Bedding in front of recoil lug

[BRIT]

Hi Gents
When Bedding a Rem 700 or Rifle of similar footprint should the first portion of the barrel shank be Bedded in front of the recoil lug as part of the job?
I have seen photos of bedding where the barrel has been Bedded for the first inch or two and others where the barrel is left fully floating.
What are the factors involved in deciding to do this and what are the pros and cons please?

Many Thanks

BRIT

 

[Limbic]

I have always just bedded up to and around the recoil lug. That being said I disassembled two exceptionally accurate rifles I bought from others. Full custom jobs from two different smiths. Both have been bedded for about two inches infront the lug. Next gun I bed I'll try it.

 

[BRIT]

Limbic
Not much response to my thread. Thank you for your help though. Much appreciated.

BRIT.

 

[Limbic]

No problem. Both of my guns have heavy barrels. 7-8 lbs worth of barrel. I don't know if the gunsmiths always bed infront or of they did that because of the barrel weight.

 

[specweldtom]

Brit, I bed in front of the recoil lug about 1 - 1.5"as long as the straight shank of the barrel extends that far. On barrels that have shorter shanks, I never bed past the straight portion. Sometimes that may be 1/2" (or less), but I still do it. In the past, I have ground down the bedding that was in front of the recoil lug on a rifle that was not shooting well, but I never saw that improve accuracy. I have seen great shooting rifles bedded both ways. My theory is bed it while you're doing the bedding job, and if it doesn't shoot, you could start removing narrow bands of it from the front, and see if the rifle responds. Haven't actually ever done that myself, just a theory.

On 6mm BR, on the gunsmithing board, there is a post called "Torque values on Rem 700 short action" that describes indicating the barrel while tightening or loosening the action screws, looking for a stress-free bedding job. A couple of references are made to a stress-free bedding video by Gordy Gritters. I haven't seen it, but it could be worth checking out.

I'm sorry to admit that my limited knowledge of bedding has convinced me that the process is more art than science. I have observed though, that a good bedding job never made a rifle shoot worse.

Good luck, Tom

 

[bigngreen]

I used to bed everything for two inches forward of the recoil lug but after reading an article some where and I don't clearly recall who so I won't guess, I tried just bedding the recoil lug and then removing any material forward of it after the material dries.
The basic premise of the article was your action and barrel fit should be perfect and true and you are wanting to free float the barrel so why would you then add possible two inch pressure point right at the chamber. I have been very happy with a totally true free floated barrel and it is just that much less to bed so I have stopped bedding the barrel at all.

 

[J E Custom]

Hi Gents
When Bedding a Rem 700 or Rifle of similar footprint should the first portion of the barrel shank be Bedded in front of the recoil lug as part of the job?
I have seen photos of bedding where the barrel has been Bedded for the first inch or two and others where the barrel is left fully floating.
What are the factors involved in deciding to do this and what are the pros and cons please?

Many Thanks

BRIT

Bedding a rifle is not a cookie cutter process in my opinion. I look at the requirements/uses
of the rifle, the Type of action, barrel contour (Straight taper or contoured) and the weight
and length of the barrel to make the decision on the type of bedding.

If it is a heavy,long barrel I bed up to 1 " if it the shank is straight in front of the reciever.

If it is a short, light barrel then I only bed about 1/2" in front of the reciever.And as others
have said if it doesn't shoot well I can remove it back to the reciever without changing the
original bedding.

On some rifles that are bench/target type rifles that shoot rapid fire strings that heat up the
barrels I will try to full float the barrel for better cooling.

As far as bedding the recoil lug I like to lock it in with full bedding except for the bottom of the
lug, I clearance it .020 for heat growth.

The recoil lug is the anchor for the action and the action screws only hold it down so any
growth will be back and the screws will allow this without binding the action.

There are many different ways to bed a rifle and others have good luck with bedding
differently but this is what has worked best for me.

PS; On actions that the front action screw goes into the recoil lug (Weatherbys,Winchesters,
Mauser's etc) I 100% bed the recoil lug and float the action screws(I don't want them to
touch the pillars on the sides.

