Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Fore Stock Installation or "bedding"

I'm fairly good working with bolt rifles, but have never spent much time getting to know what the best way to work with lever guns is. In my ongoing attempt to make my 99C the best it can be (It's already pretty darn good), I'm moving on to what to do with the fore stock.

I'm attaching a picture of the wear pattern in the barrel channel. Do I want to try to get the barrel to have even pressure throughout the entire bed? This model of 99 only has one screw and no metal band on the reciever side of the stock, just a U shape cut into the wood that fits into the metal of the reciever.

On a bolt rifle, I try to either float the barrel or get even pressure throughout the barrel's contact with the stock, but I'm assuming I just want even pressure, is that correct? Sorry for all the newbie questions, I just don't have much experience with lever guns besides this one.

Obviously can't float it with the forearm screw present. Some folks talk about bedding the forearm, others trick it out so as to put some space between the stock and the barrel. Check the Misc. Good Info thread at the top for how one person used metal washers to do this. Personally, I put 1 or 2 rubber O-rings around the forearm screw to push the stock away from the barrel. Had some good success with this, and it doesn't require any alterations to the gun at all. If it doesn't help, it just takes a few moments to remove the O-rings.

Right, that's what I meant in my poor explanation that it's not possible to "float" it. So, in your opinion, it's best to just get the wood away from the barrel as much as possible, right? Obviously, there will be some contact at the reciever end but, I want to minimize it everywhere else? I like the O ring idea.

This is never going to be a tack driver but, it shoots 1 3/4" at 100 as it is. Maybe I can make it even better with your ideas. There probably won't be much difference in groups shot with plenty of cooling time in between them but probably a bit more improvement in quicker groups, right?

Thanks again for yet more knowledge.

The best way to start is to remove the forearm altogether and do some bench shooting with the gun rested on the belly of the receiver. That's the way I bench shoot even with the forearm on.

If the point of impact changes when the forearm is reinstalled then you can either float it or bed it. I lean strongly to the floating approach. You can do this by using some rubber o rings as Calhoun suggested.

People claim to get good results from bedding the forearm but I am just not a believer.

Cool, Thanks!