Bedding for a Beginner

[Tex_Hunter]

Hey All,

I have question for the do-it-yourselfers out there. I currently have a Winchester model 70 Classic featherweight in .308 that I have been shooting with for over a decade with great results. I seem to have been one of the lucky ones as with nothing other than a massaged trigger (used to be 10lbs as measured by the smith that "fixed" it for me) it has printed sub MOA groups with most premium factory ammo I have run through it, with one dime sized group with a brand it particularly liked. Anyways, over the past couple of years I have decide to stretch her legs a little bit and have been able to hit targets out to 900yds with it, and have taken some game outside 200 yds last hunting season. As I have worked further out though, the problem of consistency has reared its head, hence the title of my post. Namely the zero likes to walk around a little bit (not a problem at 100yds but it is more noticeable further out), especially as I have started trying to kill stuff further out.

I have been reading a lot recently on tips and tricks to make a model 70 more consistent recently and one of the glaring factory problems is the "hot glue" bedding and poor fit of the stock. I pulled the rifle out of the stock last week and confirmed I have the "hot glue" problem as well as a pressure point on the fore-end that has actually worn some of the blueing away and is rusting a bit. The latter problem I was aware of before puling the rifle apart because if I grabbed the fore end in my hand and torqued it side to side I could hear the wood squeaking against the barrel. Al that to say after some extensive reading I think I am going to try and bed the ole girl in some Devcon with pillars.

My one hesitation though is this. A smith quoted me 200-300 to do the work for me, and as far as I can tell the parts would be in the neighborhood of $50 for the 1lbs tub of devcon, and some universal pillars from midway. Do you mean to tell me that a gunsmith expects to charge 150-250 to clearance and bed the thing? Which brings up the question, is there some glaring detail I am missing here? There are a million videos showing you how to bed a rifle on youtube and three times as many forum posts talking about how easy it is, so how hard is it in reality? Can someone like myself who I would consider extremely competent with hand tools be able to do this without completely ruining the rifle? I struggle to see where the huge markup comes from? Which makes me really worried that there is something I am underestimating about the complexity of the job. Im thinking, chisel and rasps/ dremel to clearance the inletting and some time on a drill press to drill out the action screw holes for pillars, wooden dowel + sandpaper to float the barrel, apply epoxy, let sit, re-add pressure point if floating the featherweight barrel doesnt work. Something Im missing here? Im not too afraid because if I ruin the stock it will just give me an excuse to go a little wilder with the build, but I would be sad if I ruined it because it was my first rifle and I would like it to be as original as possible. Also I know that floating the barrel on a featherweight has been known to sacrifice some ultimate accuracy in MOA but I am mostly concerned with being able to gain more confidence in the rifle's ability to keep POI, and if floating kills the absolute accuracy I can add the pressure point back easily enough, right?

 

[kiwi3006]

It's not difficult, go for it. Here is another link on bedding a Winchester Mod 70
How-To Bed a Rifle, in a new Fiberglass Stock
Stu.

 

[Bart B]

You don't need to pillar bed your rifle. As long as the core of your synthetic stock's got material in the receiver area as hard as wood, forget the pillars.

And don't put any bedding under the barrel right in front of the receiver as that link shows. It's an age old myth that bedding has to be there to support the barrel. If that was true, then all those match rifles winning and setting records in benchrest and shoulder fired rifle competitive disciplines without that pad would not have done as well as they do. Nothing should touch the barrel except the receiver.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

Thanks Bart,

So if my rifle is wood, not synthetic, would you still say no pillars? That would make things a lot easier as there is very little clearance at the rear of the action around the trigger = lots of grinding to clearance the pillars.

Another question, how can I avoid getting epoxy in front of the lug under the barrel? Seems it would be diffcult to properly bed the recoil lug and not have some spill over. Grind it off? Or are you meaning the specific 2" pad everyone swears by in bedding guides?

Thanks again

 

[Daveinjax]

It really is easy if you take your time. Use model clay to fill anyplace you don't want bedding material to get and cover every inch of the outside of the stock. You WILL get some on your hands and you WILL touch the stock so tape it off.I use Marine Tex grey ,kiwi neutral wax , and then spray it all down with spray case lube for good measure and get great results. I have done five rifles no problems. Remember that everything you don't want to have bedding stick to must be covered in release agent , even places you don't think it will get. Oh , no dremel tool unless you are a zen master of the dremel tool. I did mar a stock with a dremel. In the blink of an eye it ran out of the channel and down through the checkering an inch. I got a cheap set of carving tools at Micheals crafts store, found the clay there also. I use dental floss to clean up the edges of the clay. Good luck!

 

[Bart B]

So if my rifle is wood, not synthetic, would you still say no pillars? That would make things a lot easier as there is very little clearance at the rear of the action around the trigger = lots of grinding to clearance the pillars.

Another question, how can I avoid getting epoxy in front of the lug under the barrel? Seems it would be diffcult to properly bed the recoil lug and not have some spill over. Grind it off? Or are you meaning the specific 2" pad everyone swears by in bedding guides?

Wood stocks without pillars in their epoxy bedding's shot test groups at 600 and 1000 yards smaller than benchrest records. Pillar bedding was the solution to the first synthetic stocks' soft cores around the receiver. Nowadays, it's no longer mandatory like it was years ago.

Yes, I mean that pad under the barrel from the receiver out for some distance. That's a sure cause of elevation shot stringing. Put a layer of masking tape in the fore end's barrel channel from where the receiver ring's at all the way forward. That'll keep epoxy from bonding to the stock in the fore end. Put masking tape on the sides and bottom of the recoil lug so there'll be clearance there making it easy to pull the barreled action out of the cured bedding and allow for a bit of compression without the recoil lug bottoming out.

 

[commodore]

Here is a great article on pillar bedding.

Stress-Free Pillar Bedding within AccurateShooter.com

 

[Bart B]

I and many of the high power rifle record holders don't pillar bed in wood or hard core synthetic stocks, but if pillars make you feel better then by all means use pillars.

 

[rscott5028]

Regarding the question of cost/markup...

Yes. You can do it yourself. And, you can make it as pretty or sloppy as you like.

If a smith does it for a fee, then he's expected to turn out a professional job whether it's a $350 clunker or a $10k gold inlayed custom.

If you have the desire and patience. Then, you should do it yourself.

If you lack patience but have the money, then pay to have it done.

If you lack patience and money, then you're in the wrong sport.

-- richard

 

[jsthntn247]

There is a sticky at the top of the reloading section on snipershide. It has 14 pages of pictures and post explaining how to do it for beginners. The first one I did is even on there.