Tweaking bedding?

MSU Marksman

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Joined
Jul 15, 2007
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249
Location
Detroit, MI
Awhile back I had a nice 6.5x47 Lapua built, and I haven't been too impressed with it so far. It's been a solid MOA shooter, but that's about it. The rifle was assembled by a reputable gunsmith and I don't expect that the accuracy issue lies with the quality of the components. However, I ended up bedding the stock myself, and that's got me wondering if I should put in any effort to either tweak or re-do it. As far as the bedding goes, the rear tang and sides of the action are nicely bedded. However, the front of the recoil lug, where the material just sort of oozed forward, is uneven. Part of the bedding might have gone 1" ahead of the lug and another part is only ¼" ahead. I'm curious if either removing this section all together and free floating the barrel, or removing this section and setting up a way to bed it consistently 1" forward of the recoil lug would be worthwhile or not? Any thoughts out there?
 
I've been having better luck fully free floating the barrel and making sure there is no pressure on the lug, front, side or bottom. I would just carve that stuff out ahead of the lug and see.
 
I have bedded them both ways...some with a 1" barrel pad and some without- so I don't really think it will do anything if you remove it. Have you talked to the smith that built it? I would pick his brain on it first....
 
I've got one more completely different load worked up to try this weekend. If I can't get something respectable, I'll start either chipping away some of the bedding under the barrel, or add more bedding to make it even all the way around the barrel.
 
I tried a completely different load, and I got very consistent .75 MOA results. I think I'll shoot another 50 or so rounds of this load and hopefully the barrel will start to settle a little more. Then I'll head back to serious load development.
 
I would think that cutting back the bedding to 1/4" and having it ending in a straight can only make it better. If you are still not happy with the outcome you can either try to re bed the front part or redoing the whole bedding job.
Also having the rifle checked out by your smith might reveal another problem. Some barrels (and shooters - if i have to confess) are just not capable of 1/2 minute of angle or better.
 
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