Tang- To bed or not??

I routinely see where it is advised not to bed the tang. My question is- Is this something you have seen a differance in? Meaning you bedded the tang and it shot horrible and then took out the bedding in the tang area and groups shrunk?

Or is it just what you do because that is what someone said to do??

I only ask because I went from conventional thinking. I have a savage single shot long action with a 32" barrel in 260 remington in a choate tactical stock. It was assembled and did some load work up with 123gr sierra's. The stock has an aluminum bedding block in it and the tang was completely floated. The best i could get out of it was right around 1 3/4" at 230 yards for 5 shots. I disasembled it and noticed the contact points on the bedding block were uneven. Not consistant on the stock. (action is painted and can see the marks) So i bought some Devcon and bedded the action. I completely bedded the action along with the tang area. I got a chance to take it out today and test the same load that shot the best but shot 1 3/4" at 230 yards. I was only able to shoot at 180 yards today but the results from today don't indicate the load got worse but got better.

This is a pic of the target shot today with the tang bedded. It is 7 shots at 180yards.
[img width=600 height=336]http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad32/260shooter/tangtarget.jpg[/img]

I guess now i will have a control target to compare if things start to go haywire and i can remove the bedding in the tang area. What say you?

I say you should do it! Mostly because then I can see what is does to your gun and I don't have to attempt it unless it works! Goodluck

Guess i should say that the group fired today measured slightly under 3/4". My shooting technique needs to improve. I haven't shot as much as i use to. I know if i have been shooting like i used to that group would have easily been under 1/2"

The tang doesnt do anything except hold the trigger and safety mechanism. All of the action support is from the front of the trigger to the recoil lug, so that is where it should be bedded.

It has been said numerous times that if the tang is bedded properly when the rest of the action is bedded that it will not hurt anything, but it wont really help either due to the tang does not support the action . BUT, if you do not bed the tang correctly and the rest of action isnt making solid 100% contact with the stock, then the action will bind somewhat when you tighten the action screws.

Alot of gunsmiths think it should be bedded because that is what they do to a Remington ::). BUt in reality the reason you bed the rear on a Remington is because that is where the rear action screw goes, so it DOES support the rear of the action.

This is why the general consensus among Savage enthusiasts is that the tang is best left free-floated.

Since you bedded the entire action at the same time I am sure that is where your improvement came from. As long as it is done correctly it shouldnt have any bind, and if you are happy with it then leave it. If not then remove it in the tang area. I cant see it making it worse, so you really dont have anything to lose by doing it.

Thanks pdog.

That is what i was thinking. I just wanted to see if i was missing anything.

+1 pdog06

I have a pair of single shots and they both group the same as yours w/o any bedding done. Each stock is designed for for a single shot receiver offering plenty of horizontal support already but it would be tighter at the lug. I think this is only true of the single shots receivers and not if the stock has a gaping hole for a non existent magazine.