Bell & Carlson Tactical Medalist Stock - Bad Fit?

[Phil3]

Guys,

I am new to bolt action rifles, and wanted something that was reasonably accurate, inexpensive, fun to shoot, and something that could educate me on technique, load development, and handling wind. I had my ideas on the kind of rifle I wanted, so bought a barreled Howa 1500 action in 223 and a Bell & Carlson Tactical Medalist with aluminum bedding block. I figured I would drop it in, screw it down, and fire away, maybe bedding it later. No such luck.

The action sits too far forward, its forward action hole misaligned with the hole in bedding block to the extent I could not get the screw to engage the action threads. The rear tang hole is aligned. The action tang was against the stock, so relieved a tiny bit of material here, permitting the stock to move rearward enough to get the front screw engaged...barely. But then I noticed the recoil lug was about 1/16" away from the bedding block! The stock would have to move at least that much rearward for the lug to transmit any recoil forces. Is this kind of thing normal? If normal, I'll have a gunsmith fit it. If not, will return, but B&C says that can take 8 weeks for them to even look at it. Pics and notations here.

http://s832.photobucket.com/albums/zz249/PhilJr/Howa%20223/

Phil

 

[MGYSGT]

I would have sent it back before modifying the stock. I am pretty sure that modifying the stock, makes it yours. However, at a minimum, you will be looking at bedding to fill those voids. Not that big of a deal.

Tom

 

[Phil3]

Tom,

I did not modify the stock. There were some burrs on the tang end of the stock. I simply removed those and smoothed the rough surface a bit. The shape and dimensions of the stock in this area are unchanged. I would return it to B&C, but EIGHT WEEK turnaround?! Some customer service!

Phil

 

[X Ring Accuracy]

Well....
Do you like the stock otherwise? If so, get the forward hole cut to where you want and then skim bed it, including the lug. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Phil3]

For the money, I do like the stock. I know nothing about skim bedding or any kind of bedding at all, and would need to have someone do the work. It was exactly this that I hoped to avoid by using a stock with bedding block. I know bedding may help accuracy, but disappointing the "feature" this stock purports to have (screw it in and shoot) is not the case.

Phil