Pros and Cons of Bedding First Inch or Two of Barrel

[vtmarmot]

I am working on two laminated F-class type stocks. One is for a Remington 700 in .260 Remington with a 30 inch barrel. The other is for a Savage short action in .223 with a 25 inch barrel. Both barrels are medium-heavy contour. I'm wondering whether to bed the first inch or two of either of them ahead of the recoil lug - not touching the lug of course. I see my Cooper Phoenix in 6mm BR Norma is done this way. Thoughts?

 

[Bill Ohio]

My thought is that this topic has been discussed/debated hundreds of times. A search will likely yield comments ranging from "heck no" to "hell yes". One opinion is to bed the inch or two ahead of the lug, and then see how it shoots. If it shoots well enough, leave it. If it doesn't shoot well enough, then remove the bedding from forward of the lug. Maybe it will then shoot better. Maybe not.

 

[martin zuck]

Years ago we used to think that three point bedding was the way to go with lighter barrels or bedding a couple inches from the reciever on varmint barrels. This worked fine untill the wood took on moisture or gave it up. If you were lucky you would just have a point of change impact. If you weren't it could cause you to increase your alcohol intake! This process carried over into synthetics until some of the boys figured out that if the reciever was PROPERLY bedded an the RIGHT load was found full floating was the way to go. This has been my experience up to this point. In other words if the gun won't shoot don't blame the bedding!

 

[martin zuck]

P.S- I meant "point of impact change". I'm not much of a proof reader!

 

[jwa]

I am working on two laminated F-class type stocks. One is for a Remington 700 in .260 Remington with a 30 inch barrel. The other is for a Savage short action in .223 with a 25 inch barrel. Both barrels are medium-heavy contour. I'm wondering whether to bed the first inch or two of either of them ahead of the recoil lug - not touching the lug of course. I see my Cooper Phoenix in 6mm BR Norma is done this way. Thoughts?

Isn't the recoil lug on your Cooper about an inch back from the shoulder? It's been awhile since I've had it out of the stock, so I'm not sure of the exact distance from the lug to the shoulder, but my Model 21 Varmint is bedded just to the shoulder.