Yes, it can--emphasis on CAN.
But as with many aspects of rifle shooting, I prefer to shoot the rifle first to see how it groups/fouls/etc. before making modifications. This started with reading Jim Carmichael many years ago.
My job involves testing a lot of different rifles, and for the past few many new variations on the basic concept called "bedding block" have appeared, many in very accurate European hunting rifles designed to compete (at least to a certain extent) with the more affordable American-made rifles that appeared during the period. Most of these rifles with non-conventional bedding blocks/systems have shot very well right out of the box, often producing the half-inch groups that seem to be almost every hunter's desire these days.
From these results I am beginning to suspect that the traditional bedding-block back-up to the standard recoil lug at the front of the action may not be the most consistently accurate way of doing things (which if I had been paying attention more during the previous years, might have been true all along). Certainly most of the techniques involved in "accurizing" bolt-action rifles evolved due to the conventional recoil-lug system, including what many people still call "glass bedding," despite the fact that many epoxies used for bedding do not contain fiberglass anymore. In fact, much of the aftermarket stuff designed to accurize rifles, such as over-sized recoil lugs for Remington-type bolt actions, is meant to overcome flaws in the system.
Some of this was solved, of course, when benchrest gunsmiths started epoxying actions inside the stock, which may or may not be another indicator.
