Bedding question

T

tennsooner

New member
I know about as much about rifles as I do about flying a jet ,and that is nothing. So with that in mind could someone explain how to bed a rifle ? it is my impression that no wood should contact the barrel past the front screw . It would seem to me that a bit of careful sanding should take care of that. So if what I am thinking is correct is the front block of the receiver what you bed in fiberglass or am I just way off here?
 
It all depends on the rifle. For a generic bolt action, the simplest way is to bed the recoil lug. There is a fair amount of prep involved which keeps the epoxy from sticking to the metal. More complicated schemes involve pillars (either steel/aluminum or bedding epoxy) down around the screws to keep the wood between the receiver and floorplate from compressing over time.

Some factory barrels will shoot better if they have a little pressure up at the forend (the M1 and M14 also fall into this category due to the amount of stuff hanging off the barrel).
 
Various ways of doing it. Some just bed the receiver or part of it,some bed the receiver and 2" of the barrel. I like to bed receiver + 2".Fiberglassing the whole receiver makes for a stiffer receiver and seals the stock from moisture. The barrel is to be free floating of course . If the bedding doesn't do the job then try a little pressure at the front of the forend. If that doesn't work get a new barrel !
 
Bedding is the easy way, Inletting is hard. Yes you'r right tennsooner, if the wood is inletted good you don't need the goop.
 


The idea of bedding is that the rifle starts out with the same forces on the receiver and barrel everytime you pull the trigger. It shoots more consistently that way.

By free-floating the barrel and making a cast of the bottom of the receiver outof epoxy right in the stock, you go a long way towards doing this.

Some competition shooters have been known to not use any release agent and "glue" the receiver to the stock.




-tINY

 
Actually, it's impossible to inlet a rifle stock to fit a rifle perfectly without using epoxy bedding compound. I even have a rifle with an aluminum bedding block that shot better after a thin layer of Acraglas was added to the aluminum.

I like the receiver and 2" of barrel, but also pillars. The only part of the recoil plate that should touch the bedding is the rear. That's why they call it a RECOIL PLATE! If bedding is tight to the bottom of the plate, the action can tend to rock on the recoil plate and the rifle won't shoot right.

We typically use a couple layers of masking tape, or modeling clay to create a space between the bottom, sides and front of the plate and the bedding. Those materials are removed after set-up and release from the stock.

Pillar bedding is a better way to bed a receiver. Some people only bed at each end of the receiver, around the pillars and behind the recoil plate. That can minimize problems from wood warpage between the screws; however, I still bed the full length of the receiver and get great results.

Picher
 
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