SmallCaliberCentral

Hi. I would like to find some internet information on learning to bed a rifle stock. I know nothing about it. What are some good links to read or places to search? I have no one in my area that knows anything about it either.

One question before I dive off the deep end. If I have quality guns, good stock, good ammo, good trigger, good shooting skills, and weather is not a factor, what can I expect accuracy wise between a bedded & non bedded stock? Example: .300 vs .500? Is there any other reason to bed? If this helps to answer this question, all my heavy barrel varmint/target rifles have either HS Precision or Bell & Carlson stocks with an aluminum bedding block and they will shoot .500 or better like they are. Thank you,
Jim D

This article might help Jim...
http://www.accurateshooter.com/technica ... r-bedding/

Jim, I bed ALL my rifles, even the ones with the alloy bedding blocks. Darrell Holland proved to me that even skim bedding stocks so outfitted will gain in the accuracy department after proper bedding.

One advantage of proper bedding is that as the rifle heats up as they tend to do in a hot rat patch, your POI will not change due to thermal expansion. One shot to the next to the next will all be at the same POI; no "walking" the POI up as the barrel heats up. One season to the next; same POI, rain or sleet; same POI. Hot summer day, no change.

I prefer Brownells Accura-Glass Gel, but Marine-Tex and Devcon are also excellent bedding compounds. Read all you can about the subject before starting, and pay particular attention to the release agents used to separate the barreled action from the stock. Modeling clay is also your friend for bedding jobs to fill in areas like the trigger group mortise to avoid the compound from entering critical areas it's not wanted.

It's not rocket science, and once you've done a couple of jobs, you'll want to do all your pet rifles after seeing the benefit at the target.

Here's some links you may find helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOo-_Ss7aIs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_goOiPBM3e8

http://riflestocks.tripod.com/bedding.html

Go slow, pay attention and you'll soon be shooting bug-hole groups with your favorite rat rifle!

Thanks Rick, oldfox, it's something I've been wanting to get into awhile. I'll keep you posted but I have a lot of reading & watching first. Thanks,
Jim D