B&C Varmint Tactical bedding issues

Hi,

I bought a lightly used B&C Varmint/Tactical from someone on this forum, it appears to be as original (no mods) 4.27". I had CDI put bottom metal in it. I have been running a SSS trigger on this rifle for years, it has worked great (with the factory stock). The bottom metal and trigger needed modification to fit and work in the B&C, but that is a side issue.

It appears that the aluminum bedding block at the rear (where the rear action screw comes up) is about 0.030" to 0.050" higher than the front. I can lay a machinists straight edge on the front block, slide it to the rear and there is about 0.030+" of interference. I called B&C to see if anyone knew if this was normal and I got "we have never had that complaint". I tried to explain that the question was 'is this normal'. Then I got the 'since you bought it used there is no telling what the previous owner did to it' reply. I can tell you, it has not been messed with, it was as original. Either way, I hung up with no answer and basically a dead end. As a small manufacturer I could never get away with that kind of customer service. But moving on... can anyone tell me if this is normal or not?? Is the action different heights where the action screws come through? I can't measure mine since my straight edge is not short enough! (I'm not a machinist with access to cool measurement equipment).

If I just drop the action into the stock and tighten up the screws (after fitting the trigger and bottom metal), the barrel hits the bottom and the right side of the barrel channel. Zero clearance.

Thanks for any help or opinions.

ETA: since I'm beyond frustrated with this thing, I just installed some "bed head" risers and bedded the thing this afternoon. We shall see if it shoots when it's all done. I still can't tell if the stock is supposed to be like this or if it's 'not right'.

I think I have multiple problems here. Upon inspecting the action, there are multiple flat spots on the bottom of the action where Savage went pretty heavy with a belt sander (why Savage... WHY?), one of them is in the right spot to make the barrel point off to the right. Soooo, the action is not so good and the stock seems to have a problem. Hopefully epoxy will rescue this deformed thing.

Not sure what "bed head" risers are? But You could have gained some information buy putting plumbers putting, or play dough on the bedding surfaces and installing the barreled action. Remove it and see what the shape tells You.

Good Luck

Thanks for the suggestion. I will remember that for the future.

The "bed head" risers are basically precision washers that can lift your action up a bit so you can fix uneven contact with a 'skim bed'. Sold by Ernie The Gunsmith. I've used them on a couple of stocks that were supposed to be 'drop in' and weren't.