To bed or not to bed...that is the question

[4xforfun]

...by Shakespeare Soeby

Putting together a Tac style rig for 600/1000 Freedom tac class and to bang steel. I bought a Terminus action and McMillan a 5-7 stock. McMillan says no need to (glass) bed the action. My problem is that I am a "call the guy" guy. Thinking $200 - $300 for the guy to Bed it.

I have always been in the "always bed..it can't hurt" school, but that is from way back when when it was probably true.

Should I spend the $$?

Thanks,
Tod

 

[Kracken McGraw]

You could put it together and let the target tell you.

 

[ATFIV]

You will never regret a good bedding job.

 

[K22]

Like Mr. McGraw says is post #2, let the target tell you.

I have a few old McMillian stocks with bedding blocks and the target told me that I do not need to bed them, but then again, I am not a benchrest or long-range competitor either.

Also, I have a few Brownings that are factory bedded and they shoot fine. For whatever reason which I cannot fathom, my Tikka's shoot outstanding with the factory stocks and no bedding. On the other hand, none of my Remington's would shoot to the level I needed with un-bedded sporter weight stocks, all had to be bedded, or the stocks replaced.

I strongly believe in bedding and free floated barrels as the first step in achieving a precision shooting rifle. If the design of the stock does that then that's fine. But if I am not achieving my accuracy goals in initial load development, the first issue I address is bedding the action. I believe it is critically important.

 

[LVLAaron]

bed it

 

[drop_point]

How does it shoot?


You can do a bedding job yourself for less than $50 if you have minimal skills.

 

[L.Sherm]

I try to leave nothing to chance, bed ever single LR rifle that comes across my hands

 

[davidjoe]

I think it is case by case. At one extreme, all natural grain wood stocks benefit from bedding as they are inherently porous and unstable. I think bedding originated in the era of wood-only stocks.

At the other extreme, a billet of aircraft grade aluminum chanelled with a ball precisely to a custom grade round action can’t be improved upon to my knowledge. Aluminum that would be removed to make room for material is superior in longevity and stability to hardened compound, as would be steel. (Compound is good stuff, but not SO good that we seek out blocks of it to machine a stock from).

The chopped fiberglass fill mix used by McMillan, especially the denser options, are excellent and if it is inletted with a snug fit before the screws are torqued, I really have to wonder if it is not in the same decision category as aluminum or steel would be.

 

[J.D.Erwin]

bed it

^^^^^^^^ never seen a rifle that bedding didn't improve the accuracy

 

[nakneker]

If you do bed the rifle I’d find someone who’s good at it or really pay attention if you do it yourself. There’s enough DIY videos to help get it done right but a bad bedding job will do nothing for you, may even mess things up. There’s been more than one DIY bed job that ends up being milled out, chipped out, or cut out and started over.

If your the DIY type and you have some basic skills, work area and some basic tooling it would probably be a fun project. If you’re impatient, not a detailed oriented person or don't DIY it, send it out.

Just my opinion. Not every rifle needs bedding but as a general rule I do it on my customs.

 

[Presis Skytter]

Bed it… but also make sure it’s stress free bedded. Not all bedding is treated the same. If the barrel moves in relation to the stock as you increase torque on the action screws it means it wasn’t a stress free bedding job.

 

[Big Mc]

...by Shakespeare Soeby

Putting together a Tac style rig for 600/1000 Freedom tac class and to bang steel. I bought a Terminus action and McMillan a 5-7 stock. McMillan says no need to (glass) bed the action. My problem is that I am a "call the guy" guy. Thinking $200 - $300 for the guy to Bed it.

I have always been in the "always bed..it can't hurt" school, but that is from way back when when it was probably true.

Should I spend th

...by Shakespeare Soeby

Putting together a Tac style rig for 600/1000 Freedom tac class and to bang steel. I bought a Terminus action and McMillan a 5-7 stock. McMillan says no need to (glass) bed the action. My problem is that I am a "call the guy" guy. Thinking $200 - $300 for the guy to Bed it.

I have always been in the "always bed..it can't hurt" school, but that is from way back when when it was probably true.

Should I spend the $$?

Thanks,
Tod

You can bed it. It is not that hard. Worst thing that can happen you grin it out and try again. Less than %0 bucks +/_ Tommy Mc Pro Bed 2000 is easy to use.

 

[Texas Solo]

You could put it together and let the target tell you.

This is what McMillan suggests. I got an A3, did not bed it. It shoots so well as is that I won't consider bedding it.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

This is what McMillan suggests. I got an A3, did not bed it. It shoots so well as is that I won't consider bedding it.

I put an old 30-06 sporter in a Mc3 stock, that thing pulled the receiver into it and it shoots wonderful .

 

[Rube Shooter]

Every rifle I've bedded, and it's never been a fancy high dollar bench gun but one that has put meat in the freezer or just poked holes in paper for fun has shot better.

 

[6MMsteve]

I have several wood stock with the aluminum block and several chassis no bedding they all shoot great, good enough for my liking, but I did buy a bed kit why I have no clue

 

[DaWhit]

Shoot it first, then decide, why waste money if not needed?
An HS Precision stock I bought with bedding block needed bedded, among other things, to get to shoot. That action and barrel didn’t shoot as well in a KRG Bravo as it did in the HS Precision after I bedded it, so maybe that action was just finicky.
The MPA Matrix chassis I have hammered from the outset with a Rem actioned barrel and Vudoo rimfire. Revolution stock with bedding block was also good for sub moa accuracy without bedding.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I have had several rifles that shot sub .5 out of the box..........but not until I did a trigger job or put an upgaded trigger in. When I started in benchrest I joined the IBS shooting an unbedded M70 Stealth in .222. Only modification I did was to install a Jewell trigger. Never went to a match for 2 years that I did not finish above multiple shooters with custom 6ppcs. But I love my flags that I bought before my first match. Your targets are often a better source of information that the Web.

 

[ebb]

If done properly I've never heard of a rifle shooting worse after bedding. A bad bedding job that makes more stress is a whole nother thing.

 

[Gary in MD]

I always bed, especially the ones that say “ No bedding necessary”.
As already stated by others, I’ve never had one of mine or a friend's that I have bedded shoot worse, always better.