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We, who tune our handloads to accomplish tight groups by varying seating depth, bullet selection, and powders/charge weights, etc., sometimes forget that it's often more difficult for factory ammo users to achieve better groups with their rifles.
Pressure points in the forend can be installed, providing 4 lbs. or more, of uplift, by means of bedding compound, moulded about an inch long near the forend tip. After setup, grind or file the pad into into two 3/16" wide sections (4 and 8 on the clockface). The trick is to provide uniform and sufficient upward pressure as to NOT allow the barrel to bounce off the pads.
A shooter once told me that the older Ruger 77s respond well to pressure-pad bedding, due to the action's flexibility. Some folks try folded paper, thin cardboard and other materials to make a pressure pad, but I've never had good results because it's impossible to achieve consistency.
As others have mentioned, group size can improved by this method, but point of impact of the group may vary, depending on sling pressure, position of the forend on a rest, or different rest densities/angles. If that's the only way to achieve improved accuracy, the stock's forend must be relatively stiff. Injection molded or thin wood forends are not usually good candidates for pressure pads.
Regardless of forend stiffness, consistent forend holds/rests are important. One means to improve more consistent POI is to sight in a rifle to be used in the field with the forward hand grasping the forend in the normal field hold, but resting on a relatively soft surface for stability. Always check the sighting-in by shooting it using typical field rest positions. (Using a sling for tension when a rifle has a pressure pad or non-free floated factory bedding is not recommended.)
(As always...your results may vary with pressure, materials, or location of bedding pads. NOTE: The only rifle I own with a pressure pad is a Ruger 10-22, which screams for one, since there's only one bedding screw, so free-floating is not an option, IMHO.)
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