How much to bed?

C

chino69

Guest
I would appreciate a couple of opinions about how much of the barrel to bed. The barrel is a #18 LV contour Kreiger going onto a trued Rem 40X with surface ground recoil lug. The barrel is 1.200 at the breach, .875 at the muzzle and 29" long. Is it adviseable to bed 2 to 3" in front of the recoil lug (the chamber area) or is this set up rigid enough with no bedding in this area?


Thanx in advance,
Lou Baccino
 
The 40X is stiffer than a 700, but the rear action screw is still located in the tang so it isn't as stiff as many custom actions. It would still be a good idea to bed 2" of the barrel to minimize the load on the tang from a long and heavy barrel. That's my 2 cents, and some will probably prefer to completely float the barrel.
 
The majority of the barrels I install and own are #18's, they're installed on Remington 700's and Customs and all I bed is the receiver 100%, nothing under the barrel. Never a problem, they all shoot great.
 
Bedding

wnroscoe said:
The majority of the barrels I install and own are #18's, they're installed on Remington 700's and Customs and all I bed is the receiver 100%, nothing under the barrel. Never a problem, they all shoot great.
Click to expand...

Are the barrels as long as 29" ?.

Thanx for the reply.

Lou Baccino
 
I've hung 29" plus a brake on a Remington 700 (300RUM). I have a 27" #18 on a 7/300wsm with a 2" brake, no problems. Tubb Lug on all. If you bed under the barrel though keep it under the breech/flat but, I've never found a reason to do that.
 
Drill and tap the 'front trigger guard screw hole' to 1/4-28 and float the tang like a Savage. Free float the bbl.
 
Bedding under barrel

wnroscoe said:
I've hung 29" plus a brake on a Remington 700 (300RUM). I have a 27" #18 on a 7/300wsm with a 2" brake, no problems. Tubb Lug on all. If you bed under the barrel though keep it under the breech/flat but, I've never found a reason to do that.
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The reason I've brought this up is that I just received a new HS Precision stock that I want to use as a switch barrel set-up. The barrels that I have fitted to that action are Kreigers and Harts. The Kreigers have a different profile than the Harts. The Harts measure in at 1.214 +/- at the breech end and the Kreigers measure in at 1.200. If I were to bed the first two inches of the barrel or the chamber area, there would be a problem when I switch between a Hart and a Kreiger. I just wanted to hear from people who have had good success and accuracy with just bedding the action area only.

While we're on this subject. What is the largest contour and barrel length that one can put on an action with no bedding in front of the recoil lug?

Lou Baccino
 
Lou,

Incorporate one of the PTG Carbon Steel .250" thick Remington Lugs and double pin it to the receiver, you should be GTG as far being a switch barrel rifle goes. Using one of the lugs with tapered sides will cause you to have to mill out some of the aluminum on the sides of the lug recess in the stock. I can’t help but think this would weaken the stock somewhat on the sides. I've been told numerous times that with the UN-V Threads, only the first three or four threads are holding and the shoulder actually has the main lockup/holding power on a Remington 700. I think you'd be fine with 30" of #18 hanging off a 700 Receiver.
 
bedding

wnroscoe said:
Lou,

Incorporate one of the PTG Carbon Steel .250" thick Remington Lugs and double pin it to the receiver, you should be GTG as far being a switch barrel rifle goes. Using one of the lugs with tapered sides will cause you to have to mill out some of the aluminum on the sides of the lug recess in the stock. I can’t help but think this would weaken the stock somewhat on the sides. I've been told numerous times that with the UN-V Threads, only the first three or four threads are holding and the shoulder actually has the main lockup/holding power on a Remington 700. I think you'd be fine with 30" of #18 hanging off a 700 Receiver.
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Thanx for the reply. I have a Holland recoil lug pinned to the receiver so I'm good to go there. I've switched barrels on this rifle several times. I know there's such a thing as barrel droop with the longer barrels but don't know whether it's significant enough to affect accuracy. It sounds like you've had no problem with long Kreiger #18s and that is reassuring.

