I just bedded an old rifle a month or so ago. The bedding isn't thick, just enough to free float the barrel the thickness of a couple pieces of paper. Now that the rifle is reassembled, I'm having trouble with the 2nd round in the magazine popping up and out when the bolt is brought back. The first and 3rd round are fine and behave the way they should, remaining in the magazine until forced forward by the bolt. Any ideas what's going on here or how I fix it? It's a 700 BDL I've owned since '86. Never had an issue with it until this bed job. This is also about my 4th or 5th bedding job with no issues on the previous projects.

Can the magazine move vertically enough to wiggle it a bit when assembled (not pinched)?

M700 magazines can sometimes be a pain in the tail. I would remove the stock and turn the rifle upside down. Make sure the magazine is installed correctly in the receiver and fully seated. Carefully lower the stock down into position without moving the magazine. Before installing the floor plate may need to put a small shim on each side of the magazine to make sure you pinch it tight. Carefully install the floor plate and make sure it is centered. Tighten the action screws and make sure there is no excess gap between floor plate and stock.Might take a couple of times to reassemble before you get it right but may help.

Any chance the mag spring is sitting different in the floor plate? I've had them go wonky when the spring is not seated fully in the floor plate slots.

Make sure the magazine box is fitted in place correctly and is located exactly where it should be.

I'll assume you have the mag box pushed into place properly. That being correct, it's likely that the port-side of the box is tweaked towards center a bit and the feed-rails aren't getting enough purchase upon the case. Out of the stock with the box installed you should be able to roll the bbl'd action over and look from the bottom up. Note the amount of feed-rail showing on the side that holds the cases down, tweak the opposite side to match.

I use a vise to make the tweaks as I find it easier to control and "cleaner" looking when finished vs. a pliers or vice-grip.

P.S. Cap't obvious apologies, make sure no bedding goo dripped down into the port-side mag-well of the stock therefore inducing the tweak as well.

I just wanted to circle back to this thread and thank everyone. Blacktailer seems to have won the prize on this one. The spring had moved back about 1/4 inch in the floor plate. Once I pushed it all the way forward the problem disappeared.

Ive had the same issue with two of mine...I'll check that out!

Glad we could help. The 24hr brain trust has helped me several times.