Guys, i've prepped the rifle stock in question. Sanded and stained the Walnut stock, as I was doing this I was thinking about recoil once I'm done with the glass bedding. I chose to go with Marine Tex with brown coloring agent. I''ve also purchased playdoh to block off where I don't want bedding material and I have PAM cooking spray as release agent.
The person who sporterized this rifle had gotten a little chizzle or file happy and left a 5/16" gap between the back of the tang and wood stock. The screw holes front and back are also too wide. So, I was thinking, do I apply the Marine Tex under the tang and as welll as in back of tang? To do so I'm thinking could cause the material, or worse the wood stock to crack upon recoil. Perhaps leave this area alone?
I looked through TM9-1270 thinking there was a section on bedding the 1903a3 but couldn't locate it. I also checked the CMP forums for a visual aid and didn't see it. Any thoughts here?
As far as how far to bed the barrel to the stock, I've read several opinions. One opinion is to apply bedding material on the stock up to the point of the center of gravity of the barrel, roughly 2/3rds length of stock. Others say only bed 1-2 inches in front of the barrel lug, leaving the rest free floating.
I am taking pics along the way and will post as soon as I can.
Also, in the front reciever and tang mounting holes, would you advise glassing pillars where the screws mount through?
One area I seem stuck on is when I'm ready to apply the bedding, do I install and mount the Magazine/trigger guard and install screws, then lightly torque? How would I keep bedding from dripping down into magazine well area and getting into the magazine? My other question is after the bedding is placed onto stock, I will have roughly a 1/16th" gap between barrel lug and wood, would this not create a gap now between the bottom of reciever and magazine housing?