First bedding job: Do I have to start over again?

[PeterThePan]

Hello,

Just did my first bedding job on a Tikka T3 in a GRS Sporter stock. It came out pretty ok all in all. Heres a pic before cleanup:

Here's the problem I'm having: The stock came with the recoil lug glued in. I somehow thought the lug would come out clean after bedding, with no bedding compound on it, so I did not rough it up beforehand. Now when I removed the stock, the lug had some bedding material on it, which did not really stick (I took it off on the top). There is also some compound in front of the lug:

As far as I know, the front of the recoil lug should sit snugly against the action of the Tikka. With the bedding compound in front splattering off, this will obviously not be the case.

This makes me worry about two things: The well-being of my stock - with the gap in front of the recoil lug the recoil will displace elsewhere, which could damage the stock - and accuracy.

Kind of bummed now, since the rest of the bedding came out pretty ok...

What do you guys think? Any ideas what to do?

Regards
- Pete

 

[Trigger Monkey]

You can try a small chisel, a piece of sandpaper with a solid square backer, or a sodering iron with a beveled tip. I've used all three to remove epoxy from where I didn't want it.

Thin as that spot is a razor blade may work too.

Look on the bright side, if you mess it up you get to do it again.

 

[PeterThePan]

You can try a small chisel, a piece of sandpaper with a solid square backer, or a sodering iron with a beveled tip. I've used all three to remove epoxy from where I didn't want it.

Thin as that spot is a razor blade may work too.

Look on the bright side, if you mess it up you get to do it again.

Thanks for the tip. What worries me is not removing the bit of epoxy on the lug, but the small gap that will result where the lug meets the action.
- I guess this defeats the purpose of bedding the action in the first place..?

 

[Trigger Monkey]

You won't really know until you clean it up and shoot it. That being said I shot a bone stock Tikka T3x CTR that had no bedding at all and it shot fantastic. Also, my belief is that the bedding shouldn't be doing anything structurally for the stock. The bedding is there to fill in gaps and create a consistent interface between the stock and the barreled action.