Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Lightweights...Full Length Barrel Bedding

Has anyone tried bedding the entire barrel (within the forend) like Mel Forbes does on his rifles for their lightweights? Or is free floating preferred?

I would be interested to see what others think of this too. I've been hunting this year with a .30-06 NULA (clearly full length bedded) and an Ed Brown Damara in .270 (clearly free floated). They are both equally accurate for me, although the NULA is about 1lb lighter (7.8lb for the Ed Brown....scoped, and 6.8lb for the NULA).
Don

All my light stuff is FL bedded...................

Stick - is that full length bedding with any upward pressure or just neutral pressure?

A silver CH of upwards,but pretty close to neutral...............

BS,

I take it the Ti of torture test fame is bedded in like fashion?

Nope,I purposely left it bone stock,as issued.

Can only imagine how'd she'd do,after being bedded..........(grin)

Stick ... do you FL bed the lighter contours for the purpose of keeping schitt out of the area between the bbl channel inletting and the bbl, or do you do it for accuracy reasons? or both? and/or if there are other reasons/logic, would you take a moment to expound? thanks.

I find it to be the most consistent means of getting a boolit to intersect my crosshairs.

I'm convinced it's a viable means of "duping" a light tube into thinking he's of more mass and lesser inherent quirks.

The CBS is a known quantity,as are the follow pokes in a string.

I like the CONSISTENCY.............

I think it depends on the barrel and other factors, such as a good stock. Most match barrels seem to like free floating or full length. They don't do well at al with a pressure point. I have a 7mm-08 in a buggy whip contour that didn't like being bedded full length. It hated the pressure point in the forend even worse. I tried varying pressures on the forend to no avail. I free floated it and bedded the action only and it is a heck of a shooter now. I was ready to rebarrel it and it surprised me....pleasantly. It helps to try different methods if a light rifle doesn't shoot. THey can be finicky on loads/powders and bedding. Sometimes the stress in the barrel left from making it won't allow it to shoot well without being full length bedded. I don't think there is any cut and dried method. Each rifle and barrel are individual unto themselves. Flinch

obliged.

I've played with only one lightweight, FL bedded rifle, my latest sheep rifle. 6-11 all up with a 6X42 on board. It's a 24" 280AI with a match-grade, M700 MR contour barrel. With 120 and 140 grain bullets, a consistent 0.7" or so is easy to get. Let's just say that I would have no qualms about building another rifle this way...

I've always bedded Winchester Featherweight contour barrels with the first inch bedded with the receiver and the rest hanging. They have always shot well for me.

Those of you who fully bed light barrels, are you getting 100% consistent point of impact ?

free miner, that is the question I have. Free floating a barrel allows, tight slings and a more liberal resting place for the forend. I just can't imagine a using rifle being bedded any other way. Not saying it doesn't work, I just prefer and feel better with a hanging tube.

Chuck

I would agree with Flinch on this one. If you are going to full length bed, the stock has to be up to snuf. In my mind there is no point mating a good barrel to a POS flimsy forend. In that case the barrel is better on it's own with no contact. If the stock is of ridgid design improved accuracy may be seen by full length bedding.
Growler

You fellas think a Bansner is stiff enough for the full bedded route?

I have two Mountian rifles. They are neither FL nor Freefloated and both shoot great. Both average well under MOA for 5 shots. I can't imagine either one benefitting significantly from either treatment.

I never saw a lightweight barrel shoot if it was FL bedded... Until I tried it. Stick convinced me to try and he is 100% right from my little bit of testing.

A 30-06 Sucks Mtn rifle and a couple others have since shown they will shoot just fine.
art

I am +2 on the strong stock fore end concept, regardless of how it the barreled action is bedded. I have a lightweight Lone Wolf stock wth a flimsy fore end. It was a 30-06 with a #4 contour Pac-Nor with a 1.2 diamtere x 3" shank. I fussed with it much. Finally, I took the thing off and set it aside, rechambered the barrel in 300 Win, and put the 300 Win barreled action in a HS Precision stock. The barrel and action now shoot very well.

This got me to thinking. I found a beater 700 receiver (from Sitka) and an SS 30-06 factory takeoff barrel to add to my collection of parts. I then assembled a 30-06 that weighs under 8 lbs with the scope. I did this all myself: asembly, headspace, home-brew action truing and all. The factory barrel has a much slimmer shank than the Pac-Nor. This resulted in more glass in front of the recoil lug, and the formerly flimsy fore end is now fairly stiff. This thrown-together 30-06 shoots 168 grain TXSs into 3/4" at 2950 fps, and I just started load development. I think I have it bedded 2.5" in front of the recoil lug.

BTW, the Basner does have a reasonably stiff fore-end in my HD Rifles built 338 Win with a #4 Lothar Walther barrel. This barrel also has a stout shank, but the fore end is fine. I think it would do fine with FL bedding.

When it comes to competition rifles, and for me that is 1000 yd BR that I am still new at, free-floating those big heavy barrels is the norm. A Rem 700 action can handle a LV contour barrel with no bedding in front of the recoil lug, and a straight taper LV barrel does an excellent job of controlling harmonics. I shot my first 1000 yd rifle both with the barrel completely free-floated and with an inch of bedding in front of the recoil lug. It made no difference either way. The rifle I am having built has a bigger action and a longer heavier barrel that will be completely free-floated. However, a beefy action needs no help supporting the barrel and an 8 lb straight taper barrel dampens harmonics very well.

That said, FL or pressure bedding can help dampen harmonics. Nowadays with hunting rifles, I always start 100% free floated, then go to 2.5" of bedding in front of the recoil lug. One or the other usually works well, but I do not shoot the ultra lightweight contours many like. If that doesn't work, then I FL bed, then I'd try pressure bedding.

Blaine
"Beater?" That action was pristine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
art