Gunsmithing Bedding order.....

Bed them at the same time, then you only have to mix compound once.

Get all intended bedding prep work done, mix your compound, bed the rail, then bed the receiver.

There should be no reason not to, unless your bedding compound sets up in less than 10 minutes.
The entire intent of bedding is stress-free harmony, like heroin.
 
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I'm fine with a super anal response that would outline why one thing should be done before or after another. I like to use rubber tubing under very low tension over the receiver when I'm bedding a long heavy barreled gun. I won't do that over a wet in progress rail bedding job for example.
 
Ahh, ok! Sorry I was assuming a different receiver bedding technique.

To play into "super anal response", in theory, if your rail/receiver interface has imperfection I would bed that first and allow it to fully cure before bedding the receiver. That way if any miniscule amount of tension was induced it would be fully supported by bedding the receiver later. Bedding the receiver first, then perhaps applying tension by the addition of a 1 piece rail could cause uneven bedding tension on the receiver footprint in the stock.
That's the anal answer you seek.

In reality though, I'd still bed them at the same time. Unless your rail is WAY off, the surgical tubing method will only assist in even tension on the entirety of both bedding tasks. If a person induces stress while bedding, they're doing it wrong.
 
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