To bed or not to bed?

[gunrack]

Forgive me if someone has already posted about this.

I would like opinions on whether bedding the action on my Axis 7mm08 would improve the accuracy or not? I have bedded several rimfire rifles that I own but this is my first attempt at trying it on a centerfire. From looking at the recoil lug and the area where the lug is mounted in the stock It appears that it could use a little reinforcing from the way the material is honeycombed around it.

I've owned the gun about two weeks and put down two deer on the spot with it but it does not print good groups on paper......yet.

OCD is getting the best of me.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[Smokey262]

You know you are going to do it regardless of what anyone says right? If you don't you will always blame the action to stock fit for the groups you say you are getting.

Go for it.

[gunrack]

LOL Thanks. Believe I will give it a shot. The only problem is there aint much meat on these little stocks and I'm kinda skeerd!

[RP12]

If your getting acceptable accuracy, I wouldn't bother.

[LoneWolf]

I would replace the stock before trying to make a junk stock better just seems like a waste since there are options available now. My Axis shoots sub half minute groups in a SSS stock and rebarreled. Before they became available I was in your same predicament!

[gunrack]

Thanks for the replies. Right now I am enjoying tinkering with it. I looked at other stocks but really don't want to sink nearly as much as I gave for the rig into a new stock. Those after market stocks are expensive unless I'm not looking in the wrong places?

I bet it will shoot better than what I was getting on paper the first time I tried. To say I was a little disappointed with it's accuracy the first time I shot it is an understatement but I have done a little bit of work to it since and can't wait to get back out. If I can get it to shoot a minute group consistently I will be satisfied. It shot good enough to kill a deer easy at 200 yards but the groups it shot at 100 I did not like at all. I was having trouble keeping it to 2" at sight in.

I'm new at the centerfire stuff and reloading as well. I figure it will take me a while to pick my way through it.

[pisgah]

The problem with a question like yours is that, really, no one can give you a yes or no answer. It might help; it might not; it might make things worse. Those are your answers.

Let me encourage you by telling you that in all likelihood your rifle will group better than the 1" you want just as it is. First of all, you realize, of course, that a different load might exceed your expectations without changing anything else. You are new to centerfire rifle, so you might benefit by having an experienced shooter watch you and coach a bit, or even let them shoot it to see how they do. It may be that your technique is not up to snuff; you would be amazed to see the difference how and where you rest the forend makes on a rifle with a rather springy forend. My Axis rifles do there best if I rest the forend either on my off hand, or on a rest back near the action. Also, Axis triggers are not the greatest out of the box; they are easy to improve, though, and again, a decent trigger can make for astounding accuracy improvements.

I don't really think that just a bit of bedding will hurt anything, but you never know. A bit more experimentation may pay big dividends. And, hey -- if you're killing deer at 200 yards with no problem it's doing the job as-is.

[gunrack]

Pisgah, thanks for the encouragement. I know it has got to do better than what it was doing on paper be it me, the loads, trigger, etc. Like you said, realistically it serves it's intended purpose and puts deer down. That's why I bought it for a deer rifle not a paper puncher but the fact that I couldn't get it to shoot any better than it was is bothering me bad. LOL

[mudpig]

Before bedding it you might make sure the action is set into the current stock properly with the recoil lug fully against the recess in the stock and that the action screws are tightened properly. Load developement would help. I don't have an Axis 7-08, but do have a model 11 in 7-08 and Remington 140 PSP .030 off the lands with 47gr of W-760 with Win brass and primers is sub MOA and same brass and primer with Barnes 140 TSX .050 off lands with 48gr of W-760 is sub 1/2 MOA....as always work up your loads carefully.
Hope this helps.

[gunrack]

Thanks mudpig. I just put a thin layer of red bearing grease on and around the recoil lug and along the action bed and tightened everything down good. When I pulled it back apart it appears that the recoil lug is contacting the barrel threads. because there are obvious thread marks in the grease on the top surface of the recoil lug. When I put the gun back together it seemed to have a pivot point in that area but it wasn't until I pulled it back apart that I could see where the bind was. What should I do? It's not supposed to contact the barrel threads, right? Should I relieve a little off the lug or build up the stock bedding to stop this?

[mudpig]

If your action is teeter-tottering on your recoil lug, I would relieve the stock under the lug until you remove the pivot point. The only contact the recoil lug should have is the back surface...all other sides should be free of contact. That should help drastically!

[gunrack]

That is exactly what is happening. The lug on the Axis is molded into the recess in the stock instead of being on the barrel.

[mudpig]

Oh ok... I didn't realize that setup. Are there metal pillars in the stock. If the stock is pillar bedded, I would tend to take some material off the top of the lug. If the stock does not have pillars, then I would opt to bed the reciever slightly raising the reciever.

[gunrack]

Sounds good; I'm going to get busy now. Thanks for your help!

[mudpig]

no problem...hope it helps tighten your grouping

[pisgah]

Pisgah, thanks for the encouragement. I know it has got to do better than what it was doing on paper be it me, the loads, trigger, etc. Like you said, realistically it serves it's intended purpose and puts deer down. That's why I bought it for a deer rifle not a paper puncher but the fact that I couldn't get it to shoot any better than it was is bothering me bad. LOL

Oh, it would bother me, too! :-) Not enough to dump it or, alternatively, to jump off a cliff and spent major $$$ to fix it right away. Instead, I would, as you say, tinker and experiment a bit to evaluate the source of the "problem". With my two Axis examples, I found neither one shot as well as I would have liked initially -- although, surely "good enough" and more for their intended purpose -- but trying a second load, plus minor trigger tweaks, turned them both in to sub-MOA shooters, with about a total of 15 minutes and $3 spent.

At the risk of being accused of calling anyone stupid, I really have to ask folks who complain vociferously about their Axis experience -- just what did you expect for $250? Ten years ago, you couldn't have come close to as good a rifle for that little amount of scratch. And, if you simply must have top-notch accuracy, why spend $$$$ on a trigger and/or stock for a sow's ear when you could very well have gotten the silk purse to start with for $600? Much as I love tinkering, there comes a point where it really makes no sense unless you just have nothing better to do with your time and money.

[gunrack]

Added a pillar mount job and it's laying in the stock like it should now. The front pillar if you could call it that was too low. Drilled it out and installed new one. It sits in there right now! It sure was nice to find that before i went much farther. I'm done messing with it other than trying different loads now. As soon as this ice and snow melts off I'm gonna run a few rounds through it.

I worked on the trigger.
pillar bedded the action
reinforced the stock

added about $25.00

[acemisser]

I would replace the stock before trying to make a junk stock better just seems like a waste since there are options available now. My Axis shoots sub half minute groups in a SSS stock and rebarreled. Before they became available I was in your same predicament!

what is the SSS stock? Never heard of it befor now....

[foxx]

Added a pillar mount job and it's laying in the stock like it should now. The front pillar if you could call it that was too low. Drilled it out and installed new one. It sits in there right now! It sure was nice to find that before i went much farther. I'm done messing with it other than trying different loads now. As soon as this ice and snow melts off I'm gonna run a few rounds through it.

I worked on the trigger.
pillar bedded the action
reinforced the stock

added about $25.00

I had a 10 that was factory-pillared the same way. Kinda defeats the purpose of the pillars!

[RP12]

what is the SSS stock? Never heard of it befor now....Sharp shooter supply.