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Glass Bedding A Stock

AJA

Aluminum
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Location
Illinois
Help me to understand the purpose of glass bedding a stock.

What affect does glass bedding the stock make if the barrel is floated in the stock? If the barrel does not touch the stock, why does it mater whether the receiver moves in the stock or not?
 
If the receiver is not firmly held by the stock, what guarantees the barrel is not touching the stock?

It is to keep everything the same from shot to shot. Uniformity of rifle is believed (and seems to be verified) to lead to uniformity of shot fall.
 
There is enough clearance between the barrel and the stock so that the barrel can not touch the stock no matter what the receiver does. The receiver is held very securely in the stock, just not bedded. My problem is accuracy of course.

Would bedding the stock be the first thing to try after having tried different loads without success?
 
Depends on how bad accuracy is. If 2+” groups at 100, optics are my first stop. I recut crown, polish and lighten trigger.
Regarding bedding, I use devcon to form both a skim bed and pillars in non magnums and use metal pillars and skim bed for magnums.
What scope power? Front rest or bipod? Concrete bench or ground? Is the bolt handle touching the stock?
 
Bedding also ensures that there is no stress on the action from an uneven fit where the body of the receiver is making contact with the stock. If the contact points are uneven, a twist will be imparted to the receiver when the action bolts are tightened.
 
Stocks, especially wooden stocks, change with atmospheric conditions and from shot to shot. That change allows for differences in harmonic resonance. Barrels always have harmonic resonance; it's actually really amazing to see how much a barrel flexes in a high-speed camera video.

The best way to deal with harmonics devised so far, is to let the barrel go free with the action secured firmly, so it whips around the same way each time it fires. Those subtle differences from changes in how the rifle is held in the stock dampen or exagerate the harmonics, causing change from shot to shot.

Try both bedding it and polishing the crown.
 
I recently "bedded" the action of an SKS into a Timbersmith stock.
Metal filled epoxy.

A small amount filled and bedded at the receiver rear contact, the trigger group clamp up, and the barrel joint. A SMALL amount. Just enough to give uniform contact. call it a square inch at each of the rear points and 2 square inches at the barrel to receiver junction.

I took it out Monday. Groups at both 50 and 100 yards are notably better.
Peeps off a front bag. Wooden bench at the range. YMMV! But I'm pleased with the results.

The SKS does NOT allow a floating barrel without extra-ordinary modification, and as this is a first year, less than a million production number, I'm not going there.
 
This action sets in a composite stock with more than enough clearance between the barrel and the stock. There is no interference between the bolt and the stock.

The rifle is fired from wooden bench using a Lead Sled and a remote trigger.

The scopes used were a Zeiss Conquest HD5 and a Leupold VX3, both set in Tally rings.

Would putting upward pressure on the barrel at the end of the fore stock be a "trial fix" (easier than bedding) before going to all the trouble of bedding the action?

More thoughts!
 
I haven’t had much luck with lead sleds. What caliber? Have you had a buddy shoot it?
 
This action sets in a composite stock with more than enough clearance between the barrel and the stock. There is no interference between the bolt and the stock.

The rifle is fired from wooden bench using a Lead Sled and a remote trigger.

The scopes used were a Zeiss Conquest HD5 and a Leupold VX3, both set in Tally rings.

Would putting upward pressure on the barrel at the end of the fore stock be a "trial fix" (easier than bedding) before going to all the trouble of bedding the action?

More thoughts!

If the bedding is not good, no other changes will give consistent results. IOW, if the bedding is bad, accuracy will not be consistant-groups are apt to be all over the place.
 








 
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