I've done Savages as well as most recently a Rem 700 in a B&C. Some notes -
On the Savage, I have the barrelled action touching the stock in two places. The first is at the barrel via tape wrapped around the barrel to center it in the stock, and the second is at the tang. Now, when I do this I have 3 layers of masking tape under the tang so that it will not touch when I'm done and I remove the tape. Each action screw hole has a headless bolt that I use to center it in the hole, usually with several layers of tape around the bolt so that it just fits nicely into the hole. I tend to make sure that the headless bolt for the front hole is very well centered, and let the rear one take up a bit of the slack. In other works, if I need a few less layers of tape to keep everything lined up, that's OK. Doing this I have gotten very good results.
On the Remington I also used the Accu-Risers from Ernie the Gunsmith:
Accu Risers = Consistant Rifle Accuracy
You have to take extra time to get the right amount in place, and then I used threaded 1/4-28 rod as the action screws, with washers and nuts in the floorplate area to hold it all in place. You MUST read Ernie's instructions about how to use them, and be sure you are not torquing the action at all. I had a very tiny amount of space between the barrel and the pressure pads in the forearm when I bedded this rifle, and it all turned out great. I'm on the wrong computer to show any photos of it, though. This is the first time I ever used anything to "hold" an action in place
I have never, ever strapped/clamped/taped/secured an action in place other than as noted above. The epoxy is thick enough that it's not needed even if you turn the rifle upside down - and I've tried this. All you will do is induce stress into your bedding job.
I usually shallow drill holes into the aluminum around where the action screw passes through the stock in order to have the epoxy stick. Yes, I have had it chip away if the epoxy is too thin. I do not sand it, rough it, scrape it, or Dremel it otherwise beforehand.
Kiwi neutral shoe polish is an excellent release agent.
When applying epoxy I have learned to put a thin layer of epoxy on both the stock and the action to avoid getting bubbles that show.
Q-tips and a TINY bit of WD-40 do a great job to clean up the epoxy around the action after you set it in the stock and the epoxy is fresh. I usually squirt a littel WD into a glass baby food jar and then daub the Q-tip into it, squeezing it out on the side of the jar to remove any excess WD before I then clean. Works great.
I tape the side of the action as well as the sides of the stock. It makes it a lot easier to clean, and you don't feel so bad if there is an "oops."
I hope that helps.
P.S. the Rem 700 is an older model that a friend is fixing up. We had it Cerakoted after removing the sights from the barrel and filling the holes. I have been trying several types of ammo in it this week for testing, and yesterday it shot 1.4 inches at 200 yards with cheap Federal 130 grain ammo. This rifle turned out very nice.
