Full length barrel bedding

[25WSM]

Or just ask the people that shoot the most accurate rifles in the world. Then you won't waste time and money to find out that floated barrels shoot best. Now on the other hand if you have a very skinny barrel maybe it will shoot better with a pressure point in the fore end or some full length bedding. I have a 280ai with a 22 inch 1 contour barrel that weights 6 1/4 pounds with scope. I put a pressure point 1 inch from tip of fore end and it shoots 1/2 moa. I never shot it floated so can't say which way is better on this one. It is going in a different stock and it will be floated first in the new McMillan it's going in. I will know then if it needs that pressure point to shoot good. Man does this thing kick though. I hate it.
Shep

 

[Philward]

I've done 2 full length beddings, first was a Remington 700 MTN rifle 270 win after having some accuracy issues. Someone previously had carved on the stock and free floated the barrel so I bedded the whole action and barrel, taking a page from Malcolm, and it shoot good after that and still does. Did same with a Ruger 77 257 Roberts to no real benefit. That rifle would only shoot 1 bullet and load it seemed, 115 ballistic tip with 46g h4831 at 0.015 from the lands. Anything else wouldn't group very good. Didn't change after bedding the barrel and action, ended up trading it off for another 700 MTN rifle in 7mm-08 that shoots fine with factory bedding. depends on the rifle I guess but lightweight barrels may be best candidates for this treatment. I wouldn't think a short heavy barrel would need full bedding.

 

[Mike Matteson]

Full floating the barrel: I generally build my own stock being left handed. It's been my understanding hunting in foul weather and wood stocks can cause problems by the stock can swell up some causing the barrel to change unless the stock is sealed entirely. Full floating helps to keep that from happening. I know that some rifle do like some forearm pressure. All the rifles I have worked on I have found full floating helps and closed in the groups. Bedding the action is the part of it also. I have seen rifles come out of the box and some hand loads shot under 3/4" groups at a 100 yards.
SSS
Mike

 

[bigngreen]

I disagree. I post a lot of threads that take lots of time and money. Many of us do. I see your point in competition shooting, but here on the forum, we aren't competing with each other. Testing can be very easy. Shoot a stock rifle and record groups (3x5). Bed with urethane or flavor of the month and shoot again. Sure, we can argue breaking it in first. I'm not looking for an exact number for the increase or decrease, just a trend to see if more testing is warranted.

That proves my point, you think you've done something, wait till you actually do something and you'll have a different outlook!!

 

[ofbandg]

At one time floating the barrel was not recommended on hunting rifles. This is going back many years when everything was wood and a gun had to look pretty as well as shoot. Upward pressure at the for end was the norm. When glass bedding became popular it usually went from the tang to the tip of the stock and it worked until the wood moved with a change in humidity. Many of those beautiful stocks were a terror to bed because you wanted a fine line along the barrel channel but all that swirl in the grain made them move in different directions. I got my first fibreglass stock blank in the late 70's and it was paper thin and so rough I would have sent it back except there was only two companies producing them at the time and both were the same. It needed lots of reinforcing and that meant added weight but it also created a lot of stability. Full length bedding worked on them but, when hunting, water could get between the barrel and channel and rust the underside of the barrel or around the lug. I went to free floating just to make it easier to maintain the rifle and found it shoots as good or better anyway. Bench rest shooters were doing it at the time even with actions glued right into the stocks and their groups were shrinking so it obviously was the way to go. I think full-length bedding can work but is all about the stability of the stock.

 

[Mram10us]

That proves my point, you think you've done something, wait till you actually do something and you'll have a different outlook!!

Not sure why you get so emotional and angry when someone disagrees with you. Why don't you do some testing and contribute before you bash me for adding testing for others to see.

 

[Dean2]

I do not post this very often because it is generally VERY unpopular and often ridiculed. On many hunting weight rifles, full length barrel bedding works just great. All of my Mannlicher full stocks are bedded all the way and they shoot significantly better after bedding than before, I have also had very good results bedding light weight and sporter contour barrels on my hunting rifles. I also own NULAs and can attest to the fact their full length bedded rifles shoot lights out. The single biggest improvement I have noticed is that the cold bore first shot, previously slightly fouled barrel, goes the same place as the next two. I also find they shoot different bullet weights far closer to the same POI and are not near as picky on bullet and velocity, in other words shoot a much wider variety of loads really well. I don't care if a hunting rifle starts to wander after 5 or ten shots, in my whole life I have never used more than two at distance on any game animals.

Try some three shoot groups with two or three different weights of bullets and pay attention to your cold bore first shots. Bed the barrel then shoot it again. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Look forward to hearing your results.

Here is a 308 NULA, thin 21" Douglas fully bedded barrel, gun weighs 6 lbs 3 ounces including 3,5x18x44 scope, sling and 4 rounds in mag. This target was shot with 4 different loads, 2 different powders Varget and 4895 and two different bullets, 130 TSX and 150 Hornady. All shots fired fairly close together. all were shot as three shot groups. The last 3 furthest left and higher were shoot as the 10-12 rounds of pretty much continuous fire and you can start to see the group open up due to heat. Once the barrel cooled that load dropped down to 1/2" as well. Target squares are 1/2" per side, not the standard 1".

