Fuj' MTD Chassis Bedding? Y or N

[LDSILLS]

Fuj, and others I know you have experience with MTD Chassis. Do I need to bed the actions with them? I ask as aluminum chassis are virgin territory for me.

Larry

[J.Baker]

My general rule of thumb for glass bedding is try it without first. Most don't need it, but now and again you'll come across an odd duck that needs a little help. Really depends more on the specific action you're using and how true it is than anything else. With a chassis, some will also just glass bed the recoil lug pocket to take up any excess fore/aft slop.

[Fuj']

I do not bed anything on a chassis stock. However, I use PTA actions. First thing I do is bolt in an aluminum
center block in the mag well then transfer the actions center screw to that. After that is done, I have a piece
of tubing that is just slightly smaller then the action. I wrap this with crocus cloth and rub in the action's contact
points. I'm not looking to remove material, just knock of any potential burr's. Basically just scuffing the anodizing.
I do like to make sure the tang has clearance. A piece of paper should slide underneath it.

[LDSILLS]

Thanks to all for the info. Fuj' and I should of mentioned. The action is a factory Savage Action. However your advise for cleaning up burs is well heard by these ears. If I detect any issues down the road. Ill do that as the first action.

Jim I am completely different I have always bedded wooden stocks front he get go. But your advise is sound! Primary reason is; in my feeble mind, glass bedding stabilizes the wood where needed even on laminate stocks. As for bedding the barrel for hunting rifles with lightweight barrels I will usually bed the barrel at the tip of the fore-end. Primary reason for that is I tend to treat my hunting guns in the field rough...after all I see them as a tool and I merely want the bullet to hit a 8 inch pie plate at 300 yards. At least for yotes.

Larry

[charlie b]

I've never felt the need to have the stock touch the barrel anywhere. Especially on wood stocks.

[J.Baker]

If you look at most older guns (and some fancier newer guns) that came from the factory with wood stocks you'd find that most all of them had a pressure point in the barrel channel right at the end of the forearm. That pressure point was there to dampen the harmonics and effectively shorten the harmonic wave length thus reducing it's potential negative effects on accuracy. It's basically the same principle at play today with products like the LimbSaver SLV Barrel Deresonator which is nothing more than a rubber bushing you slide onto your barrel to dampen the harmonics. Move it further up or down the barrel to "tune" said harmonics until you get the best accuracy with a given load. Same as moving your finger up or down the fretboard on a guitar changes the pitch.

I've always wanted to do a test of the pressure point in the forearm of a stock with a skinny pencil barrel. Rather than having the pressure point just be a bump in the barrel channel though, I wanted to make it adjustable with a threaded rod and rubber bumper that contacts the underside of the barrel. That would allow one to test everything from free floated to very significant pressure on the barrel incrementally to see if there was one (or more) sweet spots. Sounds like a fun experiment in theory, but it's not something I'd be willing to take the time do to simply because any results would fall on def ears since we all know the common accepted "best practice" is to free-float the barrel.