Just the way I do it.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Clark]

On Mausers, I bed the first inch of barrel in front of the receiver.

I pillar bed the rear, but seldom bother with the wide short pillar in the front.

Have you noticed how little good bedding improves accuracy, but how much bad bedding can hurt accuracy?

If the point of impact changes with changes in action screw torque, chisel the glass out of there and start over. This can be checked with a bore sighter.

 

[J E Custom]

Have you noticed how little good bedding improves accuracy, but how much bad bedding can hurt accuracy?



Actually I have never seen a bedding job that hurt the accuracy only change the harmonics
and change the POI.

However good bedding is allways an improvement to accuracy If done right and improves
consistency and makes it easier to load for.

A poor bedding job is normally just that "A poor bedding job".

J E CUSTOM

 

[Grizz25]

I know this is a old thread but I came across it. So for the heck of it I will give my thoughts and experience. I have 5 rifles 2 are custom rigs and 3 are factory rifles with upgrades. The 2 custom rigs came with only the action bedded up to recoil lug so just the recoil face back through action. Best group with rifle one was 5/8 in. Best group with rifle 2 was 3/4 in. Handloading. Both rifles after research I read many times to bed entire recoil lug and 1 to 2 inches forward of it. So I purchased a bedding kit and did recoil lug and first 1 1/2 half forward of recoil lug. Rifle one with same load now shot from 5/8" to solid clover leafs 1/4 in groups. Rifle 2 shot solid 3/4 in and now shoots a solid 3/8 in groups.
Now onto the 3 factory rifles. All 3 shot around an 7/8 to 1 in groups. All 3 had after market stocks installed..So I bedded the recoil lugs and forward of recoil lug 1 1/4-1 3/4 inches. 2 of the 3 rifles now shoot same load under 1/2 moa and 3rd rifle is slightly over 1/2 moa. Improvement!!
All rifles were 100% free floated before bedding. Also in strings of shots all 5 rifles shoot same point of aim with no shift. I limit strings to 3 shots groups. I did test 2 of the guns to 8 rounds and still held point of impact. 3 rifles have sporter weight barrels and 2 have heavy sporter barrels. In 4 rifles I seen great improvemt, 1 rifle slight improvement. So I believe in doig it as I have personally never seen it effect a rifle in a bad way. If it does, You can just remove it. Hope this helps a couple years after your question lol. Take care

 

[Pdvdh]

I bedded a Tikka T3 Lite in a Manners composite stock about 3 years ago using Devcon Steel Putty and an aftermarket steel recoil lug. First fired the rifle with an inch or so of bedding under the barrel's shank just forward of the receiver. Wasn't happy with accuracy. Then removed the bedding material under the barrel with a Dremel burr and accuracy improved notably. After that experience, I only leave bedding material in contact with the action, and leave the barrel free of contact with the bedding material.

 

[Clark]

Since this thread started I have bedded many dozens of rifles for myself.
I no longer have any epoxy touching the barrel anywhere.

 

[coyotezapper]

I built my 243W years ago on a M98 action with a Shilen #7 HV contour bbl. The action is bedded in a Boyd's laminated stock and the bbl is 100% floated. This rifle has always shot well but was always kind of tweaky when it came to load development. It shoots everything sub moa but was always a little finicky wringing out that last little bit of accuracy down below half moa. One day I was looking at it sitting in the rifle cradle and I said to myself " that is a lot of bbl to be HANGING off the end of that small receiver." I pulled out the Devcon 10110 and bedded what was left of the barrel shank - approximately 4." Problem fixed. It just sucks it took 15 years to figure it out.

 

[newmexkid]

My first semi-custom build was in 1972. A REM 700 with a 26" Douglas barrel. The smith bedded the rifle from the tang to the end of the stock. It was a bear to break it apart for cleaning. But, it shot lights out for many years. Won me several impromptu matches at our local range. I've often thought of the rifle as I now only bed the recoil lug but, that works also.