Worth it to Bed an Axis II Stock?

[308 Scout]

A couple of years ago I had a bunch of Cabela's points so I grabbed an Axis II in .223 mainly because I didn't have a bolt rifle in said caliber. I replaced the flimsy factory stock with a Boyd's laminated.



Since the bore had quite a few machining marks therein, I fire-lapped it with 77 gr. SMK's from a Tubb's kit. The rifle is decently accurate even turning in some sub 1" 100 yd. groups during the fire-lapping process. The rifle resides in the laundry room gun rack, loaded with handloads with 65 gr. Sierra Game Kings, where its primary job is to deal with hogs and coyotes that wander too close to the house, and season before last I whacked a large whitetail buck that was chasing a doe about 100 yds. in front of the house. I doubt I'd ever have a shot over about 250 yds (175 has been the max so far).

So my question is- Is it worth it to bed the action into the Boyd's stock? Would I see a great increase in accuracy? Any first-hand experience from you guys?

Thanks!

[charlie b]

No, bedding did not significantly improve the accuracy with mine with the .223 barrel.

Going from the factory to a Boyd's (mine is a Pro Varmint) did improve it. What the stock did for me was let me get a more consistent hold on the rifle without flexing the stock. I went from consistent 1" groups to consistent 3/4" groups. Going from 3/4 to 1/2 was all about me improving my shooting technique.

IMHO, part of this is being a .223. There just isn't much recoil to worry about. As long as you aren't trying for 1/4" groups bedding won't change what you have.

I did end up putting in pillars and bedding, but, that did not improve the accuracy with the .223. It has a .308 barrel on it now so I am glad I did the upgrade, especially when shooting heavier loads.

[Dave Hoback]

I would at least do Pillars. Not that there’s any guarantee accuracy will improve. It’s just about consistency. If it’s Pillar bedded then you know you won’t need to fight creep. Consistency leads to precision. Which leads to accuracy.