 

[SilverbulletMAG]

Well said Dean2. Not sure why people get so bent out of shape over certain topics.

 

[bigngreen]

Not sure why you get so emotional and angry when someone disagrees with you. Why don't you do some testing and contribute before you bash me for adding testing for others to see.

Not in the least bit emotional nor do I care about agreement actually the opposite, if we all agreed there would be no means to learn but you don't learn by just randomly doing stuff and thinking you've contributed something great, the only reason I'm still goading you is I think you could actually do something good if you could check your ego and learn, I've seen several guys who are so far ahead of the curve you're not even imagining it try to help you and write you of because of your attitude toward guys who actually know what their talking about.

 

[Mram10us]

I do not post this very often because it is generally VERY unpopular and often ridiculed. On many hunting weight rifles, full length barrel bedding works just great. All of my Mannlicher full stocks are bedded all the way and they shoot significantly better after bedding than before, I have also had very good results bedding light weight and sporter contour barrels on my hunting rifles. I also own NULAs and can attest to the fact their full length bedded rifles shoot lights out. The single biggest improvement I have noticed is that the cold bore first shot, previously slightly fouled barrel, goes the same place as the next two. I also find they shoot different bullet weights far closer to the same POI and are not near as picky on bullet and velocity, in other words shoot a much wider variety of loads really well. I don't care if a hunting rifle starts to wander after 5 or ten shots, in my whole life I have never used more than two at distance on any game animals.

Try some three shoot groups with two or three different weights of bullets and pay attention to your cold bore first shots. Bed the barrel then shoot it again. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Look forward to hearing your results.

Here is a 308 NULA, thin 21" Douglas fully bedded barrel, gun weighs 6 lbs 3 ounces including 3,5x18x44 scope, sling and 4 rounds in mag. This target was shot with 4 different loads, 2 different powders Varget and 4895 and two different bullets, 130 TSX and 150 Hornady. All shots fired fairly close together. all were shot as three shot groups. The last 3 furthest left and higher were shoot as the 10-12 rounds of pretty much continuous fire and you can start to see the group open up due to heat. Once the barrel cooled that load dropped down to 1/2" as well. Target squares are 1/2" per side, not the standard 1".

Great to see! Thanks for taking the time. I haven't tested the full length touching the barrel so I'm ignorant to the differences. Why are you shooting in 20mph winds!?

 

[Dean2]

Great to see! Thanks for taking the time. I haven't tested the full length touching the barrel so I'm ignorant to the differences. Why are you shooting in 20mph winds!?

Cause that is actually a pretty calm day in that part of the country. Ifn you can't shoot in wind there, you would never get to do any hunting.

 

[358 Guy]

There are a few instances that full length bedding may be necessary, but rarely. When weight is placed on the forend while shooting (By pods or just resting the forearm on something) It can/will cause a shift in POI and also be inconsistent.

On light weight barrels contours I prefer to fully float the barrel. On heavy contours, I like to bed the first 1/2 to 1 inch of the barrel shank as long as it is not tapered.

If what you have been doing has been working, stay with that process.

J E CUSTOM

I have an early Model 7 Remington in 223 that just gave me fits as to accuracy. I started by pillar bedding the action and free-floating the barrel along with cutting an 11 deg. crown. The results were pretty grim. ( could barely keep 3 shots in 3" ) Years ago we used to bed almost all rifles full length. This worked okay if you had a good piece of straight grained wood. Out of pure desperation, I full length bedded the little Model 7's stock, and the results were nothing short of amazing. This little gun now groups in the .7 to 1.0 range for 5 shots. Some guns break all the rules.

 

[Mram10us]

Not in the least bit emotional nor do I care about agreement actually the opposite, if we all agreed there would be no means to learn but you don't learn by just randomly doing stuff and thinking you've contributed something great, the only reason I'm still goading you is I think you could actually do something good if you could check your ego and learn, I've seen several guys who are so far ahead of the curve you're not even imagining it try to help you and write you of because of your attitude toward guys who actually know what their talking about.

This thread isn't the place for our disagreements. If I had such an ego, why would I post full range targets rather than pick and choose the best ones? Why would I post my failed projects and admit ignorance to certain topics rather than act like a know it all?

 

[freddiej]

I had always floated the barrel or if anything only maybe the barrel only right before the taper starts.

Have 223 tactical 16 1\2" starting to put together.

Anyone ever bedded action and full length of the heavy barrel?

What was your results?

The kind of bedding you are referring to is the "bench rester's bedding" I saw it on just about every weighted, heavy barreled, single shot, bolt or lever single shot on the benchrest line. if the trigger every went sideways or the barrel shot out, you literally had to cut the stock off the action. this was no good in my book. the way you have described you have your guns bedded is very good. no better way unless you have an unruly barrel and it needs to be "tamed" with pressure bedding.
the only other reason you would bed the entire barrel is if you have a thin fore-end with a Schnabel end cap. this is the rarest of cases. do not get me wrong, for a gorgeous piece of wood and a traditional European hunting rifle the Schnabel stock is one of the prettiest things on earth. up until 4 months ago I owned a 1930's traditional German hunting rifle in 30-06 imported in early 1931. I should have never sold that rifle.