Savage 110 Bedding

[muledeer]

Hi. I am brand new to the site (first post) but I've been shooting a Savage in one form or another forthe past 20 years or so. Anyway, I have two builds that are currently in progress. One is a 6.5x284 on a Manners EH-1 stock, the other is a .220 Swift, stock is still TBD. Anyway, the Manners and most likely whatever stock the Swift ends up in will have the aluminum bedding blocks. However, I'd still like to glass bed them for a (near) perfect fit. So here is my question- Specifically what areas do you bed? The area I'm most unsure about is what to do with the recoil lug recess. Also, I'm aware that the Savage rear tang is supposed to be free-floated. Any advice on bedding techniques and materials for Savages would be much appreciated.

[BarrelBurner]

Google Richard Franklin bedding a rifle. That will put you on the right track.

[D.ID]

Float the tang.
Only the back of the recoil lug, no sides or front.
Solid support around front and rear action screws and down the sides of mag well.
In truth there is not allot to bed on a savage, It's very simple and a pair of tubes of jb weld will do a couple rifles fairly easily.

[GaCop]

Devcon is also a good bedding compound and sets up quicker than J&B.

[muledeer]

Ok thanks for the advice guys. A friend of mine was recommending the JB Weld too, with neutral shoe polish as the release agent. I was looking over some of my Savage stocks and you are right, there doesn't seem to be too much area that would need bedding. Some people say to bed the first inch or two on the barrel channel. Is this right? I thought you wanted to have the barrel free-float all the way up to the nut.

[drybean]

IF you use JB mix it let it set to it thickens, otherwise it will be thin an run

[Bigeclipse]

Ok thanks for the advice guys. A friend of mine was recommending the JB Weld too, with neutral shoe polish as the release agent. I was looking over some of my Savage stocks and you are right, there doesn't seem to be too much area that would need bedding. Some people say to bed the first inch or two on the barrel channel. Is this right? I thought you wanted to have the barrel free-float all the way up to the nut.

Muledeer... here is my take

What kind of range are you shooting and at what? If this is a competition rifle or ultra long distance on game rifle then yes id probably fully bed it, but if this is a rifle you plan to shoot say under 500-600 yards...it may shoot well with out bedding. I have 3 rifles with aluminum bedding blocks. 2 Shoot amazing out of the box (both sub 1/2MOA out to 400 yards tested 5 shot groups) the other shot only 1 MOA (still good but not great). The one 1 that wasn't shooting well was a Remington in a bell and Carlson aluminum bedding block. I bedded the entire rifle and now it shoots consistently .5-.75 MOA. The other two I never needed to bed but I said what the heck and bedded the recoil lug area ONLY for a better fit when taking apart to clean and putting back together. Since then, they have not shot any better (nor worse) BUT I know that when I put the action back in...it more or less fits the same every time.

This is why I am saying you may just want to shoot some factory loads (factory loads can show potential of your rifle out of the box) through your rifle first before wasting your time bedding.

If you do want to bed the rifle, I would rough up the front action screw area and recoil lug area all the way back to the action screw. Most people will not bad past the rear action screw. Then id skim bed the rifle with some devcon or JB weld. Skim bedding is usually advised against with wood stock due to the bedding compound being thin and possibly cracking with wood swelling but this is not really a problem with synthetic stocks and aluminum bedding blocks. IF you want to do a full full bedding you will need to mill or dremel out some of the aluminum bedding block.

[muledeer]

Muledeer... here is my take

What kind of range are you shooting and at what? If this is a competition rifle or ultra long distance on game rifle then yes id probably fully bed it, but if this is a rifle you plan to shoot say under 500-600 yards...it may shoot well with out bedding. I have 3 rifles with aluminum bedding blocks. 2 Shoot amazing out of the box (both sub 1/2MOA out to 400 yards tested 5 shot groups) the other shot only 1 MOA (still good but not great). The one 1 that wasn't shooting well was a Remington in a bell and Carlson aluminum bedding block. I bedded the entire rifle and now it shoots consistently .5-.75 MOA. The other two I never needed to bed but I said what the heck and bedded the recoil lug area ONLY for a better fit when taking apart to clean and putting back together. Since then, they have not shot any better (nor worse) BUT I know that when I put the action back in...it more or less fits the same every time.

This is why I am saying you may just want to shoot some factory loads (factory loads can show potential of your rifle out of the box) through your rifle first before wasting your time bedding.

