Bedding an HS Precision stock with the aluminum bedding block

[golfer2b2000]

My heavy barreled 308 is not giving me the groups that I was expecting. It is a heavy barrel on a Remington action and has been trued. I purchased an HS Precision ADL stock for it which has I believe a 2 1/2 inch benchrest forearm on it. I didnt realize that it had the aluminum bedding block in it until I just took it apart. I was planning on taking it to a gentleman who does bedding jobs until I saw this. My question is this, can I still have this stock bedded? In other words the aluminum will have to be machined out to a point so the bedding can be applied. Or should I play with the loads for a while hoping to find a load that works.
My groups are pretty constant being between .6 to .8. Again this is not a benchrest rifle so maybe I should just try tweaking the loads a bit. Seeing that after I removed the stock, and saw the aluminum block, I am being a bit reluctant to doing this.
Looking for feedback on this.
Thank you,
Gene from Pa.

 

[Just Say Moe]

Caveat - I am not a gunsmith. I "skim" bedded mine (I roughed up the aluminum a bit) and after curing, you could see where the action was only contacting the aluminum in 2 places so I have 100% contact now albeit with thin bedding. It shot sub MOA before and I might have gotten a smidge of improvement. Just sayin it didn't cut my groups in half.

 

[JB10]

I have a few with bedding blocks. I never tried a before and after to see. All of them were bedded before shooting them just im case.

 

[STOMP442]

I skim bed them and bed around the lug. I am not a huge fan of the alum bedding blocks and only having the actions touch in two places. The HS stock you are talking about is one of my favorites though. Very comfortable. The new 700 LR models on coming with them from the factory. Much better than the bell and carlson they were using.

 

[jonbearman]

I used to mill micro slots in the block so the bedding locks in. It worked real well.

 

[boltfluter]

If not keen on bedding the block, you could try lapping it with some 320 grit sand paper wrapped around a piece of metal 1.350 in diameter. Worked great for my last project. If you mark up the bedding block with a Sharpie marker before sanding, you can easily see if you have any high or low spots on the block. Good luck and keep us posted.
Paul

 

[762willdo]

Skim Bed it, you should be able to find a good video on YouTube…..

 

[Fuj]

If not keen on bedding the block, you could try lapping it with some 320 grit sand paper wrapped around a piece of metal 1.350 in diameter. Worked great for my last project. If you mark up the bedding block with a Sharpie marker before sanding, you can easily see if you have any high or low spots on the block. Good luck and keep us posted.
Paul

All my chassis rifles gets this method done to them before use.
I do not use any bedding compounds.

 

[Preacher]

Bed it, none of them are a 100% exact fit unless you do bed them..
Rough it up with some 80 grit, and clean them off with alcohol to remove any release agent, and have at it.
Just a light skim is all thats needed....

 

[K22]

I think you are wise to inspect the bedding aspect, even ones with those bedding blocks. If it you do not have a proper fit and stability, it's difficult if not impossible to shoot precisely consistently, at least in my experience.

Most of the ones (bedding blocks) I have had have shot well with no additional work needed. However, I had one, a B&C, that I suspected was causing some inconsistency in my shooting. After additional bedding improvements, the rifle shot significantly better.

I am not a gun smith or even a home gunsmith. I use my local smith to handle all my gunsmithing chores except simple trigger adjustments. He's an expert in this, I am not. His charges for this work are modest and worth it in my opinion.

However, I know several fellow shooters at the clubs that are very skilled at this, so you don't need a smith if you have those skills. I don't.

 

[Prose]

if you skim bed it you will be at the peak of accuracy potential for your rifle. .6-.8 is pretty good. A lot of barrels cannot do better than that.

 

[WayneShaw]

I bed them, many times the barrel is not centered in the forend.

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

When Bedding H-S Precision Stock's, I like to, "Rough Up" the Aluminum first, cut Pyramid shaped groove's in the Forend's "channel" and, "Bed" the First 1.5 Inches of the Barrels "Shank Portion" to SUPPORT, the Heavier sized, barrels ( Keeps Barrel "Sagging" to, a Minimum ).
Then, I Free Float, the Balance of, Barrel with, about, 2 Layers of Tape for,.. "Clearance".
THIS Method must "Work" well, as my 6 XC shoot's, One Hole Group's with, 80 gr. Berger Varmint Bullets, 107 gr. SMK's and, 108 gr. Elite Hunters and the POI "repeatability" of, "Cold Bore" shots,.. IS,.. Remarkable.
Gotta LOVE those, H-S Precision Stocks !!
I use, a Home made, wood "Toe Rudder" to RIDE, the Bags for good,.. "Tracking".

 

[andym686]

When Bedding H-S Precision Stock's, I like to, "Rough Up" the Aluminum first, cut Pyramid shaped groove's in the Forend's "channel" and, "Bed" the First 1.5 Inches of the Barrels "Shank Portion" to SUPPORT, the Heavier sized, barrels ( Keeps Barrel "Sagging" to, a Minimum ).
Then, I Free Float, the Balance of, Barrel with, about, 2 Layers of Tape for,.. "Clearance".
THIS Method must "Work" well, as my 6 XC shoot's, One Hole Group's with, 80 gr. Berger Varmint Bullets, 107 gr. SMK's and, 108 gr. Elite Hunters and the POI "repeatability" of, "Cold Bore" shots,.. IS,.. Remarkable.
Gotta LOVE those, H-S Precision Stocks !!
I use, a Home made, wood "Toe Rudder" to RIDE, the Bags for good,.. "Tracking".

I use the same technique as Idaho-Lefty. And do agree with him on the extra support for heavy barrels.
My H-S stocks bedded this way have performed well.

 

[akajun]

Has anyone ever “ scraped in “ an action to one of these bedding blocks like a bearing or machine way?
I have a few of these stocks and they shoot ok
But I blued one up and torqued it down to fit a recoil lug that didn’t fit and noticed that the reciever was barely touching but a few spots. A few minutes with a bearing scraper helped improve contact but I could prob do a lot better. Didn’t improve accuracy but these were not new actions / barrels and hunting rifles

 

[CharlieNC]

With a vblock design the only problem I've experienced is around the recoil lug, which sometimes bottomed out. A bit of relief using a Dremel plus bedding that area alone has always worked out for me. Look closely for witness marks on the action to reveal any gross problems.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

My sendero(HS stock) I bedded the lug and about the 1-1.5" in front. No barrel movement when action screws are torqued/loosened. 7saum. Used clay to build the dam in front of the lug. Use painters tape for the proper lug clearance/fit, after a bit of dremel work. Use a good release agent!!

 

[oldfart613]

Yes, work on your load first. .6-.8 group with no load development isn't bad at all.
Your biggest gain will be there. Should be pretty easy to find a sub .5 load with a descent barrel.
Your chasing the last little bit of accuracy bedding if the stock has an aluminum bed and nothing is grossly wrong.

 

[jdh47]

Yes you can bed the stock. Whether it will improve performance is impossible to say. What scope? How good is the setup? Loads good? Wind? What are your capabilities? Lots of questions.

 

[MikeRu]

I just bedded this PST025 stock from HS Precision, my first time and went well. There’s about 1.5-2mm or so of bedding all around the action. I used electrical tape around the barrel to set the position and gently closed the action screws during bedding just enough to obtain the desired position. Before bedding I used a dremel tool to remove a little AL, then wiped it clean w IPA.