To Float or Not to Float…..

[Tom Sermersheim]

I have 4 of the Barrett Fieldcraft rifles (.308 Win, 6mm &6.5 creed and 6.5x55) and all are full length bedded and are excellent shooters. Mostly cloverleaf groups and all under MOA. Great performance for the light barrels that they are. I had a gunsmith suggesting I should have him free float them. They work as is so I will leave them as is.

 

[Muzzlestuffer2012]

I float and shoot it if it doesn't shoot I use 10 or 20 mil tape and put some at the end of the stock and try it again. You can also use some along the length of the barrel channel and keep moving it until you settle the harmonics then you can bed that spot.

 

[BillLarson]

I have done it both ways..... was having trouble getting what I wanted out of a lite barreled 300wm..... got it down to a .75moa gun....with handloads.... but wanted more..... tried an "O" ring out on end of forearm to test it..... it helped..... so....put a 2" pad of silicone out on the end of forearm.... took gun to 3/8moa...

 

[Flatbow]

I have never heard of pressure pads in the barrel Chanel therefore never really Payed attention to that other than freefloated or not.
I will have to check and see what my SAKO 7mm RUM is. I think freefloated. Regardless it does shoot sub moa if I do my part.

Always learn something on this sight!

 

[Rosebud]

Actually had it happen! Got seeds from weeds of some sort in the channel between the stock and barrel. Only way I knew that was the case was showing someone about a floated barrel and my two dollar bills folded up jammed up half way down the length.
Never saw any negative effects from that, but I cleaned it out anyway.
A friend of mine inherited a St Herbert's rifle, mauser action built in England. It was full length bedded, and was cracked and missing some of the old bedding stuff that had broken and fallen out????, don't know how! Anyway, I tried to float it and used metal shims to lift the action slightly. It shot poorly. Remove the shims, clamp back onto the very old bedding and it shot great. Could it have just been my on the cheap lift job. Yes! But he wasn't going to spend much money on it so it is what it is.
PS. Your making my brain work to early this morning Todd. My coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

 

[Philward]

Yes on the first rifle i bedded. Rem700 mtn dbm. Bought it used and previous owner had removed the pressure pad and hogged out the barrel channel and epoxied in a bare welding rod or something. Rifle initially shot ok but after a year or 2 was struggling to get good accuracy and when out hunting a few times in wet weather I noticed the gap between barrel and stock was different side to side. Back home after a day in the house it would be even. Hogged out some material, got Brownells Acraglas kit and poured everything full and pressed the rifle into it, full contact in barrel channel except for the black forend tip. Shoots good now. Also did a Ruger M77 257Bob with no change in shooting so that was a waste.

 

[FamilyH]

that is the question!

* Your mission, should you choose to accept it……answer the questions!

It seems that I've never seen a post whereas "full-length" bedding is recommended!

My hunting rifle has "full-length" bedding, which was offered as an option when I had it built. I think that it shoots pretty good…..considering the " loose nut" behind the trigger.

* Am I the only one that shoots a rifle with "full-length" bedding…..it seems that way.

* Have any of you experimented with full- length bedding? If so, your results.

* If you have not tried it….Why? Are you simply following the path of everyone else, or is a "free floated" barrel always the best path to take?

Thanks for any and all responses! memtb

I have been full length beading rifles for thirty years and I have found that the magnums for hunting shot tighter groups, most magnums have a pressure point in the barrel grove to help control barrel harmonics and it does not always work that well.

 

[Rosebud]

I refinish old guns for friends at no cost, except for materials. I was working the stock on a old Remington bolt gun predating the 700. Don't remember the number. It had a glob of glue looking stuff at the end of the stock that would have pressed against the barrel, With a shiny spot on the barrel to go with it.. I removed it!
Fully refinished, reassembled. It shot like crap. Then the light went on, I'm slow at times. I put a dab of gorilla glue back in that spot. Back to the way it shot before. Like I said, slow learner!
I take the old guns and plum brown them, prefer to do shotguns, but I'll do a rifle, it's just a real pain.

 

[HRM Johnny]

This has been a very interesting read so far. Thank you for starting it, Todd.

 

[NotLongRange]

I've seen rifles shoot well with all of the different bedding techniques. The Weatherby Mk V Ultralight shoots well with a pressure point near the end of the forend. I have many that were free-floated from the factory and shot well and others that had to be free-floated and shot well. I'm going to acquire a NULA Model 20 this year, so I hope it shoots well fully bedded, but it's easy enough to change that if necessary.

Rifle barrels, recoil, and accuracy are a complex vibration problem. What works for one may not work well for another.

 

[comen]

that is the question!

* Your mission, should you choose to accept it……answer the questions!

It seems that I've never seen a post whereas "full-length" bedding is recommended!

My hunting rifle has "full-length" bedding, which was offered as an option when I had it built. I think that it shoots pretty good…..considering the " loose nut" behind the trigger.

* Am I the only one that shoots a rifle with "full-length" bedding…..it seems that way.

* Have any of you experimented with full- length bedding? If so, your results.

* If you have not tried it….Why? Are you simply following the path of everyone else, or is a "free floated" barrel always the best path to take?

Thanks for any and all responses! memtb

I have a couple of full length bedded barrels. My .358 Norma magnum has a pencil thin 26" barrel that I had full bedded. The rifle weighs exactly 7lbs empty. It has several groups under 2" at 200 Meters. I have a large caliber target gun with a 27" straight 1.2" bull barrel. The barrel alone weighs 8lb 9oz. That one is full bedded to avoid hanging all that weight off the action. It shoots 220 gr bullets at 3000 fps at 1/2 MOA out to 1000 YARDS on a calm day. On a windy day when I'm holding 2 or more minutes off to hit the target I'm lucky to make 2-3 MOA at 1000.

 

[Old Hickory 45]

The fieldcraft came full length bedded from the factory. Forbes did that to his rifles to.

Idk anyone that does anymore. I wonder if the super thin pencil barrels do benefit from jt.

My pencil barrel Savage BMAG .17 WSM required me to bed the plastic barrel channel and strengthened the forearm. It shoots great. I saw no more bedding was needed.
My Savage A17 Sporter .17 WSM shoots great so it is obvious it needs no bedding. The barrel is factory free floated.
My Savage model 93 .17 HMR required a complete overhaul and custom stock.

 

[memtb]

If you're rifle is that frozen you have some other problem to worry about other than harmonics.

It's not unusual to hunt in low teens to single digits when hunting here! memtb

 

[memtb]

Yes on the first rifle i bedded. Rem700 mtn dbm. Bought it used and previous owner had removed the pressure pad and hogged out the barrel channel and epoxied in a bare welding rod or something. Rifle initially shot ok but after a year or 2 was struggling to get good accuracy and when out hunting a few times in wet weather I noticed the gap between barrel and stock was different side to side. Back home after a day in the house it would be even. Hogged out some material, got Brownells Acraglas kit and poured everything full and pressed the rifle into it, full contact in barrel channel except for the black forend tip. Shoots good now. Also did a Ruger M77 257Bob with no change in shooting so that was a waste.

I had similar with a Winchester Model 88…..I've never seen a stock warp so badly from Summer to Winter. Seriously "Hogged-out" the barrel channel, then put a pressure point at the end of the forend. Shot OK……but was consistent throughout the seasons! memtb