Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Glass bedding a Stutzen/fullstock/mannlicher

So I have a CZ550 stutzen 8x57 that shoots alright. The stock is pretty much beat to hell so I was planning on refinishing the stock with some possible slight ergonomic adjustments and I figured, Heck, might as well bed it while i'm at it.

My question is, Since the rifle essentially has 3 points of contact(2 pillars and the muzzle cap)how should I go about glass bedding it. Should I bed the action and the muzzle? Or should I go ahead and bead the entire rifle/barrel?

Any thoughts? Experiences?

I have glass bedded mannlicher stocked rifle 2 different ways:

1. Full length glass bed.

2. Glass bed the action while free-floating the barrel, within the barrel channel of the stock, and installing a soft neoprene "O" ring around the barrel at the muzzle, so that the only contact with the stock forward of the bedded action is the soft neoprene "O" ring and not a hard muzzle cap.

I like #2 better and even if you don't bed the action, installing the soft neoprene "O" ring will almost always improve a mannlicher stocked rifle's accuracy and do it for less than $1 USD!

Jeff

The few I've bedded were all full length with neutral "pressure". Never tried the "O" ring method.

got any pictures of making the O-ring work?

I think the metal cap on the cz would make that hard.

Installing the "O" ring is simple.

1. Unload the rifle.

2. Remove the end-cap from the rifle.

3. Remove the barreled action from the stock.

4. Select a soft neoprene "O" ring that is slightly larger than the barrel channel, not too big/not too small, it will compress a little, and put it around the barrel where the end-cap comes into contact with the barrel.

5. Reinstall the barreled action and end-cap.

6. Trim the upper 1/2 of the "O" ring at the points where it is above the stock, then it won't be obvious.

7. The soft neoprene "O" ring provides a constent degree of contact between the barrel and the stock. Being soft, it allows the barrel to vibrate (flex?) when it is fired and since the barrel isn't randomly contacting the hard stock or end-cap, accuracy is more consistant, resulting in fewer fliers. As you know, many mannlicher stocked CF rifles have a "walking" POI when the barrels get warm/hot and "kinks" to the point that it comes into constant contact with the stock or end-cap.

I have installed neoprene "O" rings on most of my mannlicher stocked rifles. I'd guess that it has worked for me 85-90% of the time. Remember, you've got to use soft neoprene, not hard rubber, "O" rings, 'cause the goal is to put a soft, flexible, barrier between the hard steel barrel and the hard stock or steel end-cap. I always shoot a few rounds off the bench with the end-cap removed before I do anything, so as to set a base-line performance for that particular rifle.

Jeff

260Remguy. This is a very interesting post. I recently acquired a Husqvarna FS that does not shoot nearly as well as another one I used to have.

Some questions if you don't mind. The nose caps on both my HVA and CZ fit closely to the barrel. So I'm guessing that the neoprene "O" ring does not fit where the nose cap surrounds the barrel but just behind?

When I first got the HVA the barrel fit VERY tightly into the stock; so much so I wondered if the rifle had been epoxied together and was worried that the stock might break before the barreled action came free. It turned out to be just a very tight fit of the barrel and the nose piece to the stock. I sanded the barrel channel and the part where the nose piece sits to a snug hand fit (before it required tools to remove the nose-cap from the wood and it was very difficult to separate the stock from the barreled action.) The sanding seems to have helped as groups are smaller but still larger than desired - from 3"+ to 2"+. So I have been wondering if more sanding of the barrel channel would help.

How tight should the wood fit along the barrel? Looking at my CZ, the wood on one side of the barrel is open enough that a 3x5 card will just slip between the barrel and the wood but not on the other side. However, that rifle shoots very well. I still have to use some hand pressure on the HVA to put the barrel into the stock - this is even after some sanding of the barrel channel.

So my main questions are how much contact, if any, should the wood make along the barrel and exactly where do you place the soft neoprene "O" ring?

The cz will be peculiar because of the steel end cap. Maybe i'll place the o-ring just behind as ckw mentioned.

I would recommend sanding the barrel channel so that your barrel is floating freely between the point where the barrel tappers down forward of the chamber to the point where you install the neoprene "O" ring. I float mine so that a sheet of printer paper will slide between the barrel and the stock without any grabbing or tight spots. If the steel end-cap is touching the barrel, I would mill away enough metal to allow the sheet of printer paper to pass without touching. I install the neoprene "O" rings between 1/4" and 1/2" to the rear of the muzzle, with those on the Interarms Mark Xs and Ruger 77 RSIs generally at the middle of the end-cap.

Jeff

THANKS! Just the information I was looking for. I have a little experience bedding half-stock rifles but have not had to deal with a FS rifle that did not shoot well when I bought it.

CKW;

I have a number of full stock Husqvarna rifles (my favorite model) and they shoot just fine without bedding. Typically the nose piece is on pretty tight and I use a short piece of wooden dowel and a hammer to drive it off. The stocks fit pretty tight as well.

What caliber is your rifle? Are you hand loading or using factory ammo?

sbhva, I had a S&W badged one (both are 30-06) and it always shot fine -- probably better than I could hold it. But picked up a HVA and sold the S&W (at one time I sent pics to you and you gave me some good advice about the two rifles, thanks!). When I got to shooting the HVA it was no where near as consistent as the S&W. (I hand load, using the more or less standard load of 58.5 g. of H4350, 165 Hornady BTSP bullets or 165 g. Nosler Partitions.)

I was used to how the S&W stock fit the action and how the nose piece fit. In fact the first time I shot the S&W over 10 years ago the nose piece flew off and into a snow bank! Had a devil of a time finding it as I didn't discover it was gone until I was home.

As mentioned before, the HVA stock and nose piece fit much tighter. Right now the stock is off. It appears that when I use Wipe-out some of the fluid comes out of the barrel and then under the nose piece and soaks into the wood. Going to let it dry for a few more days and then see how everything fits and how it shoots because a week or so ago it shot quite well. Then the other day I was going to fine tune it at 200 yards and the group was very poor. The same day I shot my Husqvarna 270 (not a full stock) at the same distance and it -- as usual -- shot very well; so shooter error is unlikely.

I like the HVA in part because it seems to give less felt recoil than the S&W. Perhaps because the HVA stock was cut for a recoil pad before I bought it and the angle of the cut differs from the factory angle of the S&W. I like the idea of having a 7.5 lb. scoped 30-06 with the grace and handling of the HVA full stock rifles. (still trying to settle on a scope for it.)

I will hold off tinkering any more with the bedding until after the wood has a chance to thoroughly dry and I shoot it some more. Thanks for your suggestions.

Good article here,, I'm struggling a bit trying to get my .270 full stock to settle down. I have bedded the regular sporter style stocks before with good results keeping .003 to .005 barrel channel clearance. I just read an older article by Mike Walker in the Gun Digest and he mentioned .020 barrel stock clearance ???.
Anyway,, I guess I'll start with good action, receiver, barrel ring bedding. Free float the barrel and see if any improvements, then try the stock tip pressure bit..
Any other magic tricks to try ???
Thanks..