Thread: 303 group-bad bedding?

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

I don't like the bedding. Is it just me or does it look lumpy and too thin. If the rifle were mine I would dig out the front bedding round the recoil lug, pock mark the wood with a drill and put a plasticine dam 5 cm up the barrel channel then re-do that section of bedding as one. My 2c

@Moa Hunter cheers for the advice-that's along the lines of what I was thinking but you aren't seeing any bedding-there isn't any.
As posted I was trying to cheat and see if it shot reasonably before I bedded it. barrel a bit naff so if it needed replacing I didn't want to do it twice.
looks like I have to do it to prove otherwise.
All good and I need the practice and hey it might still be good. I'm not looking for a target rifle. If it can do close to 2" groups at 100m ill be ecstatic. Any more than that and I will put it under consideration as to how bad
And I cant see hundreds of rounds going down range anytime soon. If it shoots good it will probably last me out.

@csmiffy, Is that a crack I see before me... running forward right and backwards left from the trigger slot? It may not be as well fixed as you hope, meaning even if you tighten your main action screw, your screw may as well still be loose... (-:



Look up how to strengthen the wood with long transverse brass wood screws and epoxy / gorilla glue.

Summary: Drill guide hole(s) side to side, epoxy or gorilla glue into it and onto screw(s), screw in, cut off head and tip, file brass flush both sides, wipe off.

Brass, not stainless, because it just looks better.

Consider the Mosquito. Sure she was made of wood, but every glued joint also had at least one screw.

Originally Posted by shooternz

The last lot of CAC Military ammo I had was loaded with cordite dated 1957 and was very accurate ,
you are right most .303's were not well maintained

It wont have been cordite, it would have been something else I forget the name now. Cordite is sticks, not powder. They loaded the .303 mk7 with nitrocellulose something or another powder since the start of WW1.
Cordite or Ballestite as a propellant was the first type of smokeless ammo - if you have the original 215 grain round nose bullet (mk6?) load pre WW1, then that will be loaded with actual cordite.

When you pull the action out of the stock, does it come out easily, loosely? Or is it tight? When you put it into the stock and tighten the screws does it sort of suck up into the stock as the screws tighten, or does it suddenly bottom out hard?

Originally Posted by Carlsen Highway

It wont have been cordite, it would have been something else I forget the name now. Cordite is sticks, not powder. They loaded the .303 mk7 with nitrocellulose something or another powder since the start of WW1.
Cordite or Ballestite as a propellant was the first type of smokeless ammo - if you have the original 215 grain round nose bullet (mk6?) load pre WW1, then that will be loaded with actual cordite.

They used both cordite and nitrocellulose I have seen cordite loaded rounds wth a 64 data, The Greek .303 is loaded with ball powder, CAC 57 was definitely cordite we pulled the projectiles
from 300 of them to load in boxer primed new brass and modern powder it did work we got 1 MOA with a mint P14

Most commonwealth manufacture .303 ammunition was loaded with cordite throughout the service career of the cartridge. The supply from USA was with Nitro-Cellulose propellant and Canada a mix of Cordite and Nitro-Cellulose. Cartridges have a purple colour around the primer for ball ammunition and are headstamped with letters identifying the manufacturer, numbers for the mark of cartridge, and the year of manufacture. If the cartridge was loaded with Nitro-Cellulose there would be the letter Z stamped after the manufacture code.
http://www.harringtonmuseum.org.uk/t...ice-cartridge/

Originally Posted by Cordite

@csmiffy, Is that a crack I see before me... running forward right and backwards left from the trigger slot? It may not be as well fixed as you hope, meaning even if you tighten your main action screw, your screw may as well still be loose... (-:

Attachment 96262

Look up how to strengthen the wood with long transverse brass wood screws and epoxy / gorilla glue.
@Cordite
That pic is from my project thread. There is actually a hole drilled down towards the pistol grip along the length of the crack.
I spread the stock a bit and used the epoxy same as I used for the plugs and glued a length of 6mm threaded rod in there and let it spring back. You can just see the top of the hole.
I haven't refinished the stock yet as I was going to do that after bedding otherwise that crack would be far less visible.

Summary: Drill guide hole(s) side to side, epoxy or gorilla glue into it and onto screw(s), screw in, cut off head and tip, file brass flush both sides, wipe off.

Brass, not stainless, because it just looks better.

Consider the Mosquito. Sure she was made of wood, but every glued joint also had at least one screw.

That pic is from my project thread. there is actually a hole drilled down towards the pistol grip along the length of the crack.
I spread the stock a bit and used the epoxy same as I used for the plugs and glued a length of 6mm threaded rod in there. You can just see the top of the hole.
I haven't refinished the stock yet as I was going to do that after bedding otherwise that crack would be far less visible.
There is also an alloy pillar that I threaded into the stock there now which was fitted after that pic.
@Carlsen Highway regardless I still reckon I have to bite the bullet and at least have a crack at the bedding. I don't remember it being super snug in there.

Originally Posted by shooternz

They used both cordite and nitrocellulose I have seen cordite loaded rounds wth a 64 data, The Greek .303 is loaded with ball powder, CAC 57 was definitely cordite we pulled the projectiles
from 300 of them to load in boxer primed new brass and modern powder it did work we got 1 MOA with a mint P14

I have got some .303 lying around here dated 54, 57, and 58. Just for my own curiosity I might pull a couple of bullets. For sure I thought CAC didnt use cordite

Originally Posted by csmiffy

That pic is from my project thread. there is actually a hole drilled down towards the pistol grip along the length of the crack.
I spread the stock a bit and used the epoxy same as I used for the plugs and glued a length of 6mm threaded rod in there. You can just see the top of the hole.
I haven't refinished the stock yet as I was going to do that after bedding otherwise that crack would be far less visible.
There is also an alloy pillar that I threaded into the stock there now which was fitted after that pic.
@Carlsen Highway regardless I still reckon I have to bite the bullet and at least have a crack at the bedding. I don't remember it being super snug in there.

Do it then, you can't hurt it.

@csmiffy

Here's the thing with brass screw repairs which may be of use to someone: https://www.theboxotruth.com/educati...a-split-stock/

If the rifle has crap bedding but you want to know if the barrel is salvageable before going further, then try a piece of folded tyre tube between the fore-end and the barrel moving it up and down to see if there is a sweet spot. Firing 3 rounds at each point you try.

@Moa Hunter Good Idea. I had a little thought about that myself