How do you block off the spoon channel when glass bedding?

[Maillemaker]

So when you glass bed a musket with a spoon to hold the ramrod, how do you protect the spoon cavity from the rifle bedding compound?

Steve

[oscarlovel]

I place a piece of scotch tape or clear packing tape over the spoon recess inside the barrel channel. Always works like a charm for me and I've bedded probably 12-15 muskets over the years.

[Rich Foster]

Interesting. I would of thought the heat from the Epoxy would eat through the tape. I have aways stuffed it with aluminium foil then put block out putty on top. Next time i mix some I will put some on top of tape on bench to see if it does not melt the plastic. Rich

[Rebel Dave]

I use two thickness' of 3-M packing tape also, then when the glass hardens you can cut the whole back out, if you want the whole open.


Rebel Dave

[Rich Foster]

What is the back up plan for some reason tape does not hold up and ramrod channel fills with epoxy? Seems like to me spoon area should be filled with a material so there is no way epoxy can get it at all. It is the whole reason of covering it up. I guess everybody has there way of doing it. I will test the tape experience to see if it holds up. If it does I will skip the block out putty and fill the recess just in case epoxy gets through becasue it is a blind spot while embedding a barrel. Rich

[Eddie Bruner, 12222]

A strip of masking tape has worked fine about 5 times for me.

-Eddie

[RaiderANV]

Aluminum tape like used on duct work.

[hp gregory]

make sure you take the spoon out then apply the tape. i have done quite a few and the tape has always worked well. if it did leak just use a dremel to clean up the inlet. hp

[Ron/The Old Reb]

You can fill it with modeling clay or rope cock. Done several that way.

[Hickok]

Steve all the advice these fellows give is correct. I also coat my ram rod with a good layer of Johnson Past wax and insert it back into the stock before glass bedding as a safety precausion, just in case the bedding compound breaks through. There is some pressure exerted when the barrel pushed down in the barrel channel, and the compound try to go to the area of least resistance.

If the ramrod channel ever got blocked with Acraglass, well, I believe a person could make up new cuss words never heard before!

Also, others may disagree or have a better idea, but I like my barrel bedded so the nipple bolster is just lightly touching the lock plate cutout, or maybe just .003-.005" clearance. A small piece of thin tape can be applied to the cutout area of the lockplate where the nipple bolster contacts to assure this.

Notice on many rifles, the lockplate cannot be easily removed without first loosening the tang screw, because the nipple bolster bears so hard on the lockplate.

I completely strip my lockplate, coat with paste wax and fill the mortise in the stock with modeling clay and put the lockplate back on the rifle before I set the barrel down in the compound. That glass compound will finds it way into places you don't expect!

Others may have better advice, just what works for me.

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I use Play Dough. It's cheap, not oily, easy to put in and get out.

[hp gregory]

i wanted to add something about bedding and the spoon. johnsons paste wax is a great release agent for not only barrels but any part that comes into contact with the bedding. its never failed me. i also like to use it to coat the outside of the stock to keep any of the bedding from sticking to it. the one thing i like to do on the metal parts is to put on a fairly heavy coat of wax then take a small torch and heat the wax until it flows into a liquid. this will let the wax get into all the nooks and cranys that can let the bedding get a hold and cause problems. i have been doing this sort of thing longer than i care to admit and i have used about every kind of bedding there is. not to long ago a friend suggested that i give devcon steel putty a try. wish i had gotten that suggestion long ago. it is by far the best i have ever used. it doesnt run but yet gives plenty of working time. when it drys its the strongest matterial i have ever used. the color is dark grey and works well with most any gun.

hp

[Eddie Bruner, 12222]

Instead of Johnsons wax I use SPG bullet lube. Easy to put on all metal parts and stock, cleans up really easy. As far as boster to lock plate fit, I put a strip of electrical tape between them when bedding. After removed it is just the right clearance for me.


-Eddie