Skim Bed First or Shoot First

[scsims]

I just recieved a Choate Tactical stock for my son's Savage model 10 and was wondering if I should just go ahead and skim bed the action in the v block or should I see how it shoots first before going the through the trouble of bedding it?


What do you all do?

 

[trebark]

I don't think you go wrong either way.

 

[royinidaho]

I don't think you go wrong either way.

One way's simply gotta be better than the other. That's only logical.

I always shoot first and bed later. . . if it's necessary.

It seems better that way to me.

 

[tinkerer]

What he said.

And I will be surprised if you need it with the Choate with V Block. Don't forget to properly torque the action screws.

Larry
Tinkerer

 

[FEENIX]

What he said.

And I will be surprised if you need it with the Choate with V Block. Don't forget to properly torque the action screws.

Larry
Tinkerer

^^^ What he said! ^^^

 

[PBR driver]

I would shoot it first with the bolts properly torqued, it may not require any additional work or again it may.
Only one way to know it try it then act accordingly.

 

[J E Custom]

As usual I have an opinion on this and will state it for those that want to read it.

I use a lot of stocks with Bedding blocks/chassis in them and I have found that some shoot well
and some don't.

Soooooooo, With the cost of ammo and testing, especially if it wont shoot after all the different loads tested you have spent much more money than the cost of bedding and you have to start over with testing.

Also, even though the rifle shoots well without bedding they will always do better after bedding.

Bedding is very inexpensive and lets you get the best out of your rifle and minimizes the shots fired
in order to find that "Best" load.

I have tried saving money by not bedding stocks that were advertised as no bedding required stocks
and regretted it because even though shot well they were finicky and took many different loads to find a good load.

Now, No rifles leave my shop without bedding Irregardless what type of stock I use and normally they will shoot everything well and I normally find a load (Sub 1/2 MOA) within 2 or 3 loads.

Cutting corners IMO ends up costing more money and barrel life.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[benchracer]

As usual I have an opinion on this and will state it for those that want to read it.

I use a lot of stocks with Bedding blocks/chassis in them and I have found that some shoot well
and some don't.

Soooooooo, With the cost of ammo and testing, especially if it wont shoot after all the different loads tested you have spent much more money than the cost of bedding and you have to start over with testing.

Also, even though the rifle shoots well without bedding they will always do better after bedding.

Bedding is very inexpensive and lets you get the best out of your rifle and minimizes the shots fired
in order to find that "Best" load.

I have tried saving money by not bedding stocks that were advertised as no bedding required stocks
and regretted it because even though shot well they were finicky and took many different loads to find a good load.

Now, No rifles leave my shop without bedding Irregardless what type of stock I use and normally they will shoot everything well and I normally find a load (Sub 1/2 MOA) within 2 or 3 loads.

Cutting corners IMO ends up costing more money and barrel life.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

Have you found certain types of bedding compounds to work better for an application like this? Or does it matter? I am thinking in terms of problems getting the compound to adhere to aluminum.

 

[J E Custom]

Have you found certain types of bedding compounds to work better for an application like this? Or does it matter? I am thinking in terms of problems getting the compound to adhere to aluminum.

I have had no problems with bedding adhering to aluminum with Steel bed, Devcon 10110,or any other compounds made for bedding.(I Don't know about other epoxies' not designed for bedding.)

You must clean the surface of the aluminum and the stock with a solvent to remove any oils from machining or handling. (I use lacquer thinner) I also rough up any surfaces I can as a general rule.
And on old stocks that have oil in the stock I take a 1/8 drill bit and make shallow dents/holes for
a better anchor pattern.

J E CUSTOM

 

[benchracer]

That's good to know. I have previously only done bedding work using wood or laminates, so I wasn't sure what kind of surface prep is needed for aluminum. I had planned to use Steel Bed or Devcon (I'm not sure which one I have. I got it from Brownell's, but I don't have it in front of me. It's one of those.) when I try my first skim bedding.

Thanks for filling me in on the details!