Bedding a HS Precision Stock?

[Macropod]

If you want an action to be stress free on a factory aluminum bedding block then you have to either be extremely patient with bearing blue to relieve high spots or do a bedding job. Some alloy bedding blocks are not all that well executed. I found improvements after bedding.

 

[mikecockcroft]

I mill out 60 thou of the block with an 1 1/4 " carbide router bit. Leave a small piece at
tang to hold rear of action at level I want. Wrap tape around barrel to hold front of action at the height I want. I too am worried that Devcon that gets too thin will chip off.

 

[HTSmith]

All I've got to work with is a Dremel

 

[Canadian bushman]

I mill out 60 thou of the block with an 1 1/4 " carbide router bit. Leave a small piece at
tang to hold rear of action at level I want. Wrap tape around barrel to hold front of action at the height I want. I too am worried that Devcon that gets too thin will chip off.

Pretty much my strategy, except with a dremel?

 

[tnhunter]

I've had extremely good luck using accu-risers. Quick and simple. http://erniethegunsmith.com/catalog/i186.html

 

[Canadian bushman]

I've had extremely good luck using accu-risers. Quick and simple. http://erniethegunsmith.com/catalog/i186.html

That looks like a huge time saver

 

[boltman223]

I mill out 60 thou of the block with an 1 1/4 " carbide router bit. Leave a small piece at
tang to hold rear of action at level I want. Wrap tape around barrel to hold front of action at the height I want. I too am worried that Devcon that gets too thin will chip off.

If it makes you feel any better, two of my stocks have some thin spots where I can see the wood and over the three years since it's been bedded it hasn't chipped.

 

[Cold Bore]

All I've got to work with is a Dremel

Get a big hammer to go with it, and you're in business! 8)

 

[tnhunter]

I've had extremely good luck using accu-risers. Quick and simple. http://erniethegunsmith.com/catalog/i186.html

That looks like a huge time saver

It really is.

 

['Freak]

I've had extremely good luck using accu-risers. Quick and simple. http://erniethegunsmith.com/catalog/i186.html

That looks like a huge time saver

It really is.

Yup.

 

[AckleymanII]

Now I'm needing to bed this composite stock with an aluminum block.

Curious... why do you need to bed it?

I have a few. Bedded one to see if it made any measurable difference. I can't tell a difference in the before and after performance.

I now simply run the others as-issued, and can shoot sub-half-MOA with the unbedded guns.

The bedding blocks are not in the same plane as the action, they are tilted up and down and left and right of the action surfaces.

I have only seen two rifles that I have bedded that had a bedding block in them not benefit by not bedding. The difference in groups with bedded stocks improve day in and day out and groups can show substantial benefit. I am a precision shooter, and I do use wind flags.

If you want to see if your stock needs bedding, stand it up on the butt. Jam a finger under the barrel up against the forearm. Now tighen and loosen the stock screws. If you feel any movement, then your stock needs bedding. Some are so bad you will think that something is warped...You can get away with .002 or less.

If you put a magnetic base on the barrel, then an indicator on the stock, now tighten and loosen the stock screws, you will know much that the action is under stress. The question now becomes how much does the action have to be stressed before you start getting flyers? Not much!

So, what should you expect after bedding? Groups in the high 2's and low 3's if you are capable. Half inch groups in non bedded is NOT the norm, take that to the bank, but I have had two that were acceptable. In the two stocks that were acceptable, I would get a cluster of three, then two shots were out of the group, and it was not wind. This was acceptable for a 225 yd p. dog rifle, but I place my shots on the dogs and do not aim center of mass, you can tell when your gun is not quite tuned the way it could be.

The whole concept of not bedding a rifle that has a bedding block in it is hog wash, you can take that to the bank, also! The improvement in accuracy for a varmint hunter really was apparent in the HS stocks that I have had in 223, 22/250, and 220 Swift. Also, be sure that the magazine box is not in a bind, it should wiggle up and down when you drop the floor plate.

I have never done anything but degrease the bedding block with brake cleaner so that the Marine Tex would stick, NEVER had any issues at all. Bedding methods vary. The idea of having a pad in front and back, then bedding is a great one. Bare minimum that I would do ever would be to bed the recoil lug if the stock passed the test of tightening and loosening the stock screws with .002 movement or less.

My goal was to be able to shoot a chuck or p.dog in the head when that was all I had at 300 yards, and preferably if only if half a head was showing.

I have known some gunsmiths to put 1" pillars in HS stocks with V blocks, they shot tiny bug hole groups afterwards when the barrels were set back with match reamers. I will never forget seeing a Bedded (1" pillars also) 7 Magnum Sendero shoot groups in the high - low 2's, 150g Noslers, that had the barrel set back with a match chamber, Williams Muzzle break, jewel trigger, and Night force BR scope, and scope bases epoxied on.

In summary, check the stock with the finger tension against the barrel while tightening and loosening the stock screws, then bed them before you ever fire a shot...start at the start!

Be sure that your magazine box floats.

 

[HTSmith]

Thanks Ackleyman II!