If you do want to bed the rifle, I would rough up the front action screw area and recoil lug area all the way back to the action screw. Most people will not bad past the rear action screw. Then id skim bed the rifle with some devcon or JB weld. Skim bedding is usually advised against with wood stock due to the bedding compound being thin and possibly cracking with wood swelling but this is not really a problem with synthetic stocks and aluminum bedding blocks. IF you want to do a full full bedding you will need to mill or dremel out some of the aluminum bedding block.

Actually, what you are saying is pretty close to what I plan to try. Manners told me they are coming out with the mini-chassis for Savage L/A, and I should have it by April-May timeframe. I'm not going to do any bedding with the rifle until I've shot it with the mini-chassis. If it shoots under 1/2" consistantly (after break-in) I'm probably just going to leave it alone. If not, I'll probably proceed with the bedding. I expect to shoot 1K yards plus with the 6.5-284. I'd like to find some factory loads to at least use during break-in, just to have one less loading on the Lapua brass that I paid over $1 each for. Finding 6.5-284 factory ammo is difficult unless you want to pay $3+ per round. 1 moa groups are not acceptable for this rifle.

[Saghi]

I also have the same question. With a very heavy profile barrel, should you bed any under the barrel in front of the recoil lug? Seems like all that weight hanging off the receiver could negatively affect things. However, maybe the receiver is plenty stiff and strong enough... I don't need to bed my rifle but I want to. It's the same reason I'll pay more to put it together myself. I enjoy the process.

So, I know every rifle is different, but generally speaking, what's the best option? Completely free float a very heavy barrel or bed it under the chamber or even further?

Thanks!!!

[Bigeclipse]

Actually, what you are saying is pretty close to what I plan to try. Manners told me they are coming out with the mini-chassis for Savage L/A, and I should have it by April-May timeframe. I'm not going to do any bedding with the rifle until I've shot it with the mini-chassis. If it shoots under 1/2" consistantly (after break-in) I'm probably just going to leave it alone. If not, I'll probably proceed with the bedding. I expect to shoot 1K yards plus with the 6.5-284. I'd like to find some factory loads to at least use during break-in, just to have one less loading on the Lapua brass that I paid over $1 each for. Finding 6.5-284 factory ammo is difficult unless you want to pay $3+ per round. 1 moa groups are not acceptable for this rifle.


I also have the same question. With a very heavy profile barrel, should you bed any under the barrel in front of the recoil lug? Seems like all that weight hanging off the receiver could negatively affect things. However, maybe the receiver is plenty stiff and strong enough... I don't need to bed my rifle but I want to. It's the same reason I'll pay more to put it together myself. I enjoy the process.

So, I know every rifle is different, but generally speaking, what's the best option? Completely free float a very heavy barrel or bed it under the chamber or even further?

Thanks!!!

Many people report bedding in front of recoil lug really does not help and some say it does. I do not use bull barrels so not sure on those but I do have a light-varmint barrel that is pretty dang heavy and it shoots .25-.5MOA all day long with out bedding in front of the recoil lug. Also, many people avoid bedding the savage recoil lug due to the notches (especially if you switch barrel) because then you would have to make sure the notches line up perfectly every time. just my two cents.

[teele1]

http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/stress-free-pillar-bedding/

best method I've seen/used to bed

jim

[D.ID]

I run all my barrels completely free floated.
Have a couple bull barrels but None longer than 26".
.
P.S. Welcome to the sight.

[muledeer]

Thanks.

I ended up ordering a Hogue overmolded stock for the Swift. I don't expect it to be on par with the Manners but it will serve my purpose as the Swift is never going to see 1K yards. The stock comes with the full block so I may try it first and if its something I feel I can improve on I will probably go ahead and bed the contact points. my heaviest barrel is a 26" heavy varmint and I still think it will be fine free floated with no bedding in front of the lug.

[GaCop]

I also have the same question. With a very heavy profile barrel, should you bed any under the barrel in front of the recoil lug? Seems like all that weight hanging off the receiver could negatively affect things. However, maybe the receiver is plenty stiff and strong enough... I don't need to bed my rifle but I want to. It's the same reason I'll pay more to put it together myself. I enjoy the process.

So, I know every rifle is different, but generally speaking, what's the best option? Completely free float a very heavy barrel or bed it under the chamber or even further?

Thanks!!! Personally, I would leave the barrel floated all the way back to the recoil lug. The heavy barrel doesn't need any support under the chamber.