Should I bed my H.S Precision stock?

[baldhunter]

Is it necessary to do any bedding on my H.S.Precision stock?The stock has the aluminum pillar bedding block,the rifle is a Remington Sendero.

 

[jeff 300]

YES it would still be a good idea to skim bed it and your recoil lug will get bed as well. just my 2. but i bedded mine

 

[johnnyk]

baldhunter,
Alot of folks on here say yes, it will/should benefit from being skim bedded. I have owned several rifles, Sendero's included, and never had them bedded and they have shot great. Supposedly, it improves on an already good thing.
I don't know of a gunsmith close by me that does this. The only smith I would even consider is "NesikaChad" on here. I saw some post of some of his bedding work and the guy's work looks flawless. JohnnyK.

 

[CAU]

Shoot it first and see how it shoots. Chris

 

[baldhunter]

I think that's what I'm going to do.The action just feels so sloppy in the stock until the screw are installed and tight.Sitting on top of the aluminum block,as long as the screws are tight,one would think that should do it.

 

[Gene]

Yes, shoot it first. Tight screws will not necessarily make it shoot well. Tighten the action screws to about 55 inch lbs. Then alternately loosen one screw with your finger under barrel right at foreend. If movement is felt, action is not level. Then tighten that screw, and do the same with the second screw. Slight movement in either direction signals need for bedding. Glass may not be needed at the recoil lug, if it is tight against the block. Skim bed the action and about 1 1/2" beyond the recoil lug, into the barrel channel.

 

[captainmike73]

Gene, I'm a bit confussed here. I was always under the impression that that action screws should always be tight to they stop. Are you saying that adjusting the screws to make a tight fit with the stock is what you are recomendeing. H-S is supose to a have a good system with the Aluiminum bedded. I had to file on the trigger area to get my Rem 700 SPS to fit and it still seems to be sloppy. I went back to the Factory stock. I plan on getting it bedded this winter by a gunsmith.
Mike

 

[jmason]

captainmike,

I think Gene is just giving Baldhunter a method to check for fit.

 

[ebd10]

Is it necessary to do any bedding on my H.S.Precision stock?The stock has the aluminum pillar bedding block,the rifle is a Remington Sendero.

No, it's not necessary. Just tighten the screws to 65 in. lbs and shoot it. Proper fit after tightening should be: the action is tight to the bedding block and the barrel is free-floating. If it doesn't shoot, reinstall. If it still doesn't shoot, and you're sure that it isn't the rifle, then you might try skim bedding it. Keep in mind that skim bedding voids the warranty.

 

[NesikaChad]

If it were mine. . .

I'd shoot the rifle first with good quality ammunition in as wide a variety of weather conditions (within reason) and then evaluate all the targets.

1. If there is a significant change in either accuracy or group center (that cannot be traced back to the ammunition) then I'd consider bedding the action in a more conventional/traditional manner.

2. I'd also pay careful attention to ensure some other peripheral issue isn't responsible for the change. This could be a number of things such as: The bolt contacting the stock while in battery, a recoil lug bottoming out, intermittent barrel contact with the forend, screw hole location issues between the action, stock, and floor metal, and/or a guard screw contacting the bolt (front). Is the trigger touching the inside of the stock anywhere?

3. Is the "stock problem" actually an optics issue? Parallax, poor quality, and/or poor mounts can and will alter/effect accuracy and group center as well.

4. Your baseline. How did the gun perform in the factory stock?

Good luck.

 

[ebd10]

If it were mine. . .

I'd shoot the rifle first with good quality ammunition in as wide a variety of weather conditions (within reason) and then evaluate all the targets.

1. If there is a significant change in either accuracy or group center (that cannot be traced back to the ammunition) then I'd consider bedding the action in a more conventional/traditional manner.

2. I'd also pay careful attention to ensure some other peripheral issue isn't responsible for the change. This could be a number of things such as: The bolt contacting the stock while in battery, a recoil lug bottoming out, intermittent barrel contact with the forend, screw hole location issues between the action, stock, and floor metal, and/or a guard screw contacting the bolt (front). Is the trigger touching the inside of the stock anywhere?

3. Is the "stock problem" actually an optics issue? Parallax, poor quality, and/or poor mounts can and will alter/effect accuracy and group center as well.

4. Your baseline. How did the gun perform in the factory stock?

Good luck.

What he said.

 

[Gene]

Excellent advice Chad. I said tight action screws will not NECESSARILY make the rifle shoot well. Making them tight does not always assure top accuracy. There are certainly other issues requiring investigation. In other words, bedding may or may not be the problem. You will never solve accuracy problems with glass bedding alone, its just another tool for the tinkerer. Before you slap that glue in there try what I said to determine whether the action rocks; whether the recoil lug is tight against the block, and the other suggestions you have read here. How did it shoot before the HS stock? Have you tried your scope on a rifle of known accuracy? Are the rings and mounts straight and secure? After you have checked out everything, and there seems to be no other problem bedding is the last step. You may want to consider having a smith check it out.

 

[baldhunter]

OK,here's the deal.The Sendero has a factory laminated wood stock.The rifle is truely a tack driver and quite capable of a one ragged hole group if I do my part.I recently aquired it and had been working up some loads for it.I removed the stock and that's when everything went to crap from that time on.The barrel channel of the wood stock had some high spots in it and when you would tighten the action screws,sometime the barrel was free floating sometimes not.The screw at the recoil lug would even drag on the bolt making the action too tight to open,if the screw was tighten snug.I honed the end of the screw just enough so I could tighten it snug.I also notice the area behind the lug was slightly lower than the tang so this was stressing the action when it was tighten down.The wood stock most definatly has some bedding issues and that is what prompted me to purchase the H.S. Precision stock.I may get the wood stock bedded at a later date,but for now I'm going to use the synthetic stock.The H.S. Precision stock is my first experience with this type of bedding system.When I installed it,I noticed that the aluminum bedding block is the whole foundation for the action.The stock itself really doesn't cradle the action like other stocks.The action seems to work really smooth now and hopefully this will get me back to printing those tight little groups again.If I think I need to do any bedding,the first thing I'll do is,put a light coat of black shoe polish paste on the bedding lug and tang,mix up a small batch of 5 minute epoxy glue for the recoil lug and tang and screw her down.I've done this to some of my other rifles and it seemed to shrink the groups a 1/4" or more and can easily be removed if you want to.I don't think the H.S. stock is going to need any bedding,I was just wondering what most people do with theirs.

 

[captainmike73]

I just got back from the range shooting my Remington 700 SPS Varmit. I switch from the factory stock to the H-S stock the riffle shot great. My groups actually tighten up 1/4". I shot 4- 3 shot groups and all groups were under a 1/2" @ 100 yard. The factory stock with the same load shot 1" to 3/4". My load is 168 Sierra match with 45 grains of Varget. i was consistanly getting 2670 fps + or - 5.
Mike