Rifle bedding help

cmorsch · 06-02-2013, 09:46 PM

I had a rifle bedded by a smith and they bedded the barrel channel below the barrel about 3 inches infront of the barrel nut and fully bedded the barrel 2.5 inches infront of the barrel nut. Is this normal or should I remove some of the bedding compound?

thomae · 06-02-2013, 10:17 PM

I think most people on this forum favor a free-floated barrel.

Bedding the barrel, even partially, will affect the harmonics. Not necessarily for better or worse, just different, so you will need to find a load that shoots well in your rifle, and that load will likely be different (again, because of the variation in barrel harmonics) as it would be if your barrel were free floated.

So, in a lot of words, my thought would be to go ahead with your load development, shoot it and see how it performs. If you can't stand it, you can always remove some of the bedding compound, but hey, you might have a great shooter in your hands...you just never know.

**DannoBoone** · 06-03-2013, 12:13 AM

Have not tried that on any of my Savages, but was encouraged to bed 1 1/2" ahead
of the recoil lug on a Remmy smokeless ML conversion. It gets far less than MOA,
sometimes 1/2 MOA. A lot more went into it other than just bedding but it sure
didn't hurt anything at all. I totally agree with tomae....try it, ya might be tickled
pink with it the way it is.

cmorsch · 06-03-2013, 07:32 PM

Im just a little nervous about taking a dremel tool and removing some of the bedding compound. The rifle has a 26 inch shilen varmint contour barrel on it and I wasn't sure if it needed more support cause of the weight.

thomae · 06-03-2013, 08:49 PM

Again, the only way to tell is to shoot it. Seriously...how bad can it be?

cmorsch · 06-03-2013, 08:56 PM

3.5-4 inch 5 shot groups at 300 yards with hand loaded ammo. I get 3 shots in 1 inch then 2 flyers each time opening at 3.5-4 inches wide.

The gun is a 111 in a stockade woodchuck with a shilen stainless match 30-06 barrel 1-10 twist shooting the 208 amax. Its the two flyers that are driving me insane trying to track down the cause.

thomae · 06-03-2013, 09:20 PM

Hmmmm....you checked all the obvious stuff...action screws tight, all scope and mount screws secure...

How long do you wait between shots? Perhaps your barrel is heating up after the first three shots? During load development, I usually wait 3-5 minutes between shots...makes for a long day at the range, but that way I take barrel heat out of the equation.

If you do decide to get rid of some of the bedding, try using sandpaper wrapped around an appropriately sized socket. That way it will stay round and you will have a lot more control than by using the Dremel. It will be slower, but it really should not take too long to get the barrel free floated.

By the way, I have a 26" shaw varmint contour barrel that is free floated and it shoots well. I wouldn't worry about the receiver being able to handle the weight of the barrel. It is strong enough.

cmorsch · 06-03-2013, 10:41 PM

I decided to open up the bedding with my dremel using the 512E EZ Lock Finishing Abrasive Buffs 320 Grit, it fit the barrel channel really well and it took quite a bit of sanding to get it floated. Hopefully that solved my issue with the flyers.

simplerider · 06-04-2013, 08:59 AM

I was in the same boat as you with my 3oo win mag and 208 a-max's. 110 action with a 28" Mcgowen 1/10 barrel in a Stockade PD/T stock. shot a nice 4 leaf clover group then an unexpected flier every time. First I ended up taking out all bedding forward of the recoil lug then opened up the barrel channel to get a little more air circulation going, helped a little bit, flier wasn't as bad. Next, I decided to free float the rear tang of the action (which had originaly been bedded) and relieved any areas inside the stock that contacted the trigger group. The flier was now either barely touching the rest of the group or just outside of it. Next was "tuning" the action screws (which I'm sure will start up a debate here). I backed down the screws from my normal 65 inlbs to 35 for the front and 30 on the rear. Now I get a consistent .5 inch 5 round group.

Just some other possibilites you may want to consider. Good luck!

**jsthntn247** · 06-04-2013, 01:22 PM

That is the problem with bedding the barrel channel. That's where all the heat is and once the barrel heats up it causes movement. The tang should also be floated.

**fla9-40** · 06-04-2013, 07:32 PM

This is a interesting read about bedding and a lightweight barrel can be firmed up by adding upward pressure at the front of the forearm....

http://www.larrywillis.com/tip021.html

Interesting site...

**BillPa** · 06-05-2013, 01:03 AM

Originally Posted by fla9-40

This is a interesting read about bedding and a lightweight barrel can be firmed up by adding upward pressure at the front of the forearm....

I have to rifles, both Mod 70 SAs, both with Shilen CM lightweight (.560" muzzle) 22" barrels in MPI stocks, one in 270-08 the other in 270-08 Imp. For all practical purposes they are identical but the 270-08 shoots best with the barrel floated, the Imp with a forend pressure point.

Go figure!!!!

Bill

backwoodzboy · 06-07-2013, 10:40 AM

I believe it's common practice when bedding an action to go just forward the action around the recoil lug and about 2-3 inches of barrel. Your barrel is still floated. On the flip side, some rifles don't respond to floating in a positive way, but actually a full length bedding of the barrel. It is one of those things you have to find out with trial and error. A rifles harmonics is best described like a tuning fork, you hit it the same way every time to make the same tone. You want your barreled action to react the same way every time it's fired. That's my $.02 worth, have a great day!!!