Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Glass Bedding / Free Floating a Barrel

I'm a little familiar with the process of glass bedding a rifle, but I'm wondering if most guys free float their barrel? I know some rifles shoot better with a free floated barrel and that others shoot better with a pressure point.

Is there any a time where the entire length of the barrel / stock would be bedded with the glass bedding material for consistent contact between the barrel and stock, or would this be a bad idea?

Thanks for any comments.

my vote if for free floated barrels. I had by far the most consistent results with them. I bed about 2.5" in front of the receiver and have the rest free. If you are unsure the order to follow is to bed it free floated first, then you can use card paper or plastic shims to test forend tip pressure accuracy (and bedd tip if better. I am not a fan of full length bedding, if for no other reason than once you do it that's the way it's going to be - undoing full length bedidng is beyond most peoples patience.

I bed the the action and about an 1 or 2 of the barrel. I have had great results doing this but that does not mean that something else would not work. I have never felt a need to bed the barrel and alway float it.

Thanks for the advise guys.

Part of the answer depends on the diameter of the barrel and the stock material. A pressure bedded barrel in a wood stock is a risky prospect because as the stock moves, so does the point of impact. Heavy/varmint barrels typically work well floated. A lot of people full length bed thin barrels because it makes them whip less in response to the shot, and may be more accurate. But I don't know how to get a good neutral pressure full length bedding job, so I typically float all of mine.

You can test the rifle for how it will shoot 100% free flosted by shimming up the front lug area with cut up credit cards until the barrel is not touching the stock and go shoot it.
When I bed a barrel, I usually run a finger of bedding down about 3 to 4 inches of the barrel channel. If I don't like how the gun shoots, I cut out the front 1/2" of bedding and go shoot again ---good thing with this is, you can do it at the range. This will change the harmonics some and probably how the gun groups. It may take a couple of iterations to become statisfied. You can use this method too tune in to a different weight bullet also----all this off course is only as required by the end results.
Just my way of doing it.
mrk

For the most part, I do as Lefty describes.

On most modern, stiff actions, I see no difference in whether the fist 2" on the barrel is bedded or not. On weaker actions, like military Mausers, then I think there is a benefit and I do it on those.

I have found a few occasions with very light barrels that they shot better with a bit of tip pressure but I always try floated first.

When I do tip bed the barrel it is with very little pressure, never a big amount, closer to neutral. Since the action has already been bedded at this point, I just put the action in the stock and loosely tie surgical tubing around it and that provides a very slight bit of tip pressure to the pad after the action is later tightened down when the pad has cured.

JME

MM

MM...

I never heard this particular method explained, but I like it. Think I'll try it on a Mountain Guide that's on the way.

Thanks
Jason