Why bed a rifle?

[Titan]

I've shot rifles for many years but never added 'full bedding' to one.

Can someone help me understand the benefit....

If a free floated barrel is a good thing, why is a fully bedded barrel also a good thing?

Why doesn't the bedding cause the same problems that contact with the stock would do for a barrel that is not fully floated?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but it's been bugging me.

 

[Dan S]

Full bedding can cause the same problems, particularly with a wood stock.

 

[bpm990d]

Are you talking about bedding the action or the barrel?

B

 

[yanici]

Some find that bedding just the first 3"-4" of the barrel at the action end helps knock down harmonics and increases accuracy.

 

[Kurtz]

It also creates a stable platform for the action, which increases accuracy.

 

[Jose]

You float the barrel.

You bed the receiver. The receiver is bedded to guarantee consistent stock to receiver contact (particularly at the recoil lug) and to provide a crush-resistant surface for the receiver screws.

 

[bpm990d]

Some bedding pictures:

Where the recoil lug fits. Perfect metal to compound fit.

Top shot.

You can see where the barrel is free floated.

Underside of the gun where the floorplate and trigger guard are bedded into the stock.

When everything is cinched down, the metal and stock will not move independently.

B

 

[Titan]

You float the barrel.

You bed the receiver. The receiver is bedded to guarantee consistent stock to receiver contact (particularly at the recoil lug) and to provide a crush-resistant surface for the receiver screws.

THAT'S what I thought. But there's a bit one of the Wednesday night gun show commercials that shows Larry Potterfield of MidwayUSA bedding a stock along its complete length. You can see him brushing the bedding compound in at the front of the stock and then the material oozing out around the sides of the barrel as he positions it back in the stock.

It just didn't make sense to me.

 

[Titan]

bpm990d,

Thanks. The pictures help.

Larry Potterfield still has me stumped though.

 

[Jose]

Larry Potterfield is a fudd.

Guys like bpm990 and I, who shoot competitively in precision rifle disciplines, have a different take on how a rifle should be built.

 

[bpm990d]

I just watched it. Some people like to bed barrels with a little bit under the first inch or two of barrel. Back in the 60s and even earlier they use to bed a pressure point up near the front of the stock so that when the action screws were cinched down there was a little upward pressure on the underside of the barrel. I think that has gone out of favor for the most part, but every gun is different and in some instances it might work. They might still do it on pencil thin hunting barrels. Most heavy weight target barrels are free floated the whole way.

Do you catch the part where he put the tape on the barrel? The tape makes a very small relief so that it's not touching. He is using the bedding compound to seal the front end of the stock from moisture. I would not have bedded it that way, but like licking an ice cream cone, there are more than a few ways to do it.

B

 

[DukeInFlorida]

Just as important as the accurate bedding of the action (receiver) is the TORQUE on the screw that holds it in place. That torque, depending on your gun (always do the research BEFORE torquing that screw), should be between 35 inch pounds, and 60 or so inch pounds. (NOT FOOT POUNDS.....) Each gun is different, and you can get the recommended torque from many resources. If that screw isn't torqued enough, all the bedding that you do will go to waste because the receiver will still be loose and floating.

I was having a horrible time with groups, until a local SWAT guy asked me about how much torque my gun was set at.

I hadn't checked it in years. Turns out it was very (and I do mean very) loose. My SWAT buddy said that he loosens his screw once a month, and re-torques it to an exact torque, and his gun always hits spot on!

The barrel should ring like a bell when you shoot it. Putting bedding on the barrel KILLS accuracy, not helps it. I'm with Jose on that one.

 

[Titan]

...Do you catch the part where he put the tape on the barrel? The tape makes a very small relief so that it's not touching. He is using the bedding compound to seal the front end of the stock from moisture. I would not have bedded it that way, but like licking an ice cream cone, there are more than a few ways to do it.

B

I thought the tape on the barrel was just to prevent the bedding compound from adhering to the barrel. Thanks for this.

Man, this is a great forum....knowledgeable responses for just about every 'inquiring mind'!

 

[bpm990d]

You have to put release agent on the tape. If he didn't the tape would be permanently bonded to the compound. Accurateshooter.com has a good article on bedding by Richard Franklin.

This is an interesting video showing the process. I like the soundtrack, but the video shows him bedding the first couple of inches under the barrel. Not my choice. Not really wrong but different. He probably should have shown a little more with filling voids in the action with modeling clay to prevent a mechanical lock in. Also the video says it's pillar bedding, but it's not. It's just plain old conventional bedding.

 

[Jasper]

I thought the tape on the barrel was just to prevent the bedding compound from adhering to the barrel. Thanks for this.

Man, this is a great forum....knowledgeable responses for just about every 'inquiring mind'!

heh, you and QUITE a few other people thought the same thing. i've seen two people permanently bed blue masking tape to their stocks lol.

as a note, some rifles are factory bedded, but that isnt always a great thing. M1A's/M14's come to mind specifically.

a factory SA M1A National Match is factory "glass bedded". the receiver has no lugs, and the recoil gets absorbed by that bedding. a good buddy of mine's M1A stopped grouping well after ~ 1200 rounds down the pipe, and we found that the bedding had all but disintegrated under the action. He's since sent the rifle out to a good riflesmith, had the receiver double-lugged, and a proper bedding job done with DevCon Steel bedding compound. 4500 rounds later, it's still shooting just as well as it did when he got it back.

depending on the rifle, DIY bedding jobs can work quite well. personally? I'll trust my tackdrivers to someone more competent than I.