I must be old school, but I can't imagine a serious effort with a rifle that had not been bedded. I think that there must be a generational gap. When I started playing with my first CF rifle, I found out pretty quickly that all of the better shooters routinely bedded, or had their rifles bedded, so I got some Microbed ( I learned about better materials after that.),adapted some tools that I already had, and did some improvising, and learned how to bed that first rifle. I guess I was lucky in that it was a used rifle that had a stock that needed refinishing, so I did the whole thing, fitted a recoil pad, refinished the stock, floated the barrel, and bedded the action. It was a LH 788 (22" barrel) and when it was done, it shot and looked better than it had before. A few rifles later, I did my first pillar bedding job, and it produced more consistent results than the conventional bedding had. If that first rifle had been some expensive, beautiful rifle, I would have probably been afraid to touch it. Find yourself an old ugly rifle that has some potential, and expand your horizons. Learn to do the work that you are currently paying for. It is a lot of fun when it works better, and you will enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. I should also mention that I bedded that first rifle several times, trying different approaches, and that was all good experience.
