Getting sharp lines when bedding the action?

[Bob Wright]

I also think that a fully bedded action will have less movement or flexing when working the bolt and firing a round .

In the OP, that's a 7 mag. With the action screws loosened, I could rotate the action quite a bit in the aluminum bedding block. I decided to bed this one mainly to quell any torque from the rifling.
It's in a Bell & Carson stock, bedding block and pillars, with a Krieger installed heavy lug and barrel.

 

[Coldfinger]

Yes, I agree on the effect of accuracy is nil. I just like the ease of getting that sharp line as I am anal! Lol.
It usually takes a lot of hand work to deburr, clean up that area.
When I drop the barrel into the clay dam, with release all over the barrel, then remove it to trim the squish-out of the clay, the modeling clay still sticks to the barrel. Maybe just trim it on the barrel and not use a release agent at this early step?

Try some plastic wrap from the kitchen to keep clay from sticking, simple and works! Peel it off the clay nice and slow and your good to add bedding material.

 

[DSheetz]

I have never seen a stock that wasn't bedded that you couldn't take the action screws out turn it over and dump the action out on to the work bench . They all are a loose fit un- less they are bedded . The bedding block and pillars give you something that you can't compress when you tighten the action screws and allow you to get good torque for the screws . A fully bedded action gives the action support in the stock and fills any gaps between the action and stock making them as near to one piece as you can with out gluing them together . I have seen actions and stocks glued to each other . A good bedding job at the recoil lug stops the action from moving during the firing and if you have a real good muzzle break in a micro second the action will stop the rearward motion and will try to start a forward motion ( that is what ate so many scopes on fifty calibers ) . It's all about enjoying shooting and having a rifle that shoots well aids in our enjoyment instead of being frustrated with shooting . How we get our rifles to shoot is a matter of what each of us decides we want to do and we all have differing thoughts on what that should be and to varying degrees of what we want to take or methods to , to make them shoot to our expectations . Hopefully we enjoy doing what we do to our rifles like bedding , load development ect.

 

[Dosh]

On the flip side I've seen a few bed jobs where the barrel was off to one side in the barrel channel. And a couple actions that weren't level with the axis of the stock. Needless mistakes which were overlooked when time wasn't taken to check the fit before bedding.

 

[DSheetz]

Dosh , It is true !!!! And we hope that we learned so as not to be repeated .