Bedding stock

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F23Blackwidow2

New member
I'm looking for a new wooden stock on Boyd's. they look nice, and they're cheap, but not bedded. So my question is;

What is bedding
What does it do
How much would it cost to have it installed.

Thanks
 
Bedding has two meanings...

bedding normally refers to removing wood to seat the action with minimum clearance around the barrel and action.

Second, "glass bedding" reference to additional clearance with a "epoxy" based compound to take up that extra clearance allowing the action and some of the barrel to be fully bedded and resist flexing.

Are you handy with your hands, it maybe a nice WINTER project to do.

Some people feel intimidated and let a good gunsmith deal with it, the cast is variable on complexity of the action.

Hope this helps.
 
Bedding simply means "fitting the stock to the action". Most stocks today are made on CNC machines and are a pretty good fit straight out of the box. Most likely a new Boyds stock will simply bolt to your action and produce acceptable accuracy with no further work. In some cases the stock may be putting uneven pressure on the action or barrel and causing unacceptable accuracy. In this case some stock material may need to be removed to releive stress.

One issue with wood stocks, even laminates is that they expand and contract as environmental conditions change. This will often cause a normally good fitting stock to suddenly start putting pressure on the metal as the wood expands. This may cause the point or impact to change dramatically.

The fix is to remove enough wood for a generous gap between the barrel and stock and to fill in the recoil lug with an epoxy of some sort and place the action into the stock. As the epoxy hardens you get a perfect fit in this area and the fiberglass filled epoxy prevents the wood from expanding and placing un even pressure on the action or barrel. This may or may not impove accuacy, but it will help prevent point of impact changes.

Glass bedding is not hard to do. You can pay a gunsmith $50-$75 to do it, or do it yourself for under $6 in materials. There are several "you tube" videos explaining how to do it. The most important part is putting some sort of release agent on your metal so you can get it all apart afterward. I've had good luck simply using JB-Weld.
 
The complexity of a bedding job is directly related to the type of action/barreled action that's to be bedded, since there are all sorts of gun designs out there, with both one & two piece stocks, and varying degrees of inletting clearances required for the functioning for some action types.

Some are simple=easy=inexpensive, while others are complicated=harder=costlier.

You haven't mentioned exactly what the Boyd's stock, you're looking for, is being considered for the restocking - IOW, exactly what gun ?


.
 
Bedding is really a two- part process when done properly.

You not only should epoxy bed the receiver, you should have pillars installed as well.

I would run, not walk, from a professional gunsmith that would do this for $50-$75 for a "typical" bolt gun as it takes more time than that cost would justify to do it properly.

Doesn't mean it's rocket science, just that it takes time- and time is money for a gunsmith. Typically expect to pay $150-$250.

Nothing wrong with Boyd's- but they are intended for budget-minded shooters that aren't concerned with maximum accuracy, or those that intend to DIY the bedding process.

To buy a Boyd's, then pay a smith to bed it and install pillars would be ridiculous IMO. Just buy a HS Precision, Bell and Carlson, Choate, McMillan, or other stock with integral aluminum bedding blocks- you'll be ahead in terms of cost, and quality.

IF you're handy with a Dremel and mechanically inclined, you can buy (or make) pillars and DIY. It is important to note that if not done correctly, you can introduce stress into the receiver...

Here is a good article on the subject, there are many online:

http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/stress-free-pillar-bedding/
 
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The gun is a Howa 1500 in .30-06, and the stock is a Thumbhole Varmint, if it helps.

Thank you all for helping.

Ken
 
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Boyd's stocks evidently are well inletted and your action should fit in without much work. The cost of the stock I think is about $100. If you are careful, do a lot of reading and watch some youtube videos of glass bedding and installation of pillars, and have the tools, the only real risk is setting the action into the stock by allowing the glass to seize it. I have only installed a set of pillars, and it took some ingenuity to get things right. You can't hurry a project like this. If you get a good job on it, then it will be a special gun that is personalized by you. If you wreck the stock, well, it was a hundred peso plus your glass bedding and pillar bedding supplies. I seriously doubt you will ruin the stock. :D

I have been working on a Richards Microfit "dual grip thumb hole" stock for a CZ American. I have the action fitted, the barrel is floated, and it is shooting better all the time. I keep fiddling with the way the action fits, as it was only 96% inletted, and I am a rank beginner at this kind of stuff. I will say that shooting a rifle with a thumbhole stock is a joy.
 
When I was doing gunsmith work on a contract basis I'd get the occasional bed job. I've done a few Boyd's stocks and the un-inletted ones (or semi-inletted) work out real well.

Just based on personal experience, I would consider a pillar bedding job as the minimum. A regular "glass" (really, epoxy) bed gives you the advantage of good receiver-to-stock fit, but doesn't give you as much of an advantage when it comes to consistent clamping from the action screws.
 
Inletting is fitting the barrel and action into the stock. Bedding is getting a precise fit of the action and first inch or so of the barrel to the stock using a semi liquid material.....usually epoxy and a filler.......usually fiberglass.
 
I found that birch laminated stocks tend to spread under strain from stock screws, so use pillars and even some pieces of stove bolts embedded within the bedding, especially near screw holes.
 
I found that birch laminated stocks tend to spread under strain from rounded receivers when stock screws are tight, so I use pillars and pieces of stove bolts transversely embedded within the epoxy, near screw holes. I've also seen factory plastic stocks crack near the front screw.

Several companies use horizontal through-bolts to keep heavy-recoiling rifles from splitting or spreading stocks.
 
If folks want the accuracy achieved by folks in matches winning and record setting in both shoulder fired and free recoil disciplines, they will not have any synthetic bedding touch the barrel underneath its chamber or any place else.

Under-chamber bedding's a sure way to cause vertical shot stringing. If one doesn't see this happening, they have other accuracy issues that mask it.
 
http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Res...a+Rifle+With+MatchGrade+Bedding+Compound.html

Most unusual set of bedding instructions I've ever seen. Never heard of most of the details, especially the receiver pinching and barreled action balancing stuff. With a 28" long heavy match barrel, its balance point's a foot or more in front of the receiver. A lot of it contradicts what's been used for decades for best accuracy.

I don't think it's a good way. Others can decide for themselves.
 
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To me the Video does some things I see as unnecessary and some even technically wrong. Many people today feel a need to complicate things much more than they really have to be. I have literally bedded rifles in 30 minutes +15 cleanup that shot wonderfully. I have also put 10 to 12 hours into a bed job. I have bedded some rifles with J.B. Weld that shot great when i did it and were still shooting great until they lost accuracy dut to needing rebarreled. I still use J.B. weld on occasion, but use Acraglass most of the time. In my experience, one works about as good as the other so long as you seal the J.B. Weld.
 
I bed the sides of the receiver as well. Not much "meat" there usually, but just allowing this area to remain untouched doesn't make sense to me. He's not bedding the entire receiver, just the recoil lug area back to the mag recess- and letting the action area "float".

The point about not using the action bolts or clamps is a good one. I use surgical tubing.

I'm with you, never bedded any portion of the barrel. And I don't see what a "balance point" would have to do with affecting harmonics.
 
I've done it with and without using the action bolts. I have had better luck using them. Can be aggravating to keep glass out of threads, but.........
 
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