James, for any information about this gun, you could talk to me.i designed and had everything built myself.the bedding block is the cornerstone of the whole thing.it's glued on the barrel,incorporates the recoil lug,scope base, and bracket to hold the trigger. i didn't use a regular lug that would be like one used on the xp-100's.i'm sure it would work,i'm told they can handle heavy recoiling calibers.something just bothered me about a recoil lug with basically 2 contact points,so i put a 1" square block on the bottom towards the front of the block.this is also a stronger area of the stock as i have an extra groove going under the action and barrel for the trigger linkage.i was concerned with the cross-sectional strength of the stock in this area.another plus is i have a single shot with bottom metal so there is more wood in that area.this gun could be made quite a bit lighter and a little more slender.i made everything on the heavy/large side as i was trying to get as much accuracy as i could.the barrel is 1.36 for 3" in front of the receiver, 1.20" for the length inside the block and tapers to .825 at the muzzle.the barrel O.D. dictates the block size and the block determines the stock width.there's only 18" of barrel hanging in front of the block that's unsupported,that's including the brake.i looked at this as another plus for accuracy since i don't have to hang a big barrel off the receiver. obviously a much lighter contour could be used but as i said,i made everything on the heavy side.i also know a 15 pounder has a better chance of being a good shooter than an 11! maybe when i get back from hunting elk this fall,please let me draw,please let me draw, i'll be building the light version!
