Bedding/floating

[huntinsonovagun]

Ok, what method(s) do you use/how do you do yours? I have searched and it seems there are tons of ways to do it.

Also, is this too "deep" for me? I would like to do all of the gun myself, unless it is virtually impossible. Think I found the stock and the gun I want, but I am gonna wait on buying them until I get a job or get tax returns or even get these items for Christmas, but I figured there is no problem with getting an idea of what I am getting myself into.

Also, any special tools I will need to buy?

Thanks for the help again. Once I get the ball rolling, I will be sure to post some pics!!

[AJ]

Re: Bedding/floating

Personally, I bed all bolt rifles for best repeatable accuracy. Even the guns with the aluminum bedding block benefit from proper bedding. At the minimum, I glass bed the action and occasionally the first two inches of the barrel. The rest of the barrel is free floated. I prefer to pillar bed as its the best method. I did an article a while ago on How to Pillar Bed a Remington 700. Another way to cut the pillars squarely is to use a 90 degree muzzle crowning cutter from Brownells. It will cut the pillar squarely and is a lot cheaper than a lathe. There are a lot of instructions on how to glass bed a rifle on the net.

To float the barrel all you need is sandpaper and an assortment of deepwell sockets. I use 80 grit to open the barrel channel, remove pressure points, etc. Step to finer grades as you get close to the end. Going too far does not hurt the performance, but can detract from astetics. I like about .050" - 1/16" clearance around the barrel. The old method of slipping a dollar bill between the barrel and forend does not do it.

This site has some very good info.

Doing the job is not extremely difficult. Getting the job done properly (stress free) can take some doing, but if you go slow and do the proper prep work, its not that hard. Be patient, measure twice, cut once. It will take a while to get the rifle completed. Do not do a hurry up job to use it on the weekend of deer season. Do a proper job and it will be there for you to use as often as you want in the future.