Bedding Howa Mini?

[daved20319]

I've only bedded one other rifle, a Savage 12FV, but that had a blind mag, filling the hole with modeling clay was pretty straightforward. But the bottom metal/mag well of the Howa is throwing me, how do you bed it without getting something stuck? I have the DIP bottom metal for mine, much nicer than the stock plastic, but the issue is the same. Any tips from those that have done this already? BTW, stock is a Boyd's Classic, and I'll probably just bed it for now, my lathe is out of commission at the moment, so I won't be turning any pillars, and I don't like any of the aftermarket offerings. Thanks.

[A5BLASTER]

I used a metric ton of hornady sizing spray. Nothing got stuck so worked for me.

I also used the scorehi piller and action bed kit.

Hope this helps.

[grayfox]

my juice was pam spray (the name brand btw!!). in either case spray everything you don't want to get sticky... DIP, bolts, interior bolt holes, trigger lay-in area -- everything, and a little over b/c it will spread out a bit more than whatever you think.

edit to add, but I thought (not an expert mind you) that in terms of sequence it was best to do the pillars first, then then bed... but I could be wrong on that... thought I read that or got that impression somewhere.

[Sinclair]

my juice was pam spray (the name brand btw!!). in either case spray everything you don't want to get sticky... DIP, bolts, interior bolt holes, trigger lay-in area -- everything, and a little over b/c it will spread out a bit more than whatever you think.

edit to add, but I thought (not an expert mind you) that in terms of sequence it was best to do the pillars first, then then bed... but I could be wrong on that... thought I read that or got that impression somewhere.

Yes, everything that I have read or watched on bedding an action says to do the pillars first. My guess is that they establish a solid base for the action to rest on while the epoxy hardens. And bye the way, after the pillar epoxy has started to harden, check that you can get the action bolts to line up and start threading into the action. Lesson learned the hard way.

I preassemble the whole rifle before applying any epoxy. Good time to check that the rounds feed properly, its a real bummer trying to adjust things after the epoxy has hardened. Just my 2cnts worth if it matters.

[Lemonaid]

https://www.brownells.com/search/index.h...&ksubmit=y


I have not done a Howa mini but Brownells is top notch for customer satisfaction.

[daved20319]

Thanks, guys. Decided to go with the Score-Hi kit after all, just the pillars and screws, I already have Devcon 10110 on hand from my Savage. As to a two stage operation, pillars first then bedding, if you're doing both anyway, it just makes sense to do it all at once, and the Score-Hi kit is designed for just that. My Savage was a little different, it had a blind mag, so no bottom metal for the front action screw to go through. I turned a 2 piece front pillar for that that incorporated an escutcheon with counter-bore for the screw, a little cold blue and it looks like a factory piece . Might still have some pics around if anyone is interested, or you could just check out the Stress-Free pillar bedding article at 6mmbr.com., that's what I used for inspiration and as a guide. Will try and remember to take pics when I get to it, later.

[grayfox]

I think I did a write up on here about my howa bedding. I first drilled out and set up the pillars, using epoxy around and set it with the action screwed together. Checking first about everything working right like sinclair said. Then once that was hardened setting up the bedding was easy as the pillars were already in place. O, I also did one pillar first, then the other, theory being that the one pillar set would hold everything while the second one set up. so 3-part effort I guess but it came out well IMO.
Read 3x, check and mockup 2x before doing 1x.