington. With either of the rearmost screws snugged, there is a .006" gap at the front of the base. I don't know how significant .006" is and whether that requires bedding. ???

Murphy Precision (my scope base) recommends base bedding. It appears their approach is to permanently bond the base to the action. See this text from their site, with my emphasis in bold.

When properly bedded, high strength epoxy resin fills any small gaps that may exist between rifle action and scope base, allowing full contact with both members in a relaxed state. As an additional benefit, the epoxy resin bonds the scope base to the rifle action, eliminating any recoil stress on the mounting screws.

I don't like that, since it would seem to prohibit ever removing the base, much less using on another rifle.

Do I need bedding and how can it done so I can remove the base, or even use the base on another rifle? Having epoxy permanently stuck to the action and/or base is something I'd rather not do.

Also, if bedding, how does one bed in such a way to guarantee the base is level with the rifle bore. If my .006" gap was eliminated by tightening the front screws, that would change the point of impact at 100 yards by 4.32". I can't find a way to see if the base and barrel bore are dead parallel.

http://www.murphyprecision.com/Page/Scope_Base_Bedding

Phil

 

[Larryh128]

1st thing is don't think that you can't remove a glued down base, all of them will come off with some heat. Not enough to hurt the temper but all epoxys will soften with propane heat. You don't need to glue the bases is you don't want to , simply wax up the top of the receiver. The glue will stick only to the base.
There are certainly different methods but how I do it is to use a GROUND piece of flat stock. A parallel works good. Apply a bit of epoxy on the bottom of each base & snug down, checking the contact with the parallel. Both base tops should be perfectly touching for the length of both. Not a hard deal to do, just takes a few minutes & requires good light.

 

[Phil3]

I think you are referring to a two piece base. Not sure. I am using a one piece base. I am not real enthused about having epoxy permanently affixed to my base, as I might want to use that base on another gun. I suppose I could put wax on the base AND the receiver.

Phil

 

[STS]

You don't want to wax both the base and the receiver, the bedding compound would be stuck to nothing and wouldn't stay put. Larry offers good advise, nothing wrong with sticking the bedding to the bottom of the base. Also there is nothing wrong with sticking the base to the receiver but it is totally unnecessary unless you're shooting a cannon. If you wanted to put that base on another action in the future, it's easy to skim off the top of the bedding and rebed to a different action.

 

[Dgd6mm]

Scuff the base, clean with brake kleen, kiwi neutral shoe polish the action, apply the bedding material to the base, attach to action, and let harden. I could go on, but you get the picture. Also if you bed it straight to the action, you can you a iron to heat it up and take it off in the future.

 

[Raythemanroe]

Why would you need to remove a good solid base?

 

[Dgd6mm]

I could count the reasons, but I won't.

 

[Phil3]

Why would you need to remove a good solid base?

Sale of rifle, switch to another base, use of base on another action, etc... - Phil

 

[Raythemanroe]

From my experience most epoxy is workable with a little heat

 

[NateHaler]

I am fitting a scope base to my Howa 1500 223 Remington. With either of the rearmost screws snugged, there is a .006" gap at the front of the base. I don't know how significant .006" is and whether that requires bedding. ???

Why hassle with any of that? Use a two-piece base, and Burris Signature Zee rings. The time you'll save vs. bedding will more than make up for the cost of the gear.

Or shim the base. Several places sell shim stock measured in thousandths. Cut a strip or two to put under your base on the gap side 8), and then install. Done.

 

[Raythemanroe]

I like the one piece, I believe it to stiffen my action and not to mention my action came with a 20 moa rail

 

[Phil3]

I am fitting a scope base to my Howa 1500 223 Remington. With either of the rearmost screws snugged, there is a .006" gap at the front of the base. I don't know how significant .006" is and whether that requires bedding. ???

Why hassle with any of that? Use a two-piece base, and Burris Signature Zee rings. The time you'll save vs. bedding will more than make up for the cost of the gear.

Or shim the base. Several places sell shim stock measured in thousandths. Cut a strip or two to put under your base on the gap side 8), and then install. Done.

Good question, for which I do not have a good answer. A couple things did come to mind.

1) A one piece rail is required if one uses the scope leveling approach of a stack of feeler gauges between the "flat" on the bottom center of scope and the top of the rail. Pressing the scope down and securing it this way is supposed to level it, assuming rail top is level. I did not find this approach very workable, so found another way.

2) I was not sure exactly where scope needed to be and wanted maximum flexibility on where rings would go. A one piece rail offers more adjustment room than a two piece.

I prefer the look of the one piece, but it is harder to get fingers in to load rounds. I very well may use a two piece next time. I did bed the one piece with epoxy following instructions from Murphy Precision. I did not try to remove the base after curing. I just tightened it down, per the instructions. My first bedding and it was not hard and it looks fine. Perhaps surprisingly, a boresighting showed the scope (in centered adjustment range), to be about 2" high above the barrel centerline (same as scope and barrel)and just about dead on left-right. I am hoping I have little adjustment at the range.

Phil

 

[marazzi59]

Does your 1 piece mount make full receiver contact or is there 2 pads of contact?