I did bed the first inch or so of the barrel in front of the action when I did mine. My standard barrel is free floated and shoots fine. I use to get split groups and now I get very consistent groups.
I've only done one 77/22 and that was many years ago. Done it when I changed it to a heavy fluted .17 hmr barrel from Green Mtn. The new barrel was a little loose in the receiver so I full length bedded the whole thing. Filled the flutes with clay so that the clay was slightly proud and let the bedding hit the big o.d. of the barrel. Left small "air groves" in the bedding. Neat looking but I doubt they were needed. At the V block I filled in with clay and put a narrow strip of electrical tape over it so that no bedding material would/could get in the groves. That left the front portion of the bedding block bedded, the rear of it and a quarter inch or so behind it free floating.
The more I shot that gun the more accurate it got. It preferred Hornady 20 grainers but would easily stay on a quarter @ 100 yards from a bench and at least most of the time would stay on a dime if I could. Kind of regret getting rid of it but it was just too heavy.
Good luck.
Those who are always shooting off at the mouth usually aren't shooting straight.
Build a man a fire and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.
Thanks guys. Year is 88. Checked vblock and it's tight. Removed bedding and will rebed. Short on time this week so I'll let you know what changed in a couple weeks.
Thanks guys. Year is 88. Checked vblock and it's tight. Removed bedding and will rebed. Short on time this week so I'll let you know what changed in a couple weeks.
Did you actually check the fit of shank to the receiver or did you just check to see if the vblock was tight? I was referring to the actual fit of the barrel shank into the receiver. If it slips in easy then it could be an issue.