Is bedding an aqction necessary for accuarcy?

[Colorado Redneck]

I just purchased a new Remington 700 SPS Varmint in 204 Ruger. I am an old booger and the gun is to add a bit of variety in my prairie dog arsenal. another purpose is to give me a project. The description of "rank greenhorn" is probably pretty apt for me, but a few wood projects are on my resume as a do-it-yourselfer. So, I really want to pimp this gun up. A thumb hole stock from Richards Stocks would make it look good, and maybe shoot just a little bit better.

My question is, if a gun is proberly fit to the stock, and the barrel is free floated, is bedding necessary for a gun to be a good shooter? None of the guns I have are bedded. I have a savage 12 in 22-250 with the old cheap ugly assed factory stock, that rubs on the barrel. It will shoot sub 1/2" groups at 100 yds almost every time. It has wasted many a prairie doggie, some at many yards. So in the spirit of trying to make a nice gun, bedding keeps wearing on my mind.

Opinions will be taken with an open mind. And thanks for any and all comments. :D

[James K]

The most I can say is that bedding generally helps accuracy, but there is no guarantee and I have seen cases where bedding made a rifle less accurate. There are just too many variables. IMHO, a rifle that shoots 1/2 MOA should not be messed with (but of course people do!), but a rifle that is not accurate may be helped by bedding.

The exact same statements apply to free-floating, pillar bedding or any other of the dozens of tricks and treats used to make rifles shoot more accurately.

Jim

[Unclenick]

Bedding prevents the gun changing position in the stock. If you have uneven stock contact on the barrel, floating the front when you bed the stock can also help prevent change in pressure from the forestock when the barrel heats up. But if the stock is well inletted to start with and contact is not uneven, glass bedding often produces no visible group improvement at all. If the bedding job floats the barrel when it previously had beneficial stock contact (see O'Connor bedding, below) it can, as Jim said, actually make the gun less accurate. Indeed, Harold Vaughn even went so far as to say the only bedding he's ever seen produce consistent improvement in sporter rifles is what he calls "O'Connor bedding" after Jack O'Connor. (He is not sure O'Connor had anything to do with its development, but thinks he first read of it one of O'Connor's articles, so he calls it O'Connor beddig.)

The method consists of putting wedges between the stock barrel channel and barrel at about 120° spacing (60° off bottom center in both directions) out near the tip or as close to that at the stock allows. The end of the stock is pulled down with about 10-20 lbs force and cardboard matchsticks or other wedges are packed in, then the weight released. You try grouping, reapply the weight and move the sticks fore and aft until you find a sweet spot. Later, you put paste wax on the barrel and saturate the matchsticks with epoxy (any clear slow-setting type) and add the wight and wedge the matchsticks back into the sweet spot place, and let the epoxy harden before removing the weight.

There was a commercial tuner called Accumagic that was renamed the Accurizer, then again renamed the Smart Stock (http://www.rifle-accuracy.com/smartstock.htm) you can get that works based on this upward stock pressure principle, but which uses a little Delryn or Nylon barrel cradle instead of matchsticks. The cradle position can be tuned back and forth by a screw. You chisel out a slot for it in the stock and glue the whole mechanism in place.

The one drawback this system has, you may find that the point of impact changes when you have a sling or if you are resting on bags. This is due to these methods of positioning the gun changing the front stock pressure on the barrel. But, the Match M1 Garands and M14/M1A's have been set up just the other way around for years. They have metal stock ferrules on the tips of their stock that interlock with metal on the barrel, so they are bedded with the action angled slightly up in the stock so that when the gun is assembled, the stock pulls down on the barrel via the interlock with 20 lbs or so force. This tightens groups, and I've not noticed problems with bags or slings coming from this practice. Perhaps the trick is to err towards 20 lb rather than 10? Since the system lets you try the wedges before you glue them in, you should be able to determine that for the rifle before committing yourself to it.

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/2384/connerbedding.gif

[James K]

Many target rifles use "two point" systems similar to that. At one time there was an electric system that claimed magic accuracy improvements. IIRC, it used steel screws and copper contacts. You installed the two screws, then connected the leads of the company's magic meter to one screw and the barrel then tightened the screw down to the minimum reading, then did the same with the other screw. When the reading was equal on both screws, the rifle would shoot a tight group.

Or that is what the patent holder claimed. (The magic meter was an ohmeter at about three times the cost of one at an electrical store.) But the gunzines fell for it, as usual, and I guess the units sold OK. I haven't heard of them for years.

Jim

[Colorado Redneck]

I value both your opinions a great deal. this clarifies the future, in that, a new stock can be worked up and if the gun shoots, leave things alone. if the accuracy isn't good, then try some of the things you mentined in your posts.

It is likely that a bedding job could side track the project and make it less fun.

thanks again.