Is glass bedding a good idea for kit guns?

[Sixgun_Symphony]

Dixie Gun Works has Brownell's glassbed and Acraglass gel kit for sale with their wood finishing catalog items. I was wondering if it is a good idea to have in case the inletting from the factory kit guns gets too wide and deep.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

So are you asking about using Acraglass to correct a mistake?

When it comes to "factory" kit guns, it has been my experience that these tend to be pretty much wood finishing and metal polishing projects. The barrel and the lock, trigger, and other parts come pretty close to pre-fitted..., with the brass sometimes needing polish. The most difficult factory kit that I've encountered was a vintage Jap Bess kit, still in the box, but no directions, and I had to locate and drill the holes for the ramrod thimbles, and polish the brass. So I don't think a factory kit will have you inletting anything at all...., and an Acraglass kit would be unneeded.

Now, it's good to have the kit on the shelf. I've seen factory kits and factory guns get some wicked cracks, and the stuff is good to stabilize those and even to bed the breech/tang area on some muskets, because if the factory has taken too much wood out from the breech, the recoil can cause problems with the wooden stock. The Acraglass bedding of the tang area and the tang bolt hole, seems to do a good job of displacing the recoil as it's taken by the stock, and avoid those problems.

LD

 

[LRB]

Glassing the breech area also gives some protection from the wood soaking up oil which in time can weaken and soften the wood. I would not consider it to be a requirement, but done neatly and hidden, it cannot hurt.

 

[oldwood]

I quit using expensive Acraglass kits 40+ years ago. The resins are over priced and the release agent can be problematic for the avg. gun builder. Used to bed modern rifle actions for my deer rifles , front and rear lugs only. I got the same accuracy out of modern rifles using small squares of thin grocery bags for release agent. Film is film , and light years less expensive. At the same time ,I experimented with store brand quick setting epoxie @ about $10 for two big tubes of hardener and resin. Found it very adequate for bedding , and some of the most awful wood cracking problems on M/l rifle forearms. I've repaired m/l rifles w/ broken wrists w/o Acraglass , and refinished the gun rendering an invisible repair. M/ling rifles w/long angled check cracks in the forearm back through the lock mortise glass bedding the barrel for stability , w/o Acraglass. Oh well , If your stuck w/ Acraglass , Good for you , but there's a different way to skin a cat......Just sayin...............oldwood

 

[Spikebuck]

I agree with Wick...it may not be necessary, but it's not going to hurt.

Some production gun kits have an intentional cutout under the breech end of the barrel. Here's a Pedersoli Blue Ridge as an example. I had a pistol kit (can't remember which production brand it was) that was the same way. I have no idea what inspires an engineer to design in such a feature, but I bed these and fill that cutout.

The picture is the Pedersoli, which was actually a completed gun from the factory I had for years and was completely reworking.

I also like to follow the process our own Dave Person uses which is to very lightly coat the entire barrel channel and bed as a sealer/strengthener. I did that on my ToTW fullstock Hawken. Many builders had advised to bed the hooked breech area and I decided to do the whole thing with a very thin "sealer" type coat.

 

[54ball]

The short answer is no.

With that said, breech fit is critical for a good rifle. Barrel fit, "not at all".

If you look at many original rifles, they will be fit well at the tang, breech and the first few inches of the breech end of the barrel. They will be fit well at the muzzle and the first few inches of the barrel from the muzzle. In between the barrel channel is often found "hogged out"...most of the time round with just occasional barrel flat contact.
What I'm getting at is the snap fit complete barrel channels is more of a modern concern. With this said, a tight fitting breech and tang is critical.
Epoxy can be used here if breech/tang fit is sloppy.