Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Full length bed or not on an exceptionally tight stock?

I am going to begin my bedding excursion by bedding my cheapest rifle. It is a model 70 XTR 7mm rem mag about 20 years old. It's blued in a synthetic stock with a 3 round magazine instead of an internal mag and bottom metal.

The plastic stock is very stiff. When removed from the action I can't flex,twist or bend it at all.It also fits very tight against the barrel. I could free float it but I am a little concerned that I would have to sand so much that it could become less rigid.

Should I sand away and free float during the bedding process or just full length bed the whole stock?

I also have a question about pillars. This rifle has both the bedding screws going through the aluminum trigger guard assembly which is extended for the mag release catch. Am I correct that there is no need for pillars since the screws contact metal on both ends and the bedding compound will be in the middle?

Unless you sand halfway through the stock, you won't make it less stiff by free-floating the barrel in the fore end.

The trigger guard does not negate the need/desire to install pillars. Pillars replace the compressible wood/plastic between the bolt heads and action which can compress when tightening the bolts, resulting in inconsistent pressure on the action. In this context the trigger guard simply acts as a washer, spreading out the load a little bit.

Some good advice already given.
I would tape the barrel where it meets the forend. Give it a few wraps with masking tape to create a slight gap. Sand and Free float it after you complete your bedding job.

Thanks guys

Gzig5
I agree with you. In this case that washer is one piece from front action screw to the rear action screw. That's why I thought pillars might not be necessary.

I suppose I need to add pillars with this initial bedding job?

Bedding a plastic factory stock can have some issues.

Free floating a factory synthetic stock is a good idea for consistency, but synthetic stocks are not all the same.

Bedding a McMillan synthetic or Bell and Carlson type is one thing, because the stock and bedding materials are similar the bedding has a very strong bond, but the original factory stocks are essentially plastic and may not accept bedding readily. If the bedding doesn't bond to it well, it can break down and make things worse.

Free floating the forend and making sure the action and recoil lug fit into the stock as evenly as possible without binding on the mag will often work well enough without causing other issues.

The goal is to have a consistent shooter however that can be accomplished.

You can do some preliminary testing with your bedding materials to test how well it will bond to the plastic.

I always do that anyway to make sure my lot of epoxy is good to go, but on the other hand if it doesn't work you haven't lost much in the value of the factory stock.

Full bedding won't help, and can't be done right if the stock is pressing on one side of the barrel. The whole point of free floating or beding is to have the barrel and stock interact, or not interact, consistently.

The action and/or floor plate assy will still sink into a wood or plastic stock over time in a BDL setup if anything much over 25-30 in-lbs is applied to the bolts. Pillars provide an in-compressible (relatively) column at each action bolt. Bedding around the pillars helps distribute the forces over a wider area and in my opinion, provide a larger damping area for the vibrations that need to be transmitted to the stock from the action upon firing. My opinion, worth exactly what you paid for it.

My first question is how does it shoot now? Meaning, how consistent is it when the barrel heats up? Does the poi shift?

No noticeable shift,but I rarely fire more than a 5 shot group before cooling.

How's the accuracy? If it's good, I'd just bed the recoil lug and tang and be done with it. Accuracy will improve if you do it right. I wouldn't full length bed, as it will just add weight. JB weld industro or devcon 10110 will work just fine on the Winchester Tupperware stock. No need for pillars either..