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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Gunsmithing
Bedding for a Beginner
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<blockquote data-quote="Tex_Hunter" data-source="post: 658962" data-attributes="member: 31749"><p>Hey All,</p><p></p><p>I have question for the do-it-yourselfers out there. I currently have a Winchester model 70 Classic featherweight in .308 that I have been shooting with for over a decade with great results. I seem to have been one of the lucky ones as with nothing other than a massaged trigger (used to be 10lbs as measured by the smith that "fixed" it for me) it has printed sub MOA groups with most premium factory ammo I have run through it, with one dime sized group with a brand it particularly liked. Anyways, over the past couple of years I have decide to stretch her legs a little bit and have been able to hit targets out to 900yds with it, and have taken some game outside 200 yds last hunting season. As I have worked further out though, the problem of consistency has reared its head, hence the title of my post. Namely the zero likes to walk around a little bit (not a problem at 100yds but it is more noticeable further out), especially as I have started trying to kill stuff further out.</p><p></p><p>I have been reading a lot recently on tips and tricks to make a model 70 more consistent recently and one of the glaring factory problems is the "hot glue" bedding and poor fit of the stock. I pulled the rifle out of the stock last week and confirmed I have the "hot glue" problem as well as a pressure point on the fore-end that has actually worn some of the blueing away and is rusting a bit. The latter problem I was aware of before puling the rifle apart because if I grabbed the fore end in my hand and torqued it side to side I could hear the wood squeaking against the barrel. Al that to say after some extensive reading I think I am going to try and bed the ole girl in some Devcon with pillars.</p><p></p><p>My one hesitation though is this. A smith quoted me 200-300 to do the work for me, and as far as I can tell the parts would be in the neighborhood of $50 for the 1lbs tub of devcon, and some universal pillars from midway. Do you mean to tell me that a gunsmith expects to charge 150-250 to clearance and bed the thing? Which brings up the question, is there some glaring detail I am missing here? There are a million videos showing you how to bed a rifle on youtube and three times as many forum posts talking about how easy it is, so how hard is it in reality? Can someone like myself who I would consider extremely competent with hand tools be able to do this without completely ruining the rifle? I struggle to see where the huge markup comes from? Which makes me really worried that there is something I am underestimating about the complexity of the job. Im thinking, chisel and rasps/ dremel to clearance the inletting and some time on a drill press to drill out the action screw holes for pillars, wooden dowel + sandpaper to float the barrel, apply epoxy, let sit, re-add pressure point if floating the featherweight barrel doesnt work. Something Im missing here? Im not too afraid because if I ruin the stock it will just give me an excuse to go a little wilder with the build, but I would be sad if I ruined it because it was my first rifle and I would like it to be as original as possible. Also I know that floating the barrel on a featherweight has been known to sacrifice some ultimate accuracy in MOA but I am mostly concerned with being able to gain more confidence in the rifle's ability to keep POI, and if floating kills the absolute accuracy I can add the pressure point back easily enough, right?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tex_Hunter, post: 658962, member: 31749"] Hey All, I have question for the do-it-yourselfers out there. I currently have a Winchester model 70 Classic featherweight in .308 that I have been shooting with for over a decade with great results. I seem to have been one of the lucky ones as with nothing other than a massaged trigger (used to be 10lbs as measured by the smith that "fixed" it for me) it has printed sub MOA groups with most premium factory ammo I have run through it, with one dime sized group with a brand it particularly liked. Anyways, over the past couple of years I have decide to stretch her legs a little bit and have been able to hit targets out to 900yds with it, and have taken some game outside 200 yds last hunting season. As I have worked further out though, the problem of consistency has reared its head, hence the title of my post. Namely the zero likes to walk around a little bit (not a problem at 100yds but it is more noticeable further out), especially as I have started trying to kill stuff further out. I have been reading a lot recently on tips and tricks to make a model 70 more consistent recently and one of the glaring factory problems is the "hot glue" bedding and poor fit of the stock. I pulled the rifle out of the stock last week and confirmed I have the "hot glue" problem as well as a pressure point on the fore-end that has actually worn some of the blueing away and is rusting a bit. The latter problem I was aware of before puling the rifle apart because if I grabbed the fore end in my hand and torqued it side to side I could hear the wood squeaking against the barrel. Al that to say after some extensive reading I think I am going to try and bed the ole girl in some Devcon with pillars. My one hesitation though is this. A smith quoted me 200-300 to do the work for me, and as far as I can tell the parts would be in the neighborhood of $50 for the 1lbs tub of devcon, and some universal pillars from midway. Do you mean to tell me that a gunsmith expects to charge 150-250 to clearance and bed the thing? Which brings up the question, is there some glaring detail I am missing here? There are a million videos showing you how to bed a rifle on youtube and three times as many forum posts talking about how easy it is, so how hard is it in reality? Can someone like myself who I would consider extremely competent with hand tools be able to do this without completely ruining the rifle? I struggle to see where the huge markup comes from? Which makes me really worried that there is something I am underestimating about the complexity of the job. Im thinking, chisel and rasps/ dremel to clearance the inletting and some time on a drill press to drill out the action screw holes for pillars, wooden dowel + sandpaper to float the barrel, apply epoxy, let sit, re-add pressure point if floating the featherweight barrel doesnt work. Something Im missing here? Im not too afraid because if I ruin the stock it will just give me an excuse to go a little wilder with the build, but I would be sad if I ruined it because it was my first rifle and I would like it to be as original as possible. Also I know that floating the barrel on a featherweight has been known to sacrifice some ultimate accuracy in MOA but I am mostly concerned with being able to gain more confidence in the rifle's ability to keep POI, and if floating kills the absolute accuracy I can add the pressure point back easily enough, right? [/QUOTE]
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