Lou Baccino
 
Barrel bedding

wnroscoe said:
I saw a 1.250x30 hanging on a 700 once. Tack Driver
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I shot my 6mm BR in the new HS Precision stock with no bedding under the chamber area of the barrel and I can detect no loss of accuracy.

Lou Baccino
 
Bedding the chamber area

I'm bedding a couple of new stocks and have decided to try a little experiment. Some bed the receiver and a couple of inches in front of the recoil lug to support heavy barrels, i.e. the chamber area. I've had stocks bedded both ways and I know there are preferences with about 1/2 shooters and gunsmiths bedding under the chamber area and the other 1/2 just bedding the receiver area. I'm going to make a shim from bedding compound that will fit under the chamber of a #18 Kreiger LV barrel and see whether there is any noticeable difference. I'll just use release agent on that portion of the barrel channel and the bottom of the barrel. This is a switch barrel rig with several different barrels whose o.d. varies slightly. If this idea works, I'll just make shims for all the barrels. Any thoughts or ideas?

Lou Baccino
 
Can this be answered in under 10,000 pages? I know of more than one way to skin a cat, don't you? Do bedding blocks work? Can the weight of a barrel be to much for and action? Action makers well tell you, yes it possible. Some barrel support works, lots of folks have had such good luck, some think it's the only way to go.

People that have tried all different ways have fond success. You pays your money and takes your choice. If you have deep pockets and lots of time on your hands, see if you can see a difference in all types, and still you will only have part of the answers.
 
Legitimate question

Big Al said:
Can this be answered in under 10,000 pages? I know of more than one way to skin a cat, don't you? Do bedding blocks work? Can the weight of a barrel be to much for and action? Action makers well tell you, yes it possible. Some barrel support works, lots of folks have had such good luck, some think it's the only way to go.

People that have tried all different ways have fond success. You pays your money and takes your choice. If you have deep pockets and lots of time on your hands, see if you can see a difference in all types, and still you will only have part of the answers.
Click to expand...

If you can't add anything positive or useful to a legitimate question, why even respond?

brendab
 
chino69 said:
I would appreciate a couple of opinions about how much of the barrel to bed. The barrel is a #18 LV contour Kreiger going onto a trued Rem 40X with surface ground recoil lug. The barrel is 1.200 at the breach, .875 at the muzzle and 29" long. Is it adviseable to bed 2 to 3" in front of the recoil lug (the chamber area) or is this set up rigid enough with no bedding in this area?


Thanx in advance,
Lou Baccino
Click to expand...

You can put me in the camp that doesn't bed under the barrel. I bed from the recoil lug back to the tang of the action and that's it. About the only time I'd even think of bedding under the barrel is with a barrel contour smaller in diameter than a #3 contour and I personally prefer to use nothing under a #3. I prefer #4's or larger. A 40X will easily hold up a #18 contour barrel with no problems. I've used #17 or equivalent HV contour barrels on 700's with no problems with how the barrels shot. There can be a balance problem with the rifle though depending upon what kind of stock it's in.
 
barrel bedding

Mike Bryant said:
You can put me in the camp that doesn't bed under the barrel. I bed from the recoil lug back to the tang of the action and that's it. About the only time I'd even think of bedding under the barrel is with a barrel contour smaller in diameter than a #3 contour and I personally prefer to use nothing under a #3. I prefer #4's or larger. A 40X will easily hold up a #18 contour barrel with no problems. I've used #17 or equivalent HV contour barrels on 700's with no problems with how the barrels shot. There can be a balance problem with the rifle though depending upon what kind of stock it's in.
Click to expand...

Mike,
Thank you for the reply. It seems like this subject is a matter of preference as I've received opinions on both sides of the aisle from gunsmiths. I may try the method I described above, with replaceable bedding inserts, just to satisfy my own curiousity. It probably won't make any difference, but with winter setting in it will be another project to beat cabin fever.

Thanks again for the reply and feedback.

Lou Baccino